易胜博官网

Midwest farmers experiencing more erratic rainfall and prolonged dry periods that have devastated crops now have new guidelines to help them manage the effects of climate variability. Researchers with the 易胜博官网 Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of 易胜博官网 have created a portfolio of strategic recommendations to guide future agricultural research, policy, and management specifically for the nation鈥檚 breadbasket, which are presented in the journal Nature Sustainability.

鈥淐limate change is making rainfall more erratic. Less frequent and larger rain events are going to exacerbate agricultural nitrogen losses. Motivated by such weather-related disasters as the Midwest drought in the summer of 2012 and the floods that followed -- a one-two punch that destroyed crops and flushed so much agricultural run-off into streams that nitrate levels surpassed the EPA鈥檚 water quality standards -- we focused our efforts on the Midwest, where farmers are vulnerable to changes in rainfall,鈥� said experiment station researcher Stuart Grandy, associate professor of natural resources and the environment.

Among the recommendations are combining improved practices within crop fields, such as utilizing cover cropping and crop rotations, and around fields, such as integrating strips of perennial plants and restored wetlands. Researchers also recommend taking advantage of new cash crop varieties and emerging technologies that better synchronize nitrogen-fertilizer to plant nitrogen needs, creating a whole-systems portfolio of approaches that will contribute to maintaining yields and environmental quality in the face of erratic rainfall. Finally, the researchers also considered the economic drivers of adopting new practices, outlining the economic risks, limitations to adoption, and opportunities for incentivizing whole-system approaches to managing nitrogen.

Providing an adequate supply of nitrogen is vital for all plants, including agricultural crops; without it, they fail to maintain yields and may die. Most plants get their nitrogen from soil continuously throughout their lives through a process called the听. And because nitrogen demand usually increases as plants grow, farmers often use nitrogen fertilizer to support agricultural crops. However, when farmers face a variable climate with erratic rainfall and dry spells, soil can lose this valuable supply of nitrogen, resulting in crop losses.

While researchers know precipitation is becoming more erratic, there are very few studies of how nitrogen losses and dynamics respond to rainfall manipulations. Because of this, scientists don鈥檛 have specific estimates of how more erratic rainfall 鈥� namely longer and more severe dry periods followed by more intense rain 鈥� will influence environmental nitrogen loss and crop nitrogen availability. However, based on what scientists do know, 易胜博官网 researchers expect nitrogen losses to get worse.

鈥淥ne of society鈥檚 grand challenges is figuring out a solution to this conundrum that nitrogen fertilizer is needed for crop production but is also a global pollutant of water and the atmosphere,鈥� Grandy said.

Grandy鈥檚 research team at 易胜博官网 led the study in conjunction with colleagues from the University of California-Davis and the National Center of Atmospheric Research. The team developed the guidelines after analyzing nitrogen data in relation to precipitation patterns, agricultural methods, and ecological concerns. The new guidelines are both eco-friendly and farmer-friendly.

鈥淥ur data show already low nitrogen-use efficiencies in crop production. High rates of nitrogen loss will worsen without new management practices. We advocate an approach that takes economic aspects into consideration while also emphasizing that environmental sustainability is key in creating cropping systems that can withstand changing weather patterns,鈥� Grandy said.

The team鈥檚 recommendations offer hope not only for the Midwest but other regions increasingly impacted by climate variability.

鈥淚f an agricultural ecosystem鈥檚 overall resilience to fluctuating conditions is improved, farmers and the environment will both win. Crops will thrive, water quality will improve, and fewer greenhouse gasses will escape into the atmosphere,鈥� said lead author Tim Bowles, now an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Additional researchers involved with this project include NH Agricultural Experiment Station scientist Shady Atallah, 易胜博官网 Department of Natural Resources and the Environment; Eleanor Campbell, 易胜博官网 Earth Systems Research Center; Am茅lie Gaudin, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences; and William Wieder, Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado.

This research is presented in the journal Nature Sustainability (DOI:听). This material is based upon work supported by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, through joint funding of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 1007001, and the state of 易胜博官网. Support also was provided by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Education and Literacy Initiative (AFRI ELI) postdoctoral fellowship (2017-67012-26094), U.S. Department of Agriculture (NIFA 2015-67003-23485), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Kellogg Biological Station Long-term Ecological Research Program, and GRACEnet.

Founded in 1887, the听听at the听听is 易胜博官网鈥檚 original research center and an elemental component of 易胜博官网's land-grant university heritage and mission. We steward federal and state funding, including support from the听, to provide unbiased and objective research concerning diverse aspects of sustainable agriculture and foods, aquaculture, forest management, and related wildlife, natural resources and rural community topics. We maintain the Woodman and Kingman agronomy and horticultural research farms, the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses, the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, and the Organic Dairy Research Farm. Additional properties also provide forage, forests and woodlands in direct support to research, teaching, and outreach.