Progress 07/01/23 to 06/30/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Scientistis, teachers, and farmers. In collaboration with the IUI Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES), the project continued its engagement with high school students attending the FFA Annual Conference in Indianapolis. On Nov 2, 2023, we co-hosted 70 FFA conference attendees (60 students, 10 adults/chaperones) at Starkey Farms, northwest Indianapolis. The day's conversations focused on the business aspects of farming, sustainable agriculture, and water quality. The project co-sponsored a Teachers' Professional Development Workshop (July 8-10, 2024) that was held in Indianapolis under the theme "Incorporating Sustainable Agriculture in the Classroom". The workshop was attended by 9 teachers from neighboring school districts. In addition to classroom instructions, demonstrations, and discussions, participating teachers visited a farm and a local drinking water reservoir. Discussions between teachers and farmers focused on the linkages between farming practices and drinking water quality. The workshop was led by affiliated faculty, staff members, and undergraduate interns at the IUI Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In Year 3, the following individuals participated in project activities: - Postdoc: Li Yue (IUI- advisor: L. Wang) - PhD students: Yu Peng (IUI - advisors: L. Wang, PA. Jacinthe); and Hem Sharma (advisor: PA Jacinthe) -PhD students: Ritu Mohanpuria (advisor: W. Ren) and Qiangyu Li (UConn - advisor: W. Ren) Undergraduate students: Brady Turner and Harley Carter (interns at the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES), IUI - advisor: P.A. Jacinthe) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?- On December 15, 2023, PhD student Yu Peng gave an oral presentation on the preliminary results of greenhouse gas measurements at the AGU Annual Meeting 2023. - On February 29, 2024, Yu Peng attended the annual USGS Indiana Edge of Field Update Meeting and presented the main findings on greenhouse gas measurements to participating farmers and collaborating USGS folks. - On March 22, 2024, Yu Peng participated in the 24th Annual Crossroads Conference at Indiana University Bloomington and presented the main findings on the impact of cover crops on main crop yield. - On May 7, 2024, some of the work conducted under Objective 1 was featured and highlighted on Indiana University News, introducing the latest global meta-analysis of the impact of cover crops on main. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Based on the U.S. cereal rye winter cover crop growth database and the U.S. crop yields dataset, we plan to assess the spatial variation that how cereal rye winter cover crops impact crop yields at a regional scale. Objective 2: IUI group will continue revising the manuscript based on the peer reviewers' comments, refine the conclusions, and get the GHG emissions work published. We plan to initiate a perspective paper to highlight the uncertainties in GHG emission observations between experimental stations and farmer-managed fields and to call for a feasibility assessment of the effects of farmer-operated CCNT on greenhouse gas emissions. Objective 3: UConn group will continue to work on global data synthesis to assess the mitigation potential of cover crops to climate change and extreme events. Meanwhile, a collaboration between UConn and the IUI group will start the data-model integration to conduct model simulations based on the on-farm and lab experiment data and predict crop production and GWP responses to no-tillage and cover crops in Fort Wayne, IN under future climate change. Objective 4: The project has sponsored the production of professionally made educational videos on sustainable agriculture to facilitate the incorporation of related concepts into grade school teaching. The videos are based on demonstrations conducted by teachers during the summer 2024 workshop (described above) on topics such as water infiltration, surface run-off, and soil aggregate stability using the Slake test. These videos would allow teachers to demonstrate differences between soils under conventional farming and conservation management practices. When done, videos will be postedon YouTube.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: In the past year, the meta-analysis of crop yield was accomplished and got published in Field Crops Research, which was led by Indiana University Indianapolis (IUI). The results indicated that overall, using cover crops resulted in a 2.6% yield increase across all conditions. Particularly, adopting leguminous cover crops without additional fertilization led to a significant yield increase for main crops. Such a yield benefit was observed to perform better in coarser soils or dry areas. This literature synthesis encompassed 104 studies on cover crops and gathered 1,027 field-based yield data points from around the world. It attracted wide interest from both scientists and agricultural companies and was cited multiple times soon after its publication. Objective 2: Led by PI Wang and PI Jacinthe, the IUI group has accomplished on-farm and laboratory experiments, data analysis, and interpretation during the last year. The main findings have been addressed in a manuscript, now undergoing the final revision for submission for peer review. This two-year observation under producer-managed fields in Fort Wayne, IN, suggested that: (i) The combination of cover crops and no-till practice (CCNT) generally produced 15.15% greater overall Greenhouse Warming Potential (GWP) than no-till alone. CO2 is the dominant factor to this increase, with CCNT fluxes 14.19% higher across all seasons and 15.98% during the growing season. CH4 fluxes of CCNT were found significantly higher during the growing season than NT but with negligible differences in estimated GWP. N2O fluxes showed no statistical differences during either the growing or fallow seasons; (ii) Winter rye CCNT had neutral impacts on GHG emissions without detectable soil carbon sequestration and soil NO3- promotion; (iii) Implementing interseeding mixtures CCNT led to higher in-season GWP with decreased CO2 fluxes and promoted SOC accumulation but also significantly increased N2O fluxes. However, after interseeding practice, the CCNT field was found significant carbon sequestration and soil NO3- improvement, with CO2 fluxes reduced comparable to NT and N2O fluxes lower than NT. Eventually, the GWP of CCNT decreased to the level of NT, achieving neutral GHG emissions while enhancing SOC. Objective 3: Led by PI Ren at the University of Connecticut (UConn), the modeling group has accomplished the study of no-tillage and cover crops and got it published in Environmental Research Letters. This study examined the effects of tillage intensity on soil nitrate losses in the US Midwest from 1979-2018 using field data synthesis and process-based agroecosystem modeling approaches. Our results revealed that no-tillage (NT) or reduced tillage intensity (RTI) decreased nitrate runoff but increased nitrate leaching compared to conventional tillage. These trade-offs were largely caused by altered water fluxes, which elevated total nitrate losses. Reduction in nitrate runoff under NT or RTI was negatively correlated with precipitation, and the increased nitrate leaching was positively associated with soil bulk density. We further explored the combined effects of NT or RTI and winter cover crops and found that incorporating winter cover crops into NT systems effectively reduced nitrate runoff but did not significantly affect nitrate leaching. Our findings underscore the precautions of implementing NT or RTI to promote sustainable agriculture under changing climate conditions. This study provides valuable insights into the complex relationship between tillage intensity and nitrate loss pathways, contributing to informed decision-making in climate-smart agriculture. Objective 4: In collaboration with the IUI Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES), the project continued its engagement with high school students attending the FFA Annual Conference in Indianapolis. On Nov 2, 2023, we co-hosted 70 FFA conference attendees (60 students, 10 adults/chaperones) at Starkey Farms, northwest Indianapolis. The day's conversations focused on the business aspects of farming, sustainable agriculture, and water quality. The project co-sponsored a Teachers' Professional Development Workshop (July 8-10, 2024) that was held in Indianapolis under the theme "Incorporating Sustainable Agriculture in the Classroom". The workshop was attended by 9 teachers from neighboring school districts. In addition to classroom instructions, demonstrations, and discussions, participating teachers visited a farm and a local drinking water reservoir. Discussions between teachers and farmers focused on the linkages between farming practices and drinking water quality. The workshop was led by affiliated faculty, staff members, and undergraduate interns at the IUI Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES).
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Peng, Y., Wang, L., Jacinthe, P.A. and Ren, W., 2024. Global synthesis of cover crop impacts on main crop yield. Field Crops Research, 310, p.109343.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Huang, Y., Ren, W., Lindsey, L.E., Wang, L., Hui, D., Tao, B., Jacinthe, P.A. and Tian, H., 2024. No-tillage farming enhances widespread nitrate leaching in the US Midwest. Environmental Research Letters.
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Progress 07/01/22 to 06/30/23
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In Year 2, the following individuals participated in project activities: - Postdoc: Yawen Huang (University of Connecticut - advisor: Wei Ren) - PhD students: Yu Peng (IUPUI - advisors: L. Wang, PA. Jacinthe); and Hem Sharma (advisor: PA Jacinthe), Raenah Bailey (IUPUI - supervision: PA Jacinthe); Yogesh Kuma (University of Connecticut - advisor: W. Ren) - Undergraduate students: Carlynn Joe Diersing, Arsh Singh (IUPUI - advisor: L. Wang) Andrew Hudnut, Kamala Nair, Amanda Pease, Brady Turner (interns at the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES), IUPUI - advisor: P.A. Jacinthe) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?On March 1, 2023, PI Wang attended the producer meeting and presented our preliminary results of greenhouse gas measurements to the participating farmers and collaborating USGS folks. On August 6-11, 2023, PI Wang and Co-I Ren organized and chaired an oral session at the 2023 ESA annual meeting to disseminate CSA studies and present project results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Finalize the meta-analysis for yield and conduct GHG emissions meta-analysis to detect its response to different tillage and residue management practices. Objective 2: Going forward, we will keep the field observation running until November 2023 and analyze the GHG emission data for two complete growing seasons. Objective 3: According to our UConn research tasks, we will continuously collect datasets and complete model calibrations and simulations at multiple sites. We plan to get our multi-site and regional future modeling analysis published. Objective 4: PI Ren has incorporated project results into her graduate course (Ecosystem modeling) this fall. She plans to incorporate CSA practices (cover crops and no-till) as essential adaptation strategies in her new undergraduate class in 2024 spring.The Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES) has worked with a Middle School teacher (S. Shafer) and a graduate student (R. Bailey) to develop educational modules (3) focusing on climate and agriculture. These modules are posted on the CEES website (https://cees.iupui.edu/education-programs/k-12/teacher-resources/index.html). These modules were also presented at the HASTI (Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc) conferences in 2022 and 2023, and beta-tested at two teachers' professional development workshops (partly supported another USDA-NRCS grant; PI: Jacinthe).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: To address this objective, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the impacts of cover crops on crop yield under different scenarios. More than 3000 peer-reviewed publications were collected using a specific filter condition on the Web of Science and Google Scholar. These results were further refined to ensure each crop yield data is obtained from field experiments, and the yield records are comparable between cover cropping and no-cover cropping conditions. More than 100 articles and 1000 yield records were used in the meta-analysis. The results showed overall main crop yield was reduced by 11.27% under the cover cropping, and there were 42.21% cases with yield increase and 51.51% with yield reduction. Leguminous cover crops resulted in a 6.45% yield increase and no-leguminous cover crops resulted in a 16.15% yield decrease. Adopting leguminous cover crops without fertilizing main crops resulted in yield boosts (24.28%). We also found utilizing cover crops did not impair yield if the field had already been introduced to the no-till practice, and introducing cover crops on coarser soils and dry areas can increase yield. These results are currently under review in Field Crops Research. Objective 2: To address objective 2, a field experiment was established in 2021. Three farm sites near Fort Wayne (IN), were selected for GHG emissions monitoring. One farm site (control) was managed under conventional tillage and without cover crops. The other 2 farm sites (adjacent and managed by the same farmer) were under (i) no-till without cover crop, and (ii) no-till combined cover crop. All three farm sites were actively managed cropland under farming practices common in Indiana. Note that in June 2022, the owner of the conventional field decided to discontinue his collaboration with our project. Twelve static chambers (30 cm diameter and 20 cm height) were deployed at each farm site. During GHG flux measurements, chambers were closed with a lid, and an air sample was withdrawn for each chamber headspace at 20-minute intervals over a 1-h period. Air samples were stored in evacuated glass vials. The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N?O), and methane (CH?) was measured by gas chromatography, and GHG fluxes were computed. GHG sampling was carried out twice a month during the growing season (June to September), and once a month for the rest of the year. It follows that GHG flux measurements were conducted on 10 occasions in 2021, 16 in 2022, and 14 times in 2023 (2 sampling occasions remaining at the time of writing). Results areanalyzed to evaluate the effect of tillage and cover crops on GHG emissions. Objective 3: Over the past year, our University of Connecticut (UConn) group has collaborated with the University of Kentucky (UKY) soil science group to continuously collect site data for optimizing the parameters. We have collected data at the Blevins' experiment site since the 2022 fall with the support of IUPUI lab analysis. The observational data include biomass (i.e., corn aboveground biomass, grain yield, and winter cover crop aboveground biomass, as well as their C and N contents), soil organic carbon content, soil inorganic nitrogen content, soil moisture and temperature, and trace gas fluxes. UConn group has completed model sensitivity analysis and examined the effects of diverse tillage treatments (with and without cover crops) on nutrient leaching from agricultural lands in the Mid-west region under changing climate considerations. Objective 4: At UConn, PI Ren incorporated new CSA observations and model simulation results in her NRE5695 graduate course in 2023 fall. The newly recruited graduate student (Ritu Mohanpuria) in Ren's lab had meta-data education and training to address cover crops. The former postdoc (Yawen Huang) completed his regional model simulations, leading to one manuscript submission, and got a permanent academic job. Working with ESA-AES session committees, PI Ren recently coordinated an oral session at the 2023 ESA annual meeting to present research results on climate-smart agriculture (tillage and cover crops).
Publications
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Progress 07/01/21 to 06/30/22
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In Year 1, the following individuals participated in project activities: - Postdoc: Yawen (University of Kentucky - advisor: Wei Ren) - PhD students: Yu Peng (IUPUI - advisors: L. Wang, PA. Jacinthe); and Hem Sharma (advisor: PA Jacinthe), Yogesh Kuma (UKY - advisor: W. Ren) - Undergraduate students: Carlynn Joe Diersing (IUPUI - advisor: L. Wang) Andrew Hudnut, Kamala Nair, Amanda Pease, Brady Turner (interns at the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (CEES), IUPUI - advisor: P.A. Jacinthe) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Contrary to the dissemination plan outlined in the proposal, there was no delivery in K-12 classrooms during the reporting period due to restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. On October 28, 2021, we hosted two half-day tours at Starkey Farms during the annual convention of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) in Indianapolis. Two groups (30 each) of high-school FFA members visited the School Branch watershed and Starkey Farms. Discussion with farm owner (Mike Starkey) centered around conservation farming, water quality as well as the financial aspects of farming. Tours were led by Robert Barr and Skylee Schafer, Research Scientist and Education Coordinator respectively at CEES. Several staff members (4) from local NRCS offices also participated in the program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Finalize the meta-analysis for yield and conduct another GHG emissions meta-analysis to detect its response to different tillage and residue management practices. Objective 2: Going forward, we will keep the field observation running for another year and analyze the GHG emission data for the whole two growing seasons. Due to the traditional farm site is out of cooperation since June 2022, we are actively searching for another control farm site to maintain data consistency. Objective 3: According to our UK research tasks, we will continuously collect multiple-site datasets (crop yield, soil health, GHG emission, nutrient leaching) to help understand and improve the modeling work of cover crops and no-till impacts. We will complete model calibration and get optimized parameters across multiple sites. We plan to get our regional historical modeling analysis published. Objective 4: PI Ren will move to another university (UConn) in the fall and propose to develop a new course for undergraduate and graduate students regarding climate change adaptation. She plans to incorporate CSA practices (cover crops and no-till) as essential adaptation strategies in her new class. Ren also will recruit new graduate students to conduct CSA model simulations as proposed.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: To address this objective, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the combined cover crop and tillage effects to crop yield. More than 3000 peer-reviewed publications were collected using a specific filter condition on the Web of Science. These results were further refined to ensure each crop yield data is obtained from field experiments, and the yield records are comparable between cover cropping and no-cover cropping condition. The supporting information such as cover crop species, tillage practices, and fertilization was also collected for the sub-scenario analysis. More than 300 articles and 1000 yield records were used in the meta-analysis. Statistically, the natural logarithm-transformed response ratio (lnR) was used to represent the metric quantifying the relationship between experimental and control groups. Each yield record was treated unweighted using the Pre-Calculated Model and calculated bootstrapped confidence limits using the Restricted Maximum Likelihood method. The preliminary results indicated that cover crops did not impact cash crop yield overall. In some cases, cover crops combing with specific cash crop species and other land management practices could result in a slight increase in crop yield. Objective 2: To address objective 2, a field simulation experiment was established since 2021. Three farm sites are involved to collect agricultural GHG emissions in the north part of Fort Wayne, IN. Control farm site is carrying the traditional treatment with no cover crop and conventional tillage practice. One of the compared farm sites is treated with no-till practice, and the other site is combined with no-till practice and cover crop. Every farm site is under actual farming management of Indiana rather than under experimental practice. Twelve chambers with 32.3 cm diameter and 20.1 cm height were deployed at each farm site. Greenhouse gas emission was collected for each chamber at 20 minutes intervals. Carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N?O), and methane (CH?) were measured to determine the GHG emission variation under the different cover crops and tillage treatments. Ten batches of GHG samples have been analyzed. Two more months of gas data are needed to be accomplished to determine the whole growing season trend. Objective 3: Over the past year, our University of Kentucky (UKY) group has done research tasks regarding site data collection, model calibration and parameterization, and model sensitivity simulations at a regional scale. We have collected multiple data at the Blevins' experiment site since the 2021 fall with the support of IUPUI (lab analysis). The observational data include biomass (i.e., corn aboveground biomass, grain yield, and winter cover crop aboveground biomass, as well as their C and N contents), soil organic carbon content, soil inorganic nitrogen content, soil moisture, and temperature, and trace gas fluxes. Using those data, we initialized our site-level model calibration and evaluation in simulating the impacts of NT and cover crops on crop yield, soil health, and GHG emissions. We also conducted a regional model sensitivity analysis to examine the reduced/no-till impacts on nutrient leaching under changing climate considerations (dry or wet) in the Mid-west region. Objective 4: At UKY, PI Ren incorporated new CSA observations and site-level simulation results in her PLS302 undergraduate course in 2022 spring. The graduate student (Yogesh Kumar) in Ren's lab got meta-data education and field experiment training to collect soil GHG emissions and carbon content. The postdoc (Yawen Huang) worked on the modeling issue and presented our regional model simulations at the annual AGU meeting. PI Ren recently provided research results on tillage and cover crops at Mississippi Basin Farmers' Summit and directly communicated with farmers and extension specialists.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Y. Huang, B. Tao, Z. Xiaochen, Y. Yang, L. Liang, L. Wang, et al., Conservation tillage increases corn and soybean water productivity across the Ohio River Basin. Agricultural Water Management 254, 106962 (2021).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Huang, Y. W. Ren, B. Tao, L. Wang and Y. Yang. 2021. Can conservation tillage buffer against soil nitrate loss in U.S. Midwest corn-soybean cropping systems? A regional assessment using an agroecosystem model. Poster. American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, New Orleans.
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