Source: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF SOIL AND LAND RESOURCES USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0229611
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2012
Project End Date
Jun 30, 2016
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
208 MUELLER LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802
Performing Department
Ecosystem Science & Management
Non Technical Summary
Geospatial technologies include geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, terrain analysis, global positioning and other system and data that provide powerful tools for agricultural and environmental analyses ranging from very localized (farm) to global scales. Solutions to most landscape-scale problems require integration of comprehensive spatial databases describing natural, cultural, and economic resources that are most effectively manipulated and analyzed within a GIS. Today, there is an abundance of data such as soils, geology, terrain and more that are available for use in GIS software that most citizens do not have access to. Internet-based mapping capabilities allow every citizen to access such information and additionally tools that help interpret the information for decision making. For example, in Pennsylvania, in order to meet state and federal regulatory requirements for soil loss, farmers need to develop an agricultural erosion and sedimentation control plan. The plan included an assessment of each fields management, soils, terrain, and climate to insure that soil loss is reduced to an acceptable level. Unfortunately, calculation of soil loss is complicated and requires access to software and data that most farmers are unfamiliar with. By integrating such capabilities into a web-based tool such as PaOneStop, farmers can map their fields and input their management information in an easy to use interface and determine if their management practices need to be changed. The entire process is simplified and thereby increases compliance with regulatory requirements and reduces soil loss. In another example, farmers are largely unaware of long-term historic climatic drought conditions and how vulnerable they are to crop losses or how future climate change may increase their vulnerability. We are working to develop drought vulnerability indices that are based on long-term climatic conditions to provide farmers with tools to assess their risk. This will help them determine, for example, if they should purchase crop insurance. These are just two examples but there are many more where the integration of the internet with geospatial technologies empowers ordinary citizens and improves their ability to make informed decisions.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1010199206025%
1010320206025%
1120199206025%
1120320206025%
Goals / Objectives
Geospatial technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, terrain analysis, global positioning and related advanced information system technologies provide powerful tools for use in agricultural and environmental resource assessment, planning, and management. Solutions to most landscape-scale problems require integration of comprehensive spatial databases describing natural, cultural, and economic resources that are most effectively manipulated and analyzed within a GIS. The goals of this project are to (1) develop and enhance advanced applications of geospatial technologies for resource management, agricultural, and land use assessment and planning applications, and (2) exploit online GIS technologies to improve the efficiencies of information extraction and expand the use of geospatial technologies to non-traditional users. Specific objectives that will be addressed include (1) development of PaOneStop, an online system that assists farmers in developing nutrient management, manure management, and agricultural erosion and sedimentation control plans, (2) enhancement of online tools currently available such as AgMap - agricultural direct-marketing website, and FarmMap - farmland leasing and marketing website, and (3) development of a Pennsylvania drought vulnerability index suitable for use at the field-scale. Expected outcomes will include tools that assist agricultural producers in meeting state and federal environmental regulatory requirements, increase compliance with regulations, improved water quality through reduced soil and nutrient losses, and improved awareness of drought risks associated with management practices. PaOneStop (http://paonestop.org) currently allows farmers to map field boundaries, soils, and other features important to planning such as sinkholes, manure setbacks, water features, and well locations superimposed on high-resolution color imagery. The system currently has over 2,000 users that have mapped over 12,000 farms. Integration of the RUSLE2 soil loss model into PaOneStop is underway and that will result in the ability to predict soil loss for fields under varying managements and to evaluate the impact of BMPs for soil loss reduction. In Pennsylvania, over 40,000 farmers need such capabilities to develop agricultural erosion and sedimentation control plans to meet regulatory requirements. Extensive outreach and education will be conducted through Cooperative Extension to train farmers in the use of PaOneStop. Existing drought vulnerability indexes are currently not available for farmers at the field scale to assess long-term risk associated with historical climatic patterns or future climate change. Integration of soil moisture balance and crop growth modeling with long-term climatic data and climatic projections will enable farmers to assess risk associated with individual soil and management options at the local level. Numerous workshops, meetings, and training events will be conducted throughout the project period to extend this information to user groups and website presence will be monitored and tracked.
Project Methods
Integration of the RUSLE2 model into the PaOneStop system to predict soil loss for agricultural erosion and sedimentation planning (AgE&S) in Pennsylvania will continue. Most of the 60,000 farms in Pennsylvania do not have current AgE&S plans that meet regulations. PaOneStop will allow farmers to develop their own plans with limited technical support. The model will allow farmers to evaluate crops, tillage methods, manure application methods, yields, rotations and other BMPs (terraces, contouring, diversions, strip cropping, etc.) on soil loss in order to reduce losses to acceptable levels. Integration of the RUSLE2 model creates significant technical issues when implemented through an online interface and significant custom programming will be required. Expansion of PaOneStop to other states will be explored. Further we will investigate inclusion of other planning modules such as manure management planning. Pennsylvania recently released new guidelines for manure management plans for farms, yet no online tools exist to assist farmers in developing the plans. Pilot testing of PaOneStop will be conducted in the Conewago watershed in southeastern Pennsylvania. Research to develop a field-scale Drought Vulnerability Index for Pennsylvania that considers local management, soils and historical climatic conditions will continue. Past work resulted in pilot study for a subset of counties within the state and use of the Aqua-Crop model using a single cropping system. Future work will expand the effort statewide, evaluate other crop models, and expand the modeling to other crops and managements. Further validation of the modeling efforts will continue statewide through use of reported historic yields and evaluation of crop failures caused by drought conditions. We will further investigate integrating this effort within the Crop Insurance educational programs conducted by PDA and others each year. Drought vulnerability modeling efforts will be expanded to include climate change projections and their impact on future drought conditions. New technologies and data sources will be examined for usefulness in characterizing soil and landscape conditions. LiDAR investigations to determine forest conditions and to determine riparian buffer conditions will continue. Evaluation of data analysis methods used for precision agriculture will be investigated to provide guidance to local farmers who are gaining interest in these technologies. Industry is currently providing extensive tools to implement these practices but many farmers need assistance in analyzing data being produced by the systems. We will continue to maintain existing online tools such as AgMap (http://agmap.psu.edu) and FarmMap (http://farmmap.psu.edu). A new online tool that will allow farmers to develop Farm Emergency Response Maps will be developed.

Progress 07/01/12 to 06/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes producers, agricultural businesses and consultants, governmental agencies at the state and local level, educators and FFA students. Activities in the project involved FFA students to develop Farm Emergency Response Maps in cooperation with FFA and 26 school districts in Pennsylvania. The PaOneStop and AgMap online application software is used by thousands of users from the agricultural sectors.The PaOneStop application has been used by over 4,500 users to map, analyze and plan over 15,000 farms and 108,000 fields. Use varies from simple farm mapping to development of erosion and sediment control plans and manure management plans. This represents use on nearly 25% of all farms in Pennsylvania. County level conservations district personnel and state level planning agencies have all endorsed use of the system. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Numerous training sessions were implement for FFA students and FFA Educators from 26 school district in Pennsylvania as part of the Farm Emergency Response Mapping project. The content of the materials included the importance of farm safety as well as uses of geospatial technologies to produce the maps. PaOneStop training has been integrated into the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management Education Program which certifies Act 38 Nutrient Management planners throughout the state. Over 200 planners have received credits towards their certification by attending PaOneStop training workshops. Workshops are conducted annually in cooperation with the State Conservation Commission, who regulate Act 38 activities.. Six regional training sessions were also conducted for approximately 120 DEP personnel. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of this project have been disseminated to users through a variety of means including journal publications, workshops, and meetings in cooperation with Cooperative Extension, industry, and governmental personnel. We have developed close relationships with (1) industry groups, such as Farm Bureau, (2) state agencies, such as the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Department of Environmental Projection, and the State Conervation Commission, and (3) Conservation Districts. Our products are online and most of our interaction is through our web applications. We conduct numerous trainings sessions annually throughout the state. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? PaOneStop (www.paonestop.org), an online farm mapping and planning system that was developed and enhanced throughout the project period. PaOneStop provides tools to map farm fields and features needed for regulatory requirements such as manure management plans, ag erosion and sediment control plans, nutrient management plans, and manure transfers. Online tools provide automatic extraction of field information such as soil conditions, slope and development of manure setbacks. The system integrates the NRCS RUSLE2 soil loss model into an interface that allows farmers to calculate soil loss based on current managment and to evaluate optional management changes to reduce soil loss to acceptable levels needed to satisfy Pa DEP Chapter 102 Ag E&S Plan requirements. A further module is under development for online completion of manure managment plans and nutrient balance sheets for manure transfers. The system currently has over 4,500 users who have worked on over 15,000 farms and 108,000 fields in Pennsylvania. This represents over 25% of the farms in the state and use is expanding rapidly. County conservation district planners and state level planners are actively using and promoting the system. An FFA curriculum and educational program was developed to develop Farm Emergency Response Maps for farms in the state using geospatial technologies. Over 26 school districts in Pennsylvania with FFA Educators participated in the program. AgMap (agmap.psu.edu) and online agricultural business marketing site was maintained and expanded to the entire U.S. It has over 3,500 businesses enrolled. A research project was completed that developed a Drought Vulnerability Index for Pennsylvania using historic climatic records and field level soils data.

Publications


    Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

    Outputs
    Target Audience:For PaOneStop, assessment of target audience can partially be determined by increases in number of users and data entered in the system. During the past year the number of users increased 19% from 3,176 to 3,775, numbers of farms increased 27% from 9,564 to 12,113, number of fields mapped increased 27% from 66,371 to 84,132, and number of farm features mapped increased 32% from 38,603 to 51,079. Tracking of website traffic showed over 14,000 sessions with an average session duration of nearly 15 minutes and a low bounce rate of 15%. Over 75% of visitors to the site were returning visitors. These statistics indicated that the site is becoming increasingly useful to our target audience. Target audiences for methane emissions research are scientists, citizens and industry officials interested or impacted by climate change issues. Changes/Problems:PaOneStop utilizes NRCS SSURGO soils data to calculate soil losses for nutrient and AgE&S plan development in Pennsylvania. Changes in SSURGO data released in early 2015 resulted in significant changes for large portions of the state. In many areas, it will be easier to meet soil loss requirements but in equally large areas, the ability of farmers to meet regulatory requirements under existing management conditions will be come significantly more difficult (over 20%). Farmers that developed plans using data prior to 2014 should not become instantly non-compliant with a SSURGO data change that was not within their control. Current regulations do not address such issues and PaOneStop does not address them either. Regulatory policy makers must be made aware of such changes and their impact on agricultural producers and adjust policies to allow more flexibility. Our goal is to bring these issues to their attention and offer suggestions. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training and professional development have been significant. We are offering statewide regional training sessions in the use of PaOneStop and completed multiple statewide workshops during the reporting period. These sessions are attended by a diverse audience consisting of governmental regulatory personnel from state and county levels, private consultants, environmental management groups, and individual farmers. The Pa Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is promoting the use of PaOneStop and the key tool for developing agricultural E&S plans to meet Chapter 102 Clean Streams regulations. Further the Pa State Conservation Commission (SCC) and it's Nutrient Management Education Committee are promoting PaOneStop for use in nutrient and manure management planning. Workshops are expected to continue throughout the next year. The SCC has endorsed PaOneStop training with certification credits necessary to gain state certification for nutrient management planning and training is integrated into their stormwater and soil loss training How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results are being distributed through journal publications, websites, factsheets, presentations, and trainings. Cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, State Conservation Commission, DEP, and USDA-NRCS has resulted in extensive contact with a variety of user groups. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue to enhance PaOneStop with improved functionality. Evaluate user response to the system and make necessary improvements. Conduct extensive outreach and training in the use of the system Continue evaluation of accumulated farm management data from all farms. Conduct a study to evaluate the impact of AgE&S planning on farms in Pennsylvania. Participate in a study to evaluate benefit of PaOneStop to NRCS and other planners utilizing alternative software. Investigate regulatory policy options related to regulations that can be impacted by annual SSURGO data changes that may impact farm planning significantly.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Penn State continued development of PaOneStop (www.paonestop.org), an online system that provides tools to map and analyze farms for nutrient management planning and agricultural erosion and sediment control (AgE&S) planning. PaOneStop currently consists of two main modules. The first module allows farmers to develop mapping products required for nutrient management planning, nutrient balance sheets, manure management planning, AgE&S planning and overall farm management. During this reporting period, the system was maintained and improved. We provided technical support and educational outreach to the growing user community. The second module within PaOneStop assists users in developing agricultural erosion and sedimentation control plans (AgE&S) plans that will meet compliance standards for PA DEP Chapter 102 water quality regulations. Additionally, it can be used by nutrient management planners to calculate soil losses for P-Index assessments. Currently the system has expanded significantly to 3,775 users that have mapped 12,113 farms, 84,132 fields, 51,079 farm features. Further research was conducted to evaluate the impacts of changes in NRCS SSURGO soil database Kfactor and T values for Pennsylvania. Large portions of the state saw changes that significantly affected their ability to meet regulatory requirements for soil loss. During the past year, research was conducted to improve PaOneStop through (1) enhanced aerial imagery, (2) development of a row-grade calculator that utilizes LiDAR elevation data, (3) development of a manure setback delineator that allows variable buffers on sides of streams, (4) development of annual soil loss calculations needed for manure and nutrient management planning, (5) assessment of selection of field representative soil, and (6) improved reporting tools to identify changes in default field characteristics. Development of a prototype Manure Management module was begun that will allow farmers, consultants and others produce Manure Management Plans that satisfy Pa Act 38 requirements and determine manure application rates using tables or nutrient balance sheet calculations. A further module will provide Nutrient Balance Sheet calculations to be completed for manure transfers between farms. Over 50,000 such transfers occur annually in Pennsylvania. An enteric methane emissions study was conducted in cooperation with Dr. Alex Hirostov (Dept. of Animal Sciences). County level methane emissions data were calculated using NASS data. GIS assessments were used to distribute county methane emission totals across counties using NASS landcover data for 2012 with the assumption that animal populations will be proportional to food sources for those animals. Results were generated on a .1 decimal degree grid and compared to other study results.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Wasser, L., Chasmer, L. Day, R., A Taylor. Quantifying land use effects on forested riparian buffer vegetation structure using LiDAR data. Ecosphere 6(1): art10.


    Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Pennsylvania OneStop is directly targeting all 60,000 farms in Pennsylvania that must develop Ag E&S plan, nutrient management plans, manure management plans, and/or nutrient balance sheets. With PaOneStop, farmers will be able to develop and monitor their own plans, and become more engaged in the planning process. If they have control of the planning process, they are more likely to maintain it and implement it resulting in a improved water quality and soil conservation for Pennsylvania and areas downstream. Successful implementation will help overcome the sometimes confrontational postures of agricultural producers and regulatory agencies. In addition to farmers, PaOneStop also targets Conservation Districts, watershed management groups, manure and nutrient management consultants. Many nutrient management private consultants utilize PaOneStop to satisfy planning requirements for their clientele Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Opportunities for training and professional development have been significant. We are offering statewide regional training sessions in the use of PaOneStop and completed six statewide workshops during the reporting period. These sessions are attended by a diverse audience consisting of governmental regulatory personnel from state and county levels, private consultants, environmental management groups, and individual farmers. The Pa Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is promoting the use of PaOneStop and the key tool for developing agricultural E&S plans to meet Chapter 102 Clean Streams regulations. Further the Pa State Conservation Commission (SCC) and its Nutrient Management Education Committee is promoting PaOneStop for use in nutrient and manure management planning. Workshops are expected to continue throughout the next year. Regarding professional development, the SCC has endorsed PaOneStop training with certification credits necessary to gain state certification for nutrient management planning and training is integrated into their stormwater and soil loss training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Research results are being distributed through journal publications, websites, factsheets, presentations, and trainings. Cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, State Conservation Commission, DEP, and USDA-NRCS has resulted in extensive contact with a variety of user groups. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue to enhance PaOneStop with improved functionality Evaluate user response to the system and make necessary improvements. Conduct extensive outreach and training in the use of the system Begin to evaluate accumulated farm management data from all farms to see what type of useful information could be obtained. For example, questions such as How many fields, under current management, meet soil loss tolerances? How many farms will need to make management changes? What types of changes will be needed? What reductions in soil loss can be expected with changes?

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The second module within PaOneStop was publicly released for use across Pennsylvania in May 2014. This module assists users in developing agricultural erosion and sedimentation control plans (AgE&S) plans that will meet compliance standards for PA DEP Chapter 102 water quality regulations. Additionally, it can be used by nutrient management planners to calculate soil losses for P-Index assessments. The RUSLE2 soil loss model used by NRCS for conservation planning is integrated into the PaOneStop AgE&S module so that the same soil loss values are consistent with NRCS calculations. The PaOneStop online tool provides limited RUSLE2 options that simplify operation for it’s intended audience. Default values are calculated for representative soil, slope, slope-length, and rock fragments for each field. The initial release of the AgE&S module calculates the slope distribution within a field using statewide LiDAR data and chooses the 75th percentile to represent field slope. Slope-length is estimated from slope steepness using existing relationships. The system was modified to allow for users to evaluate impacts of cropping systems, yields, manure applications, and BMPs such as filter strips, contouring, buffer strips, strip cropping, diversions and terraces. Users can develop multiple management scenarios and evaluate them for effectiveness in reducing soil erosion to acceptable levels. Current efforts are addressing E&S requirements associated with animal heavy use areas. An E&S report is generate to help satisfy planning requirements.

    Publications

    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: www.paonestop.org


    Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Pennsylvania OneStop is directly targeting all 60,000 farms in Pennsylvania that must develop E&S and Nutrient Management Plans, nutrient management plan, manure management plans, and/or nutrient balance sheets. With PaOneStop, farmers will be able to develop and monitor their own plans, and become more engaged in the planning process. If they have control of the planning process, they are more likely to maintain it and implement it resulting in a improved water quality and soil conservation for Pennsylvania and areas downstream. Successful implementation will help overcome the sometimes confrontational postures of agricultural producers and regulatory agencies. Target audiences for drought vulnerability research are the 60,000 farmers in Pennsylvania who make management decisions daily based on the best available knowledge. Unfortunately, current drought vulnerability assessment tools are not adequate for agricultural management decisions at the field scale, and are instead designed for water resource protection, not for farm risk assessment. With effective risk assessment tools, farmers will be able to make more informed decisions about strategies to reduce risk, such as whether to purchase crop insurance. Research directed towards using LiDAR data to better characterize riparian vegetative conditions targets water resource regulatory agencies in Pennsylvania including the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and NRCS plus citizens in the Commonwealth who desire improved water quality. This research will improve our identification of riparian areas that lack adequate forest and other vegetative cover in the near stream zone and greatly improve upon past efforts that were completed using lower quality data. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? During pilot testing, the use of the PaOneStop E&S module was exposed to state and county regulatory personnel. This training included basic understanding of soil loss concepts as well as use of the system How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Research results are being distributed through journal publications of which four were submitted in 2013. Training of user communities related to web applications such as PaOneStop include numerous workshops, training events, exhibits at conferences and presentations at technical meetings, in addition to the web presence. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Our main focus in the upcoming year will be to complete development of the PaOneStop E&S module and make it available for public usage. This will include making changes to the system and repairing problems as the system becomes used. This will also include extensive Extension education to train farmers and/or their agents to correctly use the system. Webinars, factsheets, and online e-education techniques will be used to accomplish this goal. We will be comparing soil loss calculations derived by PaOneStop to NRCS calculations done during Conservation Planning for the same farms. Since PaOneStop has limited RUSLE2 options, it will be interesting to see how the final results compare. Also, PaOneStop automatically selects the default soil, slope, slope-length, and rock fragment content. Assessments will be conducted to see how comparable these are to field conservationists evaluating the same fields. Other tools will be developed for the systerm. A tool is needed to automatically calculate row-grade which is an important variable in RUSLE2 but many farmers and other users are unfamiliar with how row-grade is calculated. We will develop a tool that utilizes LiDAR data and limited user input to automatically calculate row grade. We will also be expanding PaOneStop to include a module for Manure Management Planning in Pennsyvlania.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Penn State continued development of PaOneStop (www.paonestop.org), an online system that provides tools to map and analyze farms for nutrient management planning and agricultural erosion and sediment control (AgE&S) planning. PaOneStop currently consists of two main modules, although the system is expected to expand to include other online tools for use by producers. The first module allows farmers to develop mapping products required for nutrient management planning, nutrient balance sheets, manure management planning, AgE&S planning and overall farm management. The mapping module of PaOneStop is available for public usage and provides tools to access high-resolution aerial imagery, delineate field boundaries, calculate field acreages, delineate manure setbacks, extract field soils, and map other farm features such as sinkholes, water bodies, streams and other features required by regulations. The system allows production of hardcopy maps in formats that are required for nutrient management planning and nutrient balance sheets. During this reporting period, the system was maintained and improved. Currently the system has 2,515 users that have mapped 7,050 farms, 48,514 fields, 28,111 farm features. We provided technical support and educational outreach to the growing user community. The second module, expected to be released for public usage during November 2013, users to develop agricultural erosion and sedimentation control plans (AgE&S) plans that will meet compliance standards for PA DEP Chapter 102 water quality regulations. The RUSLE2 soil loss model used by NRCS for conservation planning is integrated into the PaOneStop AgE&S module so that the same soil loss values are consistent with NRCS calculations. The PaOneStop online tool provides limited RUSLE2 options that simplify operation for it’s intended audience. Default values are calculated for representative soil, slope, slope-length, and rock fragments for each field. The initial release of the AgE&S module calculates the slope distribution within a field using statewide LiDAR data and chooses the 75th percentile to represent field slope. Slope-length is estimated from slope steepness using existing relationships. However, we will seek to improve this method using other methods developed by researchers and add these options in later releases of the system. Pilot testing of the system was conducted in 30 Pennsylvania counties in cooperation with Pa DEP and other state agencies.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Wasser, L., L. Chasmer, R.Day, A. Taylor. 2013. Quantifying Disturbance Impacts on Riparian Buffer Vegetation Structure Using LiDAR Data. ( submitted to Ecosphere)
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Mebane, V., R. Day. J. Hamlett, J. Watson. 2013. Development and Regional Mapping of a Drought Vulnerability Index for Pennsylvania (submitted to Soil Science)


    Progress 07/01/12 to 09/30/12

    Outputs
    OUTPUTS: Penn State continued development of PaOneStop (www.paonestop.org), an online system that provides tools to map and analyze farms for nutrient management planning and agricultural erosion and sediment control (AgE&S) planning. PaOneStop currently consists of two main modules, although the system is expected to expand to include other online tools for use by producers. The first module allows farmers to develop mapping products required for nutrient management planning, nutrient balance sheets, manure management planning, AgE&S planning and overall farm management. The mapping module of PaOneStop is now available for public usage and provides tools to access high-resolution aerial imagery, delineate field boundaries, calculate field acreages, delineate manure setbacks, extract field soils, and map other farm features such as sinkholes, water bodies, streams and other features required by regulations. The system allows production of hardcopy maps in formats that are required for nutrient management planning and nutrient balance sheets. The second module, nearing completion, will allow farmers to develop AgE&S plans that will meet compliance standards for PA DEP Chapter 102 regulations. The RUSLE2 soil loss model used by NRCS for conservation planning is being integrated into the PaOneStop AgE&S module. We feel that it is important that PaOneStop use the same analytical model so that the same soil loss value is calculated for a field under the same management conditions and with the same BMPS. The PaOneStop online tool provides limited RUSLE2 options that simplify operation for it's intended audience. We are developing options to calculate slope and slope-length for fields. The initial release of the AgE&S module calculates the slope distribution within a field using statewide LiDAR data and chooses the 75th percentile to represent field slope. Slope-length is estimated from slope steepness using existing relationships. However, we will seek to improve this method using other methods developed by researchers and add these options in later releases of the system. Research to develop a field-scale agricultural drought vulnerability index for Pennsylvania continued with field validation of the AquaCrop model for estimating soil moisture deficit in the root zone and long-term (30 year) climatic simulations. An index that quantifies crop stress over 30 years on under varying climatic and soil conditions was developed for a multi-county study area. Further work is underway to validate the index using crop production records. A comparison was completed that evaluated leaf-on and leaf-off LiDAR data for characterizing forest canopy conditions, such as height, basal area, and canopy cover. Further work is underway to compare forest patch edges and interiors in developed riparian forest buffers. PARTICIPANTS: Collaborators for the PaOneStop system include the Pa Department of Agriculture, the Pa State Conservation Commission, the Pa Department of Environmental Protection, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Pa Assoc. of Conservation Districts. Dr. Rick L. Day, Associate Professor of Soil Science and Environmental Information Systems, was principal investigator for the project and coordinated all research and extension activities. Other investigators within Penn State included, Dr. Yuanghong Zhu, Research Associate, in Crop and Soil Sciences. Dr. Zhu provided research support and database management for FarmMap. Ms. Leah Wasser, Extension Associate in Crop and Soil Sciences, provided support in development of web applications and LiDAR research. Ms. Valerie Mebane, Graduate Student in Crop and Soil Sciences Department, provided research support for the agricultural drought vulnerability project. USDA-CSREES provided support for several of the projects through funding for the National Consortium for Rural Geospatial Innovations (RGSIS), of which Penn State is the administrative institution. TARGET AUDIENCES: PaOneStop is directly targeting all 69,000 farms in Pennsylvania that must develop E&S and Nutrient Management Plans and/or nutrient balance sheets. With PaOneStop, farmers will be able to develop and monitor their own plans, and become more engaged in the planning process. If they have control of the planning process, they are more likely to maintain it and implement it resulting in a improved water quality and soil conservation for Pennsylvania and areas downstream. Successful implementation will help overcome the sometimes confrontational postures of agricultural producers and regulatory agencies. Target audiences for drought vulnerability research are the 60,000 farmers in Pennsylvania who make management decisions daily based on the best available knowledge. Unfortunately, current drought vulnerability assessment tools are not adequate for agricultural management decisions at the field scale, and are instead designed for water resource protection, not for farm risk assessment. With effective risk assessment tools, farmers will be able to make more informed decisions about strategies to reduce risk, such as whether to purchase crop insurance. Research directed towards using LiDAR data to better characterize riparian vegetative conditions targets water resource regulatory agencies in Pennsylvania including the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and NRCS plus citizens in the Commonwealth who desire improved water quality. This research will improve our identification of riparian areas that lack adequate forest and other vegetative cover in the near stream zone and greatly improve upon past efforts that were completed using lower quality data. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

    Impacts
    In Pennsylvania, the need for online tools to assist farmers in meeting environmental regulations such as erosion and sediment control planning, nutrient management planning, manure management planning, and manure transfers is increasing. The Pa State Conservation Commission estimates that over 50,000 nutrient balance sheets are produced annually and farmers have traditionally found it difficult and/or relatively expensive to produce them since they require tools that were not readily available to them prior to PaOneStop. Currently, there remain a large percentage of 30,000 livestock operations, most within the Chesapeak Bay watershed, without an approved nutrient management plan. PaOneStop provides tools that assist in meeting requirements. The system has been promoted at various workshops, conferences and meetings during the last year. Currently the system has over 1800 registered users that have produce maps for over 4,500 farms and 29,000 fields. Chapter 102 requires written Ag E&S Plans for all "agricultural plowing and tilling activities" greater than 5,000 square feet that must (1) limit soil loss from accelerated erosion to the soil loss tolerance (T) over the planned crop rotation, (2) contain plan maps that show the location of features including surface waters and drainage patterns, field and property boundaries, buildings and farm structures, animal heavy use areas, roads and crossroads, and BMPs; soils maps; and a description of BMPs including animal heavy use area practices and procedures, tillage systems, schedules, and crop rotations, (3) contain an implementation schedule, and (4) be available for review and inspection at the agricultural operation. The State Conservation Commission estimates that nearly 40,000 farms have no current written conservation or E&S plan, With nearly 60,000 farms in the state this gives the PaOneStop site a significant market for farmers that need immediate assistance in producing plans. In addition, of those with existing NRCS conservation plans, many of them may not meet Chapter 102 E&S requirements, which, in some cases, are more stringent than federal requirements. PaOneStop addresses a critical gap in Pennsylvania's Watershed Improvement Plan (WIP) which required significant reductions in agricultural pollutant loadings to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In Pennsylvania, over 60% of payouts for crop insurance are due to crop loss due to drought, yet farmers do not have a risk assessment tool to assist them in deciding whether to purchase insurance. A large percentage of farmers do not purchase insurance and are negatively impacted during a low percentage drought period. The drought assessment modeling that Penn State is developing will be field and soil specific and assess long-term vulnerability in different climatic regions. Existing tools available at the state level do not effectively evaluate soil conditions, crop selection and management conditions, or local climatic conditions. Results from this work will provide a valuable risk assessment tool for farmers.

    Publications

    • Mebane, V. , R. L. Day, and J. Watson. 2012. Validating the FAO AquaCrop Model for Rainfed Maize in Pennsylvania. Agronomy Journal (Accepted for Publication).
    • Wasser, L., R. Day, L. Chasmer, and A. Taylor. 2012. Influence of Vegetation Structure on Lidar-derived Canopy Height and Fractional Cover in Forested Riparian Buffers During Leaf-off and Leaf-on Conditions. PLOS ONE (Submitted).