Performing Department
Plant Science
Non Technical Summary
Agricultural production in the Northeast US is strained by multiple stressors, including low commodity prices, increasing costs of production, extreme weather events and the evolution of herbicide resistant weeds. At the same time as these stressors are jeopardizing farmers'production systems, public expectations for the sustainability and ecosystem service provision of agriculture are increasing. Our capacity grant will help farmers address these economic and environmental threats to their production systems and meet the increasing demands (and opportunities) from the public by developing new modeling tools to analyze multi-faceted production scenarios, developing novel cropping system management practices that are resilient in the face of biotic, abiotic, and economic stressors, and improving nutrient recommendations and conservation planning tools.To develop these tools and cropping system strategies, we will conduct field experiments at research station and on-farm sites throughout Pennsylvania to determine nutrient application rates, manure management strategies, crop rotation practices, and integrated weed management systems that are appropriate to the scale and objectives of cropping systems in the Northeast. Decision support tools, including a biophysical simulation model, an online conservation planning platform, and site-specific nutrient management recommendations will be developed by the project to assist farmers, agronomists, and conservationists with implementing practices that increase the resilience and ecosystem service provisioning of Northeastern US cropping systems.
Animal Health Component
75%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
75%
Developmental
25%
Goals / Objectives
1. Develop recommendations and conservation planning tools that reduce nutrient and sediment losses, help farmers achieve regulatory compliance, and facilitate progress towards achieving the Chesapeake Bay TMDL (White, Weld, Karsten).Within this goal, we will:a. Develop a next generation nitrogen fertilizer recommendation system that credits N availability from cover crops and soil organic matter;b. Improve manure management recommendations including the use of manure injection technology and appropriate poultry litter application rates to meet N requirements;c. Evaluate and document existing PAOneStop services and areas for collaborative short-term and long-term expansion;d. Develop and deliver interdisciplinary tools to enhance farm management decision making processes using PAOneStop;e. Develop protocols for data-sharing and database development in PAOneStop and deliver data to collaborators through agreed upon protocols.2. Develop cropping system practices that increase productivity and resilience, increase soil health, and manage weeds. (Karsten, Duiker, Wallace)Within this goal, we will:a. Identify agronomic cropping system management and technologies for the Northeast that enhance crop productivity, weed control, soil health, ecosystem services and resilience to climate change;b. Determine how livestock grazing systems can be managed to increase profit and soil health;c. Determine how tillage practices affect crop yield and food quality;d. Develop and communicate integrated weed management (IWM) tactics to sustain weed control systems and balance conservation and production goals.3. Develop models and databases to assess agricultural productivity and ecosystem services at field, watershed and regional scales. (Kemanian). Within this goal, we will:a. Assess the productivity of annual and perennial crops, including monocultures and polycultures, for silage, grain, and energy biomass production using Cycles and experiment-tested crop input and soil input parameters;b. Assess impacts of distributed application of precision conservation and precision agriculture on water quality and agricultural systems resilience using Cycles-L.
Project Methods
Objective 1a (White) - Nitrogen rate trials in corn will be conducted at on-farm and research station locations to determine corn yield responsiveness to N fertilizer after cover crops in different cropping system contexts (e.g., no-till, organic production, with and without manure history). Optimal N fertilizer rates realized at these trials will be compared to existing N recommendation protocols derived from the Penn State Agronomy Guide, pre-sidedress soil nitrate testing, computer simulations of the N cycle (e.g., Adapt-N and Granular N model) and the new N recommendation tool under development at Penn State.Objective 1b (Karsten and White) - In a long-term no-till dairy and corn-grain cropping system trial at the PSU Russell E Larson Agricultural Research Center (RLARC) in Centre Co., we will evaluate new shallow-disk manure injection equipment compared to standard no-till surface broadcast manure application. On commercial dairy farms in Pennsylvania, we will also evaluate shallow-disk injection for the liquid separate from anaerobic digested manure. Using models such as Integrated Farming Systems we will simulate and assess the impact of the continuous plant cover cropping strategies and shallow-disk manure injection with future climate projections for climate change adaptation and mitigation.In short-term research plots, poultry litter nitrogen availability factors in no-till production will be evaluated. Poultry litter will be spread at 2T/ac on multiple dates in spring before corn production. The fertilizer N equivalence of the poultry litter will be evaluated based on corn yield responses and N uptake following poultry litter relative to corn yield response and N uptake to a gradient of N fertilizer rates applied to separate plots.Objective 1c (Weld) - Using the PAOneStop platform (paonestop.psu.edu) and benchmark crop rotations, we will compare the current PAOneStop soil loss calculations with RUSLE2 soil loss calculations, and sediment loss documented in literature. Benchmark crop rotations will be identified cooperatively with CRIS cooperators, USDA-NRCS, and PAOneStop advisory groups. Results will be reported to PAOneStop advisory groups, USDA-NRCS State Technical Committee, Nutrient Management Advisory Board, Ag Advisory Board, county conservation district staff, agricultural consultants, and farmers.Objective 1d (Weld) - A Manure Management Plan application will be developed, evaluated, and made available for use on the PAOneStop (paonestop.psu.edu) platform. The application will integrate mapping, field evaluation, and manure and fertilizer application calculations, and reporting outlined by state policies and regulations. The Pennsylvania Phosphorus Index (P Index) evaluation process and calculations will be included in the application requiring mapping application revisions to include tools to delineate multiple buffers, critical source areas, and to visualize management and field delineation changes.Objective 1e (Weld) - To expand our understanding of how we can assist farmers and land managers communicate and document management decisions, agreed upon protocols for data summarization of and data sharing from PAOneStop databases will be developed. The intent of the protocols is to demonstrate progress in conservation implementation, to target areas where additional education and research may be necessary, and to ensure all reporting is consistent and verifiable. These protocols will be established cooperatively ensuring that individual farmer privacy is protected, and agreements meet the requirements of Right-to-Know laws.Objective 2a (Karsten) - At the PSU Russell E Larson Agricultural Research Center (RLARC) in Centre Co. over multiple years and weather conditions, we will compare a common no-till simple dairy cropping rotation (3 years alfalfa and orchardgrass rotated with two years of corn silage/cover crop) and soybean to a no-till dairy cropping system that integrates more continuous plant cover and some mechanical weed control "the weed management rotation" through delayed crop spring termination practices, double cropped winter annual silage between summer annual crops, and multiple harvests of sorghum-sudangrass. We will compare crop productivity and quality, soil health, weed control, herbicide inputs and cost of production.Objective 2b (Duiker) - We will investigate profitability and soil health effects of grazing cover crops on farms in southcentral Pennsylvania. Four farmers will graze cover crops using management intensive grazing techniques. The effects of grazing on select soil physical, biological, and chemical properties and grazed forage yield will be monitored. A total life-cycle analysis of greenhouse gas footprint of grass-fed versus grain-finished beef production will be evaluated using the Integrated Farming Systems Model (IFSM) and the Denitrification DeComposition model (DNDC).Objective 2c (Duiker) - Crop yields and grain quality from a long-term tillage trial will be analyzed. This field trial is laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Grain yields have been monitored since the beginning of this trial. Grain will be analyzed for amino acid and longevity-vitamin content to contrast the effect of long-term no-tillage with that of reduced and intensive tillage.Objective 2d (Wallace) - At PSU-RELARC, field experiments will be implemented to improve understanding of how high-residue cover crop management tactics (termination timing, species selection, residue management) influence (1) the fate and efficacy of soil-applied residual herbicides; (2) selection pressure on postemergence herbicides, (3) corn and soybean performance and (4) net returns to management. Multiple 2 to 3-yr component experiments will be implemented to investigate alternative combinations of IWM tactics in corn and soybean production systems. In addition, we will compare standard weed management practices in a 6-yr dairy rotation with IWM practices, using intensified cover crop management in order to reduce herbicide inputs.At PSU-RELARC, a 3-yr organic cropping system experiment will be implemented to quantify tradeoffs among provisioning (crop yield), regulating (pest control, nutrient balance), and supporting (soil health, soil erosion) services that contribute to contribute to cropping system resilience. Our experimental systems will use alternative cover cropping and reduced-tillage practices to produce a tillage intensity, tillage frequency, and perenniality (i.e., length of time without tillage) gradient within a 3-yr corn - soybean - wheat rotation. We will measure the effect of weed control tactics employed within alternative reduced-tillage and cover cropping strategies on weed control performance, weed seedbank trajectories, and changes in weed community composition.Objectives 3a and b (Kemanian) - We will enrich a system to simulate any agricultural system anywhere in the nation starting with Pennsylvania. An existing, publicly available webservice allows user to simulate a large number of scenarios for individual fields in the USA (https://cycles-model.psu.edu/Cycles/CyclesModel.html). A system to simulate agricultural practices off-line efficiently will be developed. While simulating agriculture on a field-by-field basis is feasible and has been accomplished for the more than 850,000 agricultural fields in Iowa with Cycles, we propose to develop both an agile system to conduct simulations representative of entire counties for the nation with Cycles (>3,000 counties in the nation) (Objective 3a) and a system to represent with fidelity within-watershed practices with fidelity using Cycles-L (Objective 3b). The database will glue NLDAS meteorological data, the G-SSURGO soils database and the area of cropland (irrigated or dryland plus other categories) as represented in the most recent USGS land use database.