Progress 10/01/23 to 09/30/24
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Develop new methods and improve the characterization of carbon, nitrogen and water cycles and agrochemical dynamics to improve management opportunities for better productivity and reduced environmental impact. Subobjective 1.1: Evaluate and compare management system influences on ET, CO2 exchange, surface energy balance partitioning and N2O emissions as a function of conventional and cover crop tillage practices. Subobjective 1.2: Evaluate effect of drainage depth and spacing on N2O emissions. Subobjective 1.3: Develop an improved measurement technique to quantify volatilization and atmospheric transport of agrochemicals necessary to develop and evaluate agrochemical management and remediation strategies. Objective 2: Improve understanding of nutrient partitioning and flows from animal production to field application of manure to reduce gaps in emission inventories and improve mitigation techniques. Subobjective 2.1: Determine NH3 and H2S emissions from swine finishing barn and manure storage based on feed inputs. Subobjective 2.2: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and NH3 emissions. Subobjective 2.3: Develop improved techniques for quantifying ammonia deposition near livestock production sites. Objective 3: Identify drivers of soil and plant associated microbial community structure and function to improve soil health, nutrient use efficiency, and system resilience. Subobjective 3.1: Test cropping system influence on soil and plant associated microbial communities. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that remain in nutrient cycling, water use efficiency, and fate of resource inputs for cropping-livestock systems including cropping systems with highly structured canopies. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) Long-term agriculture research (LTAR) networks to evaluate tillage, cover-crop, and fertilizer management influence on surface energy partitioning, water use efficiency, soil health and greenhouse gas emissions; 2) Turbulent transport mechanisms will be determined, including deposition and management practices that reduce the loss of agrochemicals from cropping systems; and 3) The partitioning of nutrients in livestock systems will be determined to evaluate management practices that reduce nutrient emissions and deposition. Field studies at LTAR network sites using eddy covariance towers will quantify evapotranspiration, carbon dioxide exchange and surface energy partitioning from reduced tillage practices with chamber studies at LTAR sites being used to quantify nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. In other field studies, eddy covariance towers will be used to quantify water use efficiency through variable irrigation scheduling in vineyards and chamber studies used to quantify N2O emissions through intensified drainage practices. The transport parameters controlling volatile losses of agrochemicals from cropping systems based on tillage practices will be quantified using eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide accurate eddy diffusivities for agrochemical vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. Riparian buffer zones will be used to quantify the fraction of agrochemicals captured by vegetative buffers to the fraction of agrochemicals volatilized. Open path ammonia (NH3) lasers will be used to quantify NH3 emissions using both barn ventilation and micrometeorology inverse dispersion modeling techniques. The partitioning of nutrients between animal, manure, and gas emissions will be quantified based on nutrient inputs (feed, animals, and residue manure) and nutrient outputs (live and dead animals, manure, and gas emissions of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) compounds from barns). Open path methane (CH4) and NH3 lasers and an array of NH3 passive samplers along a transect from an animal feeding operation will quantify NH3 dry deposition using both a tracer gas technique and a bidirectional NH3 flux modeling technique. The quantification of soil extracellular polymeric substances and soil aggregate stability coupled with microbial genome sequencing analysis will be used to evaluate tillage and cover-crop impact on soil health. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve the sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. In support of Objective 1, the field monitoring of eddy covariance (EC) water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2) and surface energy flux measurements are continuing at the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) and AmeriFlux sites in both Williams and Brooks, Iowa. Long-term continuous measurement programs are quantifying water vapor and CO2 exchanges over a production field under reduced tillage operations (Williams) and conventional tillage (Brooks) for understanding the impact of water and carbon dioxide exchanges (hydrological water balance and CO2 cycling) between the atmosphere and vegetative layer of the Upper Mississippi Basin. Long-term evapotranspiration and CO2 flux data stream is being prepared for intensive analysis to quantify multi-year water and carbon dioxide energy balances for the LTAR and AmeriFlux sites. At the Williams site (North field), an 8-chamber system designed to measure soil emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) gases from this year⿿s soybean production field was tested for the 2024 production season during the freeze-thaw period beginning in late February 2024 through the end of March 2024. Timing synchronization of the N2O and CH4 laser analyzer system was improved but not to the level needed to conduct appropriate trace gas flux measurements. ARS Scientists continued to work with Los Gatos Research (LGR) technicians until the synchronization issue was finally resolved and evaluated (March 2024) to the level needed to begin making reliable trace gas flux measurements. Eddy covariance trace gas flux (N2O, CH4) began in April 2024 at the North Williams site. Chamber measurements in support of the EC N2O and CH4 emissions were measured throughout the year to characterize temporal variability emissions concerning rainfall and diurnal soil temperature. In the reduced tillage and fertilizer management study at the Upper Midwest River Basin (UMRB) LTAR site in Ames, Iowa, field measurements continued with experimental treatments to quantify management impacts on N2O emissions. This is the 9th year in a long-term study. All treatments were in a corn-soybean rotation and included: 1) fall chisel plow, spring disk with spring-applied anhydrous ammonia (Basic Practice (BP)); 2) no- tillage with no cover crop with sidedress application of point injected urea ammonium nitrate (NT); 3) no-till with winter rye cover crop and sidedress point injected UAN (Rye cover, RC); 4) spring tillage with cover crop and an over-wintering winter camelina relay crop between corn and soybean (Winter camelina, WC); and 5) a fertilized and harvested rye cover crop in a no-till system (Fertilized rye, FR). The FR treatment was initiated in the fall of 2022, to evaluate the environmental performance of a rye bioenergy or forage crop that could provide grower revenue. In addition to regular gas sampling, automatic chambers were deployed to collect high temporal resolution data in select plots in the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons. Field measurements continued to quantify the effects of subsurface drainage depth and intensity on N2O emissions. Drainage treatments were monitored weekly during the growing season and every other week during the fall and winter. In the 3rd year of the study, 2023, plots with subsurface drainage had 50% reduced N2O emissions compared to an undrained treatment. While N2O emissions were higher in the undrained plots, treatments that varied drainage depth or intensity (spacing) did not influence cumulative N2O emissions. 2024 is this study's fourth year, and field measurements are ongoing to determine whether these trends hold across years of varying weather patterns. To further investigate the hydrological controls of drainage manipulation on trace gas production and emission from soil, a controlled environment experiment was conducted using intact soil columns (25 x 60 cm). Water- tight columns allowed ARS researchers to independently manipulate water table depth. Columns were instrumented with gas ports to quantify pore space gas concentrations, microlysimeters to measure pore water nitrate (NO3) concentrations, soil moisture and temperature probes, and soil tensiometers. Automatic chambers were interfaced to a nitrous oxide analyzer to provide high-resolution measurements of N2O emissions. The soil columns were collected from three soil series that vary in drainage status and were subjected to either a brief or prolonged four-day saturating event to test the interaction of legacy soil properties and immediate hydrological properties on gas emissions. Data analysis is ongoing. Work in California on the GRAPEX (Grape Remote sensing Atmospheric Profile & Evapotranspiration eXperiment) project was expanded to include more vineyards as well as an almond and olive orchard in response to California⿿s diverse agricultural systems, all of which are operating under the threat of a shrinking water supply. A new design of synchronized high-frequency EC measurements for below/within vine canopies was developed and tested. This system is being deployed in a production vineyard near Madera, California, and a production almond orchard near Vacaville, California. Synchronized high-frequency evapotranspiration (ET) measurements will be conducted to validate ET remote sensing estimates in July 2024 for 3 weeks for a greater understanding of the vertical turbulence characteristics and transport in structured agricultural canopies and to improve remote sensing modeling of (ET for vineyards, almond and olive orchards. Improved irrigation strategies are being developed to reduce over-irrigation issues while still maintaining sustainable yield production during drought cycles in California. In support of Objective 2, deployment of ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) open-path lasers was delayed in the barn until July 2024 as pressure sensors were calibrated for measuring room static pressures. Room static pressures are used in calculating ventilation rates. A hydrogen sulfide probe will be tested in July 2024 for monitoring gas concentrations in the liquid manure. Data collected the previous year were screened and are being formatted for the database. A spring manure application (April 2024) was monitored from a swine finishing barn in Central Iowa. Soil samples were collected before and after manure application. Surface and soil cores were collected to approximately 40 cm depth and manure samples were collected from barns during the mixing phase before field application. Surface soil NH4, NO3, pH, moisture, and organic matter increased after field manure application. Gas concentrations for NH3 and CH4 were monitored onsite using open-path lasers one day before manure application for background concentrations. Gas concentrations of NH3 and CH4 were monitored before and one week after manure was applied to the field. High winds during monitoring made laser use challenging as wind gusts misaligned lasers and mirrors. Future work includes data screening of gas concentration and chemical analyses of manure and soil. The N deposition research continues to be developed and instruments and methods validated. Fifteen three-meter sampling posts with inverted plastic shelters and passive samplers were deployed at a cooperator⿿s site in central Iowa. A weather station with probes and 3D sonic anemometers was tested and validated before deployment in April 2024. Additional sensors/probes included leaf, soil moisture, soil temperature, and canopy cover. Laboratory protocols were developed and validated for: 1) extraction of passive samplers for NH3 quantification; and 2) extraction of both vegetive and soil samples for NH3. Passive sampler concentrations from a two-week deployment were compared to a co-located cavity ring-down spectrometer that measured NH3 continuously. Preliminary analysis shows good agreement between the two methods for NH3 concentration. Langmuir adsorption isotherms are being developed to describe the equilibrium between NH3 and soils housing passive samplers. Vegetation and soil collected around passive samplers were extracted in early spring and summer for NH3 content. In support of Objective 3, a study was conducted at the UMRB LTAR site in Ames, Iowa, to assess the impacts of tillage and winter cover crops on root associated microbial communities and their relationships to soil health. Soybean root, rhizosphere soil, and bulk soil samples were collected monthly from management systems that vary in the extent of disturbance (tillage), winter carbon inputs (cover crops), and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) host status (rye vs brassica winter cover). Samples will be analyzed to test the hypotheses that: 1) Reduced tillage and winter cover crops alter seasonal patterns of succession in soil and plant-associated microbial communities; and 2) Soil extracellular polymeric substances and AMF (two critical soil binding factors) and soil aggregate stability will be more abundant and less variable over time in treatments with reduced disturbance and continuous plant cover. DNA was extracted from soil, plant root and rhizosphere samples, and amplicon libraries of 16S rRNA and ITS2 genes were prepared and sequenced to assess microbial community composition. Additional assessments were root colonization by AMF, soil aggregate stability, and ester-linked fatty acid methyl-esters. Initial results indicate that AMF colonization is similar among the treatments, but AMF biomass in soil is maintained at higher levels throughout the growing season following a winter host cover crop. Moreover, AMF biomarkers are correlated with higher aggregate stability early in the growing season. These results indicate that management can favor beneficial plant microbiomes, with cascading effects on soil health. Analysis of shifts in community composition with time and between the treatments is ongoing. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 Long-term conservation practices reduce nitrate leaching while maintaining yields in tile-drained Midwestern soils. Nitrate leaching from drained Midwestern corn-soybean soils into the Mississippi River is a leading contributor to hypoxia or the ⿿dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Conservation practices such as cover crops and woodchip bioreactors can reduce these nitrate losses and improve water quality. However, the long- term performance of these practices has not been sufficiently quantified. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, analyzed 19 years of data that revealed higher annual precipitation resulted in increased effectiveness of in- situ woodchip bioreactor, while the effectiveness of rye cover crop increased in dry years. Overall, both the rye crop and in-situ bioreactors reduced N leaching by nearly 60% compared with the prevailing business as usual corn-soybean system. Notably, the effectiveness of in-situ woodchip bioreactors did not diminish over the study period highlighting its long-term viability. Minimal or no yield penalty was observed following adoption of these conservation practices, which is important for their wider acceptance by the agriculture community. This research will help producers in their efforts to design and implement effective management systems to reduce N loads to the Mississippi River Basin and Gulf of Mexico while maintaining crop production, benefiting local and downstream communities. 02 Improved water use efficiency in California almond orchards. Water scarcity threatens agriculture in California. During the last two decades, severe droughts have led to severe water shortages. California produces 80% of the world⿿s almonds, which require consistent water supplies for irrigation. ARS scientists in Ames, Iowa, collaborated with scientists from the University of California-Davis and the Almond Board of California in developing the Tree-Crop Remote Sensing of Evapotranspiration Experiment (T-REX), which identifies the water needs of orchards to develop new management practices to maximize water use efficiency and carbon sequestration in almonds and other woody perennial tree crops. The project combines satellite, unmanned aerial vehicles, and proximal sensing technologies to retrieve key variables to increase model predictions of ET flux for almond orchards. Positive results will benefit almond producers through improved water use efficiency. 03 Predicting odor formation in swine manure. Odor emissions from swine production are a leading air quality issue in rural communities. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, and Florence, South Carolina, in collaboration with scientists from South Korea and Iowa State University, compared odorants in manure with manure properties, and the manure microbiome composition to predict odor formation. While microorganisms are critical in producing odorants from undigested feed material in manure, no specific microbial population or groups of organisms were linked to odor formation. The research showed that measures of manure solids and pH have a higher predictive ability for odor formation compared to the utility of the microbial community. This study provides growers and engineers with specific targets to monitor and manage in order to effectively control odors from swine finishing operations. 04 Holding carcasses to mitigate leachate contamination of the environment. Outbreaks of infectious diseases involving depopulation of animals require on-farm practices to stage/hold carcasses when final disposal methods are unavailable. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with scientists from Digital Agronomy, LLC and Iowa State University, compared how holding techniques affect leachate from decaying animals. Leachate volume was more significant for carcasses held in a pile, covered with a tarp or soil than those held on corn stover bedding or wrapped in a tarp. Soil-covered carcasses decayed faster than carcasses held in a pile or on corn stover. Corn stover promoted carcass decomposition and reduced leachate material by 95%. Lime applied to carcasses delayed the decomposition of carcasses. Wrapping carcasses in tarps reduced decomposition and eliminated leachate loss. The study provides growers and engineers with tools for reducing leaching from decaying carcasses during temporary holding periods when depopulation is necessary to control an infectious disease outbreak.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Hwang, O., Emmett, B.D., Andersen, D., Howe, A., Ro, K.S., Trabue, S.L. 2024. Effects of swine manure dilution with lagoon effluent on microbial communities and odor formation in pit recharge systems. Journal of Environmental Management. 358 Article 120884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jenvman.2024.120884.
- Rogovska, N.P., O'Brien, P.L., Malone, R.W., Emmett, B.D., Kovar, J.L., Jaynes, D., Kaspar, T., Moorman, T., Kyveryga, P. 2023. Long-term conservation practices reduce nitrate leaching while maintaining yields in tile-drained Midwestern soils. Agricultural Water Management. 288. Article e108481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108481.
- Malone, R.W., Radke, A.G., Herbstritt, S., Wu, H., Qi, Z., Emmett, B.D., Helmers, M., Schulte, L., Feyereisen, G.W., O'Brien, P.L., Kovar, J.L., Rogovska, N.P., Kladivko, E.J., Thorp, K.R., Kaspar, T., Jaynes, D.B., Karlen, D., Richard, T. 2023. Harvested winter rye energy cover crop: multiple benefits for North Central US. Environmental Research Letters. 18(7). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acd708.
- Bambach, N., Knipper, K.R., McElrone, A.J., Nocco, M., Torres-Rua, A., Kustas, W.P., Anderson, M.C., Castro, S., Edwards, E., Duran-Gomez, M., Gal, A., Tolentino, P., Wright, I., Roby, M.C., Gao, F.N., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., Hipps, L., Saa, S. 2023. The Tree-Crop Remote Sensing of Evapotranspiration Experiment (T-REX): A science-based path for sustainable water management and climate resilience. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 105(1):E257-E284. https://doi.org/10.1175/ BAMS-D-22-0118.1.
- Liang, K., Qi, J., Zhang, X., Emmett, B.D., Johnson, J.M., Malone, R.W., Moglen, G.E., Venterea, R.T. 2023. Nitrous oxide emissions from multiple agroecosystems in the U.S. Corn Belt simulated using the modified SWAT-C model . Environmental Pollution. 337(2023). Article e122537. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122537.
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Progress 10/01/22 to 09/30/23
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Develop new methods and improve the characterization of carbon, nitrogen and water cycles and agrochemical dynamics to improve management opportunities for better productivity and reduced environmental impact. Subobjective 1.1: Evaluate and compare management system influences on ET, CO2 exchange, surface energy balance partitioning and N2O emissions as a function of conventional and cover crop tillage practices. Subobjective 1.2: Evaluate effect of drainage depth and spacing on N2O emissions. Subobjective 1.3: Develop an improved measurement technique to quantify volatilization and atmospheric transport of agrochemicals necessary to develop and evaluate agrochemical management and remediation strategies. Objective 2: Improve understanding of nutrient partitioning and flows from animal production to field application of manure to reduce gaps in emission inventories and improve mitigation techniques. Subobjective 2.1: Determine NH3 and H2S emissions from swine finishing barn and manure storage based on feed inputs. Subobjective 2.2: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and NH3 emissions. Subobjective 2.3: Develop improved techniques for quantifying ammonia deposition near livestock production sites. Objective 3: Identify drivers of soil and plant associated microbial community structure and function to improve soil health, nutrient use efficiency, and system resilience. Subobjective 3.1: Test cropping system influence on soil and plant associated microbial communities. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that remain in nutrient cycling, water use efficiency, and fate of resource inputs for cropping-livestock systems including cropping systems with highly structured canopies. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) Long-term agriculture research (LTAR) networks to evaluate tillage, cover-crop, and fertilizer management influence on surface energy partitioning, water use efficiency, soil health and greenhouse gas emissions; 2) Turbulent transport mechanisms will be determined, including deposition and management practices that reduce the loss of agrochemicals from cropping systems; and 3) The partitioning of nutrients in livestock systems will be determined to evaluate management practices that reduce nutrient emissions and deposition. Field studies at LTAR network sites using eddy covariance towers will quantify evapotranspiration, carbon dioxide exchange and surface energy partitioning from reduced tillage practices with chamber studies at LTAR sites being used to quantify nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. In other field studies, eddy covariance towers will be used to quantify water use efficiency through variable irrigation scheduling in vineyards and chamber studies used to quantify N2O emissions through intensified drainage practices. The transport parameters controlling volatile losses of agrochemicals from cropping systems based on tillage practices will be quantified using eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide accurate eddy diffusivities for agrochemical vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. Riparian buffer zones will be used to quantify the fraction of agrochemicals captured by vegetative buffers to the fraction of agrochemicals volatilized. Open path ammonia (NH3) lasers will be used to quantify NH3 emissions using both barn ventilation and micrometeorology inverse dispersion modeling techniques. The partitioning of nutrients between animal, manure, and gas emissions will be quantified based on nutrient inputs (feed, animals, and residue manure) and nutrient outputs (live and dead animals, manure, and gas emissions of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) compounds from barns). Open path methane (CH4) and NH3 lasers and an array of NH3 passive samplers along a transect from an animal feeding operation will quantify NH3 dry deposition using both a tracer gas technique and a bidirectional NH3 flux modeling technique. The quantification of soil extracellular polymeric substances and soil aggregate stability coupled with microbial genome sequencing analysis will be used to evaluate tillage and cover-crop impact on soil health. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve the sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. In support of Objective 1.1, the field monitoring of eddy covariance (EC) water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2) and surface energy fluxes are continuing at the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) and AmeriFlux sites (Williams and Brooks). These long-term continuous measurement programs are quantifying water vapor and CO2 exchanges over a production field under reduced tillage operations (Williams) and conventional tillage (Brooks) in response to the need of understanding variable production management systems. At the Williams site (North field), an 8- chamber system designed to measure soil emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) gases from this year⿿s corn production field were tested for the 2023 production season during the freeze-thaw period beginning in late February 2023 through the end of March 2023. The N2O and CH4 laser analyzer system was returned to the manufacturer to correct the timing sequence for synchronization with a sonic anemometer. This will allow for direct N2O, CH4, and EC measurements at the North Williams site. N2O and CH4 emissions were measured throughout the year to characterize temporal variability emissions with respect to rainfall and diurnal soil temperature. Field measurements continued with experimental treatments at the Upper Midwest River Basin (UMRB) LTAR site in Ames, Iowa, to quantify management impacts on N2O emissions. This is the 8th year in a long-term study. All treatments were in a corn-soybean rotation and included: 1) fall chisel plow, spring disk with spring-applied anhydrous ammonia; 2) no-tillage with no cover crop with sidedress application of point injected urea ammonium nitrate (UAN); 3) no-till with winter rye cover crop and sidedress point injected UAN; 4) spring tillage with cover crop and an over-wintering winter camelina relay crop between corn and soybean (WC); and 5) a fertilized and harvested rye cover crop in a no-till system (FR). The FR treatment was initiated in the fall of 2022, to evaluate the environmental performance of a rye bioenergy or forage crop that could provide grower revenue. A manuscript was published from this data. Work in California on the GRAPEX (Grape Remote sensing Atmospheric Profile & Evapotranspiration eXperiment) project was expanded to include more vineyards as well as an almond and olive orchard. A new design of synchronized high-frequency EC measurements for below/within vine canopies was developed and tested. This system is being deployed in a production vineyard near Madera, California, and a production almond orchard near Vacaville, California. Synchronized high-frequency measurements were conducted with remote sensing inherent optical properties activities in early July 2023 for a period of 6 weeks for a greater understanding of the vertical turbulence characteristics and transport in structured agricultural canopies and to improve remote sensing modeling of evapotranspiration (ET) for vineyards and almond orchards. Field measurements were conducted to quantify the effects of subsurface drainage depth and intensity on N2O emissions. Drainage treatments were monitored weekly during the growing season and every other week during the fall and winter. In the 2nd year of the study, it was found that plots with subsurface drainage had 50% reduced N2O emissions compared to a no-drained treatment. While N2O emissions were higher in the undrained plots, treatments that varied drainage depth or intensity (spacing) did not influence cumulative N2O emissions. Field measurements are ongoing to determine if these trends hold in varying weather years. In support of Objective 1.2, field measurements continued to quantify the effects of subsurface drainage depth and intensity on N2O emissions. Drainage treatments were monitored weekly during the growing season and every other week during the fall and winter. In the 2nd year of the study, plots with subsurface drainage had 50% reduced N2O emissions compared to a no-drained treatment. While N2O emissions were higher in the undrained plots, treatments that varied drainage depth or intensity (spacing) did not influence cumulative N2O emissions. Field measurements are ongoing to determine if these trends hold in varying weather years. Research was initiated to understand patterns of N2O production in the soil profile in relation to the changes in soil moisture and water table depth affected by the drainage treatments. Subsurface gas probes, soil moisture, and oxygen sensors were installed through the soil profile to a depth of 1 m to monitor subsurface N2O concentrations. Initial results suggest that the drainage treatments have their greatest effect on soil moisture in moderate depths (30-100 cm) and that N2O production below 30 cm can contribute substantially to cumulative emissions in Iowa soils. To further investigate the hydrological controls of drainage manipulation on trace gas production and emission from soil a controlled environment experiment using intact soil columns (25 x 60 cm) was constructed. The columns are water-tight with the capacity to independently manipulate water table depth through use of a hydraulic head and have been instrumented with gas ports throughout the soil profile to quantify pore space gas concentrations, microlysimeters to measure pore water NO3 concentrations, soil moisture temperature probes, and soil tensiometers. The soil columns were collected from three soil series that vary in drainage capacity status to test the interaction of legacy soil biophysical properties that impact immediate hydrological status as influenced by current drainage. In support of Objective 1.3, Relaxed Eddy Accumulation (REA) pesticide volatilization is a dominant vapor loss pathway for many pesticides. Turbulence is the primary transport mechanism for vapor loss from a surface to the atmosphere. The REA system takes simultaneous measurements of pesticide vapor with vertical wind motion common with turbulent transport. The REA system has been deployed since June 2022 for field monitoring at the Optimizing Production Inputs for Economic and Environmental Enhancement (OPE3) site located in Beltsville, Maryland. Results from the field collections are pending until a support Chemist position has been filled. In support of Objective 2, the in-life phase of the study to partition nutrients in a swine finishing operation was initiated with the calibration of the cooperator⿿s ventilation system using multiple fan assessment numeration system (FANS) units. Ammonia (NH3) lasers and mirrors were deployed along the North-South corridors of the barn room. Sampling shelves were hung from the room ceiling at three locations along the North-South corridor. Particulate matter (PM) samplers, and sensors for hydrogen sulfide (H2S), NH3, and CO2 were deployed in the room. Patterns emerged during the first grow cycle. Concentrations of both CO2 and PM immediately increase with the introduction of animals. Both NH3 and PM concentrations were highest from late evening (after 8 pm) to early morning (before 6 am) as ventilation was lowest during those periods. Concentrations were highest for gases and PM in winter months. Winter months concentrations of NH3 averaged 25-30 parts per million volume (ppmv), CO2 averaged over 1500 ppmv (peaking at 4500), H2S averaged 0.2-0.3 ppmv (peaking at around 1 ppmv), total PM averaged 1100- 1700 mg m-3 (peaking at 3500 mg m-3) compared to lower numbers in summer months. Future work includes data screening and reviewing for completeness and filling of data gaps. Ventilation data will be collected from the cooperator to correlate with concentration data for emission calculations. Nitrogen (N) deposition research was initiated and 15 three-meter sampling posts with inverted plastic shelters and Ogawa passive samplers were deployed at a cooperator⿿s site in central Iowa. Researchers from multiple USDA ARS locations are developing a protocol for the micrometeorology data loggers. A micrometeorology tower was deployed in the field along with additional sensors for characterizing wind patterns, leaf moisture, canopy cover, etc. Laboratory protocol tested and validated for the following: 1) extraction of passive samplers for NH3 quantification; and 2) extraction of both vegetive and soil samples for NH3. Working on land agreements for two other farmers⿿ fields. Lasers and mirrors were placed on towers for determining whole facility emissions. In support of Objective 3, a study was initiated at the UMRB LTAR site in Ames, Iowa, to assess the impact of tillage and winter cover crops on soybean root, rhizosphere, and soil microbial communities and their relationship to soil health. Soybean root, rhizosphere, and bulk soil samples were collected starting a month after planting and then continuing monthly for the growing season. Management systems tested vary in the extent of disturbance (tillage), winter carbon inputs (cover crops) , and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi host status (rye vs brassica winter cover). Samples will be used to test the hypotheses that: 1) Reduced tillage and winter cover crops will alter seasonal patterns of succession in soil and plant-associated microbial communities; and 2) soil extracellular polymeric substances and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (two critical soil binding factors) and soil aggregate stability will be at the greater abundance and less variable over time in treatments with reduced disturbance and continuous plant cover. Sample analysis is ongoing. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 Identified the risks of N losses under relay-and double-cropping scenarios. Relay cropping soybean with a winter oilseed crop in the Upper Midwest has potential to increase farmer revenue while providing the environmental benefits of a winter cover crop. As part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network site in Ames, Iowa, ARS researchers in the Soil Water and Air Resources and also the Agroecosystems Management Research Units compared the environmental and agronomic performance of a corn-soybean rotation with a corn-winter camelina-soybean relay cropping system to evaluate nitrous oxide (N2O) losses, nitrate (NO3) loss in subsurface drainage and crop yield. Despite the inclusion of a winter cover, the winter camelina system did not reduce nitrate leaching. Management changes to accommodate the winter camelina crop increased nitrous emissions three-fold in the camelina-soybean phase of the relay cropping system. Most of this increase occurred following fall fertilizer application to the camelina, whereas the later spring sidedress nitrogen applications resulted in only minor increases in N2O emissions. This study provides scientists and growers working to develop the winter camelina relay cropping system with new insights and tools for optimizing production and reducing nitrogen losses to the environment. 02 New tools discovered for reducing swine odors. Manure management is the first line of defense against odor at swine production facilities. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, and Florence, South Carolina, in collaboration with scientists from South Korea and Iowa State University, compared the effect higher recharge rates (i.e., manure dilution) have on both the microbial community composition and odor formation in pit recharge systems (PRS). The microbial community composition was influenced by both the barn source and the recharge rate of the barn. Manure odor was controlled by the manure⿿s total solids and pH. The microbial community had a minor role in controlling odor. Managing solids and manure pH, are the most effective means of odor control in PRS. This study provides researchers and engineers with new insights and tools for reducing odor emissions from swine finishing operations. 03 Improved water use in California orchards and vineyards. Managing irrigation in orchards and vineyards in drought-prone regions is a challenge due to their complex canopy structures. Current models describing evaporation do not adequately describe the physical processes controlling water evaporation from these surfaces. ARS scientists in Beltsville, Maryland, and Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with university scientists from Utah State University and the University of California-Davis, conducted studies to understand the unique air flow patterns over vineyards and orchards in the Central Valley of California. Almond orchards and vineyard architecture represent unique aerodynamic environments that need to be better understood to improve ET (Evapotranspiration) modeling through remote sensing. This study showed ways to improve management practices that promote greater water use efficiency in vineyards and orchards, giving growers and researchers an understanding of the role of cover crops and vine water loss and developing irrigation strategies to support reduced irrigation decisions that conserve water resources while maintaining sustainable yields and fruit/nut quality. 04 Scientists identify ways to reduce odor emissions from decaying swine carcasses during an animal health emergency. During an animal health emergency, dead animals may need to be disposed of safely to protect people, animals, and the environment. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with scientists from Digital Agronomy, LLC and Iowa State University compared how different stagging technique⿿s-controlled odor emissions from decaying animals. Carcasses treated with lime had reduced emissions of volatile sulfur compounds, long-chain fatty acids, and carbon dioxide (CO2). However, animals buried with shallow soil covering or wrapped in tarp material had the lowest total gas emissions while animals without any treatment had the highest gas emissions. Liming and covering animals are effective at reducing gas emissions from swine. This study provides growers and engineers with tools for reducing odor emissions from decaying swine carcasses. 05 Estimating evapotranspiration (ET) partitioning at spatial and temporal scales using sUAV (small unmanned aerial vehicle). Vineyards are considered complex agricultural landscapes because of the separation of canopy rows by exposed soil rows. Water supplies are becoming limited in irrigated agriculture, yet estimating vineyard evapotranspiration (ET) remains challenging because water can be lost independently through evaporation from the soil and separately through transpiration from the grape vines. ARS scientists in Beltsville, Maryland, and Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with university scientists from Utah State University and the University of California-Davis, strove to improve water management practices in vineyards of the Central Valley, California by determining the percentages of ET losses occurring through evaporation and transpiration. They used sUAV to estimate changes in carbon assimilation and water cycling for vineyard production. This approach estimated evaporation and transpiration losses that were scaled to the plant level by using modeling. Partitioning ET provides more accurate estimates of water losses and is also an opportunity to expand an emerging technique to include medium- resolution satellite imagery to estimate vineyard ET. This study provides growers, scientists, and engineers new tools for increasing water use efficiency at multiple spatial (small to large vineyards) scales. 06 Double cropping winter rye cover crop with soybean increases production, while simultaneously reducing nitrogen runoff in the Mississippi River Basin and Gulf of Mexico. Simultaneous goals for increasing crop production and cellulosic bioenergy production while reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture put multiple pressures on growers and conservation programs to develop and implement sustainable intensification strategies. Double-cropping winter rye cover crops with soybean in the North Central U.S. could help with the global effort to sustainably intensify agriculture and increase cellulosic energy production, but studies addressing the management of these systems and quantifying the large-scale impacts are non-existent. ARS scientists in Ames, Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, in collaboration with scientists from Iowa State University, Penn State University, and McGill University completed a field and modeling study that suggested harvesting fertilized rye cover crop biomass before planting soybean is a promising practice for the North Central U.S. to cost effectively maximize total crop production and net energy production while reducing N loss to drainage and the Mississippi River. This research will help policy makers and growers in their effort to design and implement effective management systems to reduce N loads to the Mississippi River Basin and Gulf of Mexico while increasing cellulosic bioenergy production.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Emmett, B.D., O'Brien, P.L., Malone, R.W., Rogovska, N.P., Kovar, J.L., Kohler, K., Kaspar, T.C., Moorman, T.B., Jaynes, D.B., Parkin, T.B. 2022. Nitrate losses in subsurface drainage and nitrous oxide emissions from a winter camelina relay cropping system reveal challenges to sustainable intensification. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 339. Article 108136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2022.108136.
- Malone, R.W., O'Brien, P.L., Herbstritt, S., Emmett, B.D., Karlen, D.L., Kaspar, T.C., Kohler, K., Radke, A.G., Lence, S.H., Wu, H., Richard, T.L. 2022. Rye-soybean double-crop: planting method and N fertilization effects in the North Central US. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 37(5):445- 456. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170522000096.
- Herbstritt, S., Richard, T.L., Lence, S.H., Wu, H., O'Brien, P.L., Emmett, B.D., Kaspar, T.C., Karlen, D.L., Kohler, K., Malone, R.W. 2022. Rye as an energy cover crop: Management, forage quality, and revenue opportunities for feed and bioenergy. Agriculture. 12(10). Article 12101691. https://doi. org/10.3390/agriculture12101691.
- Phillips, C.L., Tekeste, M., Ebrahimi, E., Logsdon, S.D., Malone, R.W., O'Brien, P.L., Emmett, B.D., Karlen, D.L. 2023. Thirteen-year stover harvest and tillage effects on soil compaction in Iowa. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 6(2). Article e20361. https://doi.org/10.1002/ agg2.20361.
- Volk, J.M., Huntington, J.L., Melton, F., Minor, B., Wang, T., Anapalli, S. S., Anderson, R.G., Evett, S.R., French, A.N., Jasoni, R., Bambach, N., Kustas, W.P., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., Hipps, L., McKee, L.G., Castro, S.J., Alsina, M.M., McElrone, A.J., Reba, M.L., Runkle, B., Saber, M., Sanchez, C., Tajfar, E., Allen, R., Anderson, M.C. 2023. Post-processed data and graphical tools for a CONUS-wide eddy flux evapotranspiration dataset. Data in Brief. 48. Article 109274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib. 2023.109274.
- Aboutalebi, M., Torres, A., McKee, M., Kustas, W.P., Nieto, H., Alsina, M., White, W.A., Prueger, J.H., McKee, L.G., Alfieri, J.G., Hipps, L., Coopmans, C., Sanchez, L., Dokoozlian, N. 2022. Downscaling UAV land surface temperature using a coupled wavelet-machine learning-optimization algorithm and its impact on evapotranspiration. Irrigation Science. 40:553- 574. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00801-2.
- Gao, R., Torres-Rua, A., Nieto, H., Zahn, E., Hipps, L., Kustas, W.P., Alsina, M., Ortiz, N., Castro, S., Prueger, J., Alfieri, J.G., McKee, L.G., White, W.A., Gao, F.N., McElrone, A.J., Anderson, M.C., Knipper, K.R., Coopmans, C., Gowing, I., Agam, N., Sanchez, L., Dokoozlian, N. 2023. ET partitioning assessment using the TSEB model and sUAS information across California Central Valley vineyards. Remote Sensing. 15(3). Article 756. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15030756.
- Fan, M.Z., Kerr, B.J., Trabue, S.L., Yin, X., Yang, Z., Wang, W. 2022. Swine nutrition and environment. In: Chiba, L.I., editor. Sustainable Swine Nutrition. 2nd edition. Hoboken, NJ. Wiley. p.547-601.
- Hwang, O., Yun, Y., Trabue, S.L. 2023. Impact of Bacillus subtilis on manure solids, odor, and microbiome. Journal of Environmental Management. 333. Article 117390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117390.
- Doherty, C.T., Johnson, L.F., Volk, J., Mauter, M.S., Bambach, N.E., McElrone, A.J., Alfieri, J.G., Hipps, L.E., Prueger, J.H., Castro, S.J., Alsina, M., Kustas, W.P., Melton, F.S. 2022. Effects of meteorological and land surface modeling uncertainty on errors in winegrape ET calculated with SIMS. Irrigation Science. 40:515-530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271- 022-00808-9.
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Progress 10/01/21 to 09/30/22
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Develop new methods and improve the characterization of carbon, nitrogen and water cycles and agrochemical dynamics to improve management opportunities for better productivity and reduced environmental impact. Subobjective 1.1: Evaluate and compare management system influences on ET, CO2 exchange, surface energy balance partitioning and N2O emissions as a function of conventional and cover crop tillage practices. Subobjective 1.2: Evaluate effect of drainage depth and spacing on N2O emissions. Subobjective 1.3: Develop an improved measurement technique to quantify volatilization and atmospheric transport of agrochemicals necessary to develop and evaluate agrochemical management and remediation strategies. Objective 2: Improve understanding of nutrient partitioning and flows from animal production to field application of manure to reduce gaps in emission inventories and improve mitigation techniques. Subobjective 2.1: Determine NH3 and H2S emissions from swine finishing barn and manure storage based on feed inputs. Subobjective 2.2: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and NH3 emissions. Subobjective 2.3: Develop improved techniques for quantifying ammonia deposition near livestock production sites. Objective 3: Identify drivers of soil and plant associated microbial community structure and function to improve soil health, nutrient use efficiency, and system resilience. Subobjective 3.1: Test cropping system influence on soil and plant associated microbial communities. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that remain in nutrient cycling, water use efficiency, and fate of resource inputs for cropping-livestock systems including cropping systems with highly structured canopies. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) Long-term agriculture research (LTAR) networks to evaluate tillage, cover-crop, and fertilizer management influence on surface energy partitioning, water use efficiency, soil health and greenhouse gas emissions; 2) Turbulent transport mechanisms will be determined, including deposition and management practices that reduce the loss of agrochemicals from cropping systems; and 3) The partitioning of nutrients in livestock systems will be determined to evaluate management practices that reduce nutrient emissions and deposition. Field studies at LTAR network sites using eddy covariance towers will quantify evapotranspiration, carbon dioxide exchange and surface energy partitioning from reduced tillage practices with chamber studies at LTAR sites being used to quantify nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. In other field studies, eddy covariance towers will be used to quantify water use efficiency through variable irrigation scheduling in vineyards and chamber studies used to quantify N2O emissions through intensified drainage practices. The transport parameters controlling volatile losses of agrochemicals from cropping systems based on tillage practices will be quantified using eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide accurate eddy diffusivities for agrochemical vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. Riparian buffer zones will be used to quantify the fraction of agrochemicals captured by vegetative buffers to the fraction of agrochemicals volatilized. Open path ammonia (NH3) lasers will be used to quantify NH3 emissions using both barn ventilation and micrometeorology inverse dispersion modeling techniques. The partitioning of nutrients between animal, manure, and gas emissions will be quantified based on nutrient inputs (feed, animals, and residue manure) and nutrient outputs (live and dead animals, manure, and gas emissions of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) compounds from barns). Open path methane (CH4) and NH3 lasers and an array of NH3 passive samplers along a transect from an animal feeding operation will quantify NH3 dry deposition using both a tracer gas technique and a bidirectional NH3 flux modeling technique. The quantification of soil extracellular polymeric substances and soil aggregate stability coupled with microbial genome sequencing analysis will be used to evaluate tillage and cover-crop impact on soil health. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve the sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. Objective 1. Field monitoring study of eddy covariance and surface energy fluxes were conducted at the LTAR and AmeriFlux sites (Williams and Brooks) to quantify water vapor and carbon dioxide exchanges over a production field under reduced tillage operations and conventional tillage in response to variable production management systems. At the Williams site (North field), 8 chamber systems designed to measure soil emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) gas from this year�s soybean production field were tested and deployed to capture N2O and CH4 during the freeze-thaw period beginning in late February 2022 through the end of March 2022. A Los Gatos Research (LGR) N2O and CH4 laser analyzer was tested and evaluated in a laboratory setting in preparation for deployment to the North Williams site in July 2022. The deployment of the soil chambers and LGR trace gas analyzer represents an enhancement to the LTAR suite of surface flux measurements (water and carbon dioxide) as this is a joint project with Department of Energy (DOE) to monitor and quantify annual trace gas (N2O and CH4) fluxes in a Midwest cropping system (corn/soybean). Nitrous oxide and methane emissions will be measured throughout the year to characterize temporal variability emissions with respect to rainfall and diurnal soil temperature. Field measurements of experimental treatments were conducted at the UMRB LTAR site in Ames, Iowa, to quantify management impacts on nitrous oxide emissions. All treatments were in a corn-soybean rotation and included: 1) fall chisel plow, spring disk with spring-applied anhydrous ammonia (business as usual (BP)); 2) no-tillage with no cover crop (NTNC) with sidedress application of point injected urea ammonium nitrate (UAN); 3) no-till with winter rye cover crop and sidedress point injected UAN; 4) spring tillage with cover crop and an over-wintering winter camelina relay crop between corn and soybean (WC); and 5) a zero N fertilizer treatment that was otherwise managed as the NTNC (ZN). The WC system was in its sixth year and data from the entire six-year study period were compiled to compare N2O emissions and NO3 loss in drainage between the WC and BP treatments. It was found that the WC did not contribute to reduced NO3 loads in subsurface drainage. Shifts in the management system to accommodate a winter camelina relay crop increased N2O emissions during the camelina-soybean phase of the rotation. Most of this increase was associated with a small starter N fertilizer application that was provided to the camelina in the fall and with increased spring thaw emissions in the WC treatment compared to the BP. Removing the fall fertilizer application and applying N only in the spring sidedress may be an option for mitigating N2O emissions in the WC system. A manuscript has been prepared from this data. Work in California on the GRAPEX (Grape Remote sensing Atmospheric Profile & Evapotranspiration eXperiment) project was expanded to include more vineyards. The canopy vine structure influences exchange and transport processes of water vapor and carbon dioxide gas that pass through the canopy via canopy ventilation shafts produced by vine branches and leaves. A new design of synchronized high-frequency eddy covariance (EC) measurements for below/within vine canopies has been developed and tested. This system is being deployed in a production vineyard near Madera, California. Synchronized high frequency measurements will be conducted beginning in July for a period of 6 weeks to better understand the vertical turbulence characteristics and transport in structured agricultural canopies. Field measurements were conducted to quantify the effects of subsurface drainage depth and intensity on N2O emissions. Drainage treatments were monitored weekly during the growing season and every other week during the fall and winter. In the first year of the study, it was found that plots with subsurface drainage had 50% reduced N2O emissions compared to a no-drained treatment. Treatments with the most intensive drainage (narrow spacing, deeper tile line) demonstrated the greatest reduction in N2O emission. Field measurements will continue in future years to determine if these trends hold in varying weather years. Research was initiated to understand patterns of N2O production in the soil profile in relation to the changing water depth influenced by the drainage treatments. Prototype gas probes were constructed to monitor subsurface N2O concentrations. Initial models performed well in terms of quantifying the concentration profile but clogged easily in the fine textured soils. Researchers are developing an alternate design that utilizes a permeable membrane to allow gas diffusion into the sample well while excluding water and sediment. Relaxed Eddy Accumulation (REA) Pesticide volatilization (vapor transport) is a dominant vapor loss pathway for many pesticides. This pathway is variable and specific to pesticide type, chemical formulation, surface target characteristics (vegetation/soil) and local meteorological conditions. Turbulence is the primary transport mechanism for pesticide vapor from a surface to the atmosphere. A new and simplified pesticide volatilization measurement system (REA) has been developed and tested in a laboratory setting. The REA system will enable simultaneous measurements of pesticide vapor with vertical wind motion common with turbulent transport. The system was ready for field deployment and final Beta testing in June 2022 at the Optimizing Production Inputs for Economic and Environmental Enhancement (OPE3) site located in Beltsville, Maryland. Objective 2. Sensors were deployed along a transect in a swine finishing barn to monitor both NH3 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Sensors were also co- located with cavity ring-down spectrometers (CRDS) for both NH3 and H2S. Two types of NH3 sensors were compared, one based on an electrochemical cell and the other using a bioengineered material. The H2S sensor was an electrochemical sensor. Sensors followed similar patterns of high to low concentrations along the barn transect. However, winter conditions (high air concentrations of both gases and dust) limited sensor use through either saturating sensor response (air concentration out of sensor range) or clogging of sensor fans prompting shutdown. Sensors derived from bioengineered material were more limited in measuring NH3 concentrations below 1 ppmv. Survey of seasonal laser data showed concentrations of NH3 in the winter averaged over 20 ppmv reaching as high as 100 ppmv for short periods of time (less than 15 min) in the late evening/early morning, while summer concentrations averaged less than 2 ppm but evening concentrations trended upwards (5-10 ppmv) as outside temperatures dropped. Research was initiated to measure NH3 deposition from a swine finishing operation over a two year period using the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) STAGE model. Researchers from both USDA ARS and EPA worked to develop a sampling transect to capture prevailing wind directions based on wind rose diagrams for the area. Researchers coordinated measurements with growers and owners of a field adjacent to the swine facility. A total of 30 three-meter sampling posts with inverted plastic shelters were constructed and Ogawa passive samplers deployed. Testing of sampling protocol is on-going and lasers have been deployed to measure background NH3 gas concentrations. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 Conservation practices to reduce nitrogen (N) loss. Croplands with corn and soybean in the central United States are highly productive, but they pose a risk to the environment when N is lost as nitrate (NO3-) in subsurface drainage or as N2O emissions. Sustainable farming management practices that reduce these impacts without sacrificing yield are needed. ARS scientists in Ames, Iowa, assessed both NO3- losses and N2O emissions in cropping systems using two conservation practices: cover crops and no-till management. Overall, neither practice consistently reduced both NO3- losses and N2O emissions, indicating the two are not linked. No-till management did not affect either one. Cover crops reduced NO3- losses but not N2O emissions. Rather, N2O emissions were linked with fertilizer N applications and weather patterns. Overall, the mechanisms regulating NO3- loss and N2O emissions were not linked. The study suggests it may be necessary to combine multiple conservation practices to reduce environmental impacts in these systems. 02 Improved water use of California vineyards. Improving irrigation management is critical to ensuring water, already a scarce resource in California, is used effectively. Managing irrigation in vineyards is complicated by the unique vine canopy structure. Because of the wide rows and clumped natures of the vines, current theories and the models that rely on may not adequately describe the physical processes controlling water evaporation from vineyards. ARS scientists in Beltsville, Maryland and Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with university scientists from Utah State University and University of California, Davis, conducted a study to understand the unique airflow patterns over a vineyard in the Central Valley of California. The results show that the direction of air flow can strongly influence the vertical turbulent structure above the vines and thus the exchange of heat and moisture. Lateral air flow oriented perpendicular to the canopy row orientation will have greatest turbulent mixing and larger fluxes. The direction of air flow, which is not considered by current modeling methods, is likely to be an important factor for accurately modeling vine water loss and developing irrigation strategies to support reduced irrigation decisions that conserve water resources while maintaining sustainable yields and grape quality. 03 Alternative swine diet formulations to improve economic and environmental efficiency. Diet formulations using both non-nutritive feed additives (i.e., organic acids) and direct-fed microbials have the potential to improve the efficiency of nutrient utilization in pigs. ARS researcher in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with university researchers from Iowa State University and researchers at Dutch State Mines Feed Company (DSM), conducted a swine feeding trial to evaluate the effects of adding benzoic acid supplemented with and without direct- fed microbials on nutrient metabolism and manure emissions of growing pigs. Feeding 0.3% benzoic acid did not affect nutrient digestibility, but reduced urinary N excretion, and improved N retention compared to the basal diet. Benzoic acid reduced urine and manure pH stabilizing NH3 in manure and reducing NH3 emissions. However, supplementing direct- fed microbials had no effect and when supplemented with benzoic acid weakened its positive effects. Information from this research will be of value to researchers, feed companies and growers looking for alternative feed ingredients to improve the environmental sustainability of swine production. 04 Origins of swine foaming pits. Foam accumulation in swine manure has been linked to explosions and flash fires from sudden and unexpected release of flammable gases, including methane. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with university scientists from Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota conducted a field study to survey physical, chemical, and biological parameters that correlate to foam accumulation at 10 farms in Iowa and Illinois. Chemical markers and microbial communities that differed between foaming and non-foaming manure were identified. Foaming barns had higher levels of both proteins and large chain fatty acids. Non-foaming manures had higher concentrations of short chain fatty acids that are known to slow formation of the methane gas a flammable gas. Several bacteria that differed in relative abundance in foaming versus non-foaming pits were identified and bacteria associated with foaming manure produced a protein material that stabilized foam. These results suggest an explanation for manure foaming in which growth of certain microorganisms leads to excessive production of methane gas and stabilizing proteins. Information in this report will be of value for growers, engineers, and scientists working on foaming issues associated with waste processing.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Trabue, S.L., Kerr, B.J., Scoggin, K.D., Andersen, D., van Weelden, M. 2022. Swine diets: Impact of carbohydrate sources on manure characteristics and gas emissions. Science of the Total Environment. 825. Article e153911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153911.
- Strom, N., Ma, Y., Andersen, D., Trabue, S.L., Chen, C., Hu, B. 2022. Eubacterium coprostanoligenes and Methanoculleus identified as potential producers of metabolites that contribute to swine manure foaming. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 132(4):2906-2924. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam. 15384.
- O'Brien, P.L., Emmett, B.D., Malone, R.W., Nunes, M.R., Kovar, J.L., Kaspar, T.C., Moorman, T.B., Jaynes, D.B., Parkin, T.B. 2022. Nitrate losses and nitrous oxide emissions under contrasting tillage and cover crop management. Journal of Environmental Quality. 51:683-695. https://doi. org/10.1002/jeq2.20361.
- Zahn, E., Bou-Zeid, E., Good, S., Katul, G., Khaled, G., Snith, J., Chamecki, M., Dias, N., Fuentes, J., Alfieri, J.G., Caylor, K., Soderberg, K., Goa, Z., Bambach, N., Hipps, L.E., Prueger, J.H., Kustas, W.P. 2022. Direct partitioning of eddy covariance water and carbon dioxide fluxes into ground and plant components. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 315:10879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108790.
- Bambach, N.E., Kustas, W.P., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., Hipps, L., McKee, L.G., Castro-Bustamante, S., Volk, J., Alsina, M.M., McElrone, A.J. 2022. Evapotranspiration uncertainty at micrometeorological scales: The impact of the eddy covariance energy imbalance and correction methods. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00783-1.
- Bambach, N.E., Kustas, W.P., Alfieri, J.G., Gao, F.N., Prueger, J.H., Hipps, L., McKee, L.G., Castro-Bustamante, S., Alsina, M.M., McElrone, A.J. 2022. Inter-annual variability of land surface fluxes across vineyards: The role of climate, phenology, and irrigation management. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00784-0.
- Kustas, W.P., Nieto, H., Garcia-Tejera, O., Bambach, N., McElrone, A.J., Gao, F.N., Alfieri, J.G., Hipps, L., Prueger, J.H., Torres, A., Anderson, M.C.,Knipper, K.R., Alsina, M., Mckee, L.G., Zahn, E., Bou-Zeid, E., Dokoozlian, N. 2022. Impact of advection on Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) canopy transpiration parameterization for vineyards in the California Central Valley. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00778-y.
- Xue, J., Anderson, M.C., Gao, F.N., Hain, C., Knipper, K.R., Yang, Y., Kustas, W.P., Yang, Y., Bambach, N., McElrone, A.J., Castro, S., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., McKee, L.G., Hipps, L., Alsina, M. 2022. Improving the spatiotemporal resolution of remotely sensed ET information for water management through Landsat, Sentinel-2, ECOSTRESS and VIIRS data fusion. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00799-7.
- Burchard-Levine, V., Nieto, H., Kustas, W.P., Gao, F.N., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., Hipps, L.E., Bambach, N., McElrone, A.J., Castro, S., Alsinam., McKee, L.G., Zhan, E. 2022. Application of a remote sensing three-source energy balance model to improve evapotranspiration partitioning in vineyards. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s00271-022-00787-x.
- Nieto, H., Alsina, M., Kustas, W.P., Garcia-Tejera, O., Chen, F., Bambach, N., Gao, F.N., Alfieri, J.G., Hipps, L.E., Prueger, J.H., Mckee, L.G., Zhan, E., Bou-Zeid, E., Mcelrone, A.J., Castro, S., Dokoozlian, N. 2022. Evaluating different metrics from the thermal-based Two-Source Energy Balance model for monitoring grapevine water stress. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00790-2.
- Gao, R., Torres, A., Aboutalebi, M., White, W.A., Anderson, M.C., Kustas, W.P., Agam, N., Alsina, N., Alfieri, J.G., Hipps, L., Dokoozlian, N., Nieto, H., Gao, F.N., McKee, L.G., Prueger, J.H., Sanchez, L., McElrone, A. J., Bambach, N., Coopmans, C., Gowing, I. 2022. LAI estimation across California vineyards using sUAS multi-seasonal multi-spectral, thermal, and elevation information and machine learning. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00776-0.
- Yang, F., Andersen, D.S., Trabue, S.L., Kent, A.D., Pepple, L.M., Gates, R. S., Howe, A.S. 2021. Microbial assemblages and methanogenesis pathways impact methane production and foaming in manure deep-pit storages. PLoS ONE. 16(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254730.
- Bhattarai, N., D'Urso, G., Kustas, W.P., Bambach, N., Anderson, M.C., Gao, F.N., Alsina, M., Aboutalebi, M., McKee, L.G., Alfieri, J.G., McElrone, A., Prueger, J.H., Belfiore, O. 2022. Influence of modeling domain and meteorological forcing data on spectral-based Shuttleworth-Wallace derived daily evapotranspiration estimates using Sentinel-2. Irrigation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00768-0.
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