Nutrient Management

“Wheat drilled into corn residue in northern Alabama yielded 23% more under some surface tillage (conventional, mulch, or light disk) than under no-till, and mulch tillage gave the best net return ($733/ha vs $468/ha for no-till). Fall N boosted early growth up to 25%, but splitting the remaining N between fall and spring gave no yield gain over a single application; 134 kg N/ha maximized no-till yield and returns, suggesting current N recommendations after corn may be too low.”

“County-level life cycle modeling shows Illinois maize has a carbon intensity 9%-12% below the US average of 251 g CO2e/kg, and maize grown within 56 km of ethanol plants is 14%-17% lower, driven by high yields and efficient fertilizer use. National average CI values understate the climate performance of high-yielding regions, and cover crops and conservation tillage shift scores differently from county to county.”

“Thirty years of expanding winter cover cropping and other conservation practices in Nebraska's Shell Creek watershed coincided with less frequent extreme flood events and downward trends in turbidity, total suspended solids, and total phosphorus — though the water quality declines were not statistically significant. Summer cropping intensified over the same period, showing conservation gains happened alongside, not instead of, production.”

“In a 2022 survey of 1,119 farmers across MN, NE, ND, and SD, only 15% used biofertilizers, but 88% of those users planned to keep using them and 20% of non-users wanted to try them within three years. Adopters tended to be younger, farm larger acreages, value workshops for learning, and already use cover crops, no-till, and soil nutrient testing — suggesting biofertilizers fit into a broader conservation package rather than standing alone.”

“Machine learning models built from agronomic, drone, and environmental data predicted sorghum grain quality traits accurately enough to cut lab testing — crude protein R²=0.90, amylose R²=0.92-0.99, starch R²=0.80, with lysine-from-protein weakest at R²=0.64. Grain composition shifted measurably with year and management (precision N, cover crops, no-till), and leaf temperature and stomatal conductance had strong non-linear links to amylose.”

“Across 50 commercial corn-belt fields in Ohio and Indiana, manure application rate was the strongest and most consistent driver of better soil health across six indicators (organic matter, respiration, POX-C, protein, aggregate stability, bulk density). Reduced tillage helped soil protein and respiration but lowered POX-C, while living cover and crop diversity showed little measurable effect; soil texture explained much of the field-to-field variation, and using 5 years of management history predicted better than 3.”

“Sunn hemp grew as a viable warm-season forage/cover crop in Maine, yielding 4296 kg DM/ha in a normal year but only 1099 kg DM/ha under 2025 drought; drought actually raised the share of nitrogen fixed from the air (52% vs 34%) and boosted crude protein and digestibility. Cut at 60 days for high-quality feed or 90 days for maximum cover crop biomass (though lignin rises and digestibility drops), and choose 'Crescent Sunn' or 'Loei' over 'Red Mini'.”

“Across 10 long-term Arkansas row-crop trials, soil health indicators (CO2 respiration, β-glucosidase, POXC, organic matter) and composite scores were highest in the top 0-5 cm and declined with depth, and were higher in summer and winter samples than in spring or fall (fall lowest). Cover crops and fertilized treatments scored better than winter fallow and unfertilized plots, so soil health monitoring needs standardized sampling depth and season to make valid comparisons.”

“On a poorly drained no-till Wisconsin field, surface-applied composted or fresh dairy manure (81-102 kg total N/ha) did not match sidedressed urea at 90 kg N/ha for corn yield or nitrogen uptake, and left lower plant-available N in the top 10 cm. An interseeded annual ryegrass cover crop cost nothing in yield or N uptake and cut nitrate-N leachate concentrations by 1.7-4.9 times.”

“Over 3 years in the Corn Belt, a Kentucky bluegrass perennial groundcover cut flow-weighted nitrate-N in tile drainage by 20% with no corn yield penalty, while a high-biomass wide-row interseeded annual cover crop cut nitrate 22% but slashed grain yield 20%. All cover systems lowered nitrate during a wet-summer leaching flush.”

“Across 26 on-farm Nebraska trials, foliar micronutrients rarely raised corn yield because soils were already sufficient — helping growers avoid unnecessary micronutrient spending.”

“The natural background contribution from grasslands and forest lands is important to consider in research and management. To our knowledge, no study has compiled and analyzed this “reference” water quality from small natural grasslands and forests. Thus, our objective was to summarize nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sediment loads in runoff fromthese referencewatersheds.Measured annual nutrient loadswere compiled from 13 grassland and nine forest reference sites across 12 North American regions.”

“Manure management in the United States must move from a disposal-based model to a circular resource framework that integrates nutrient recovery, emission mitigation, precision application, supportive policy, and site-specific decision-making.”

“Across 648 soil profiles in North Carolina, particulate organic matter — the fraction most responsive to management — made up 35% of total soil organic C in the top 10 cm but only 10% at 30–60 cm, and was lower in sandier soils. Poultry litter application raised root-zone particulate organic C and N by 17%–32%, and pastures 30 years old held 4%–20% more than newer pastures, while deeper, stable (nonparticulate) carbon was set by long-term soil formation rather than management.”

“After 27 years of no-till in central Ohio, compost and manure raised topsoil (0-20 cm) carbon stocks about 66%-67% above fallow, with compost sequestering 0.85 Mg C/ha/yr and manure adding the most nitrogen (0.061 Mg N/ha/yr); cover crops alone gave a smaller 21%-27% gain. Higher soil carbon tracked better aggregate stability (R2 = 0.76) and lower bulk density, though compost also pushed up salinity near the surface.”

“Sensor-based N management cut nitrogen application by ~40 kg N/ha in corn with no yield loss across 57 Nebraska on-farm site-years (2015–2023). Benefits are greatest in moderate-to-high yield variability fields with coarser soils. Sensors showed no statistically significant gains in winter wheat. Profit probability exceeded 60% for corn across most price scenarios. Despite consistent evidence, only 11% of Nebraska producers currently use sensor-based approaches — indicating a technology transfer gap.”

“The destruction of the South Vietnamese rice crop using an arsenic-based herbicide known as Agent Blue during the American Vietnam War was not a secret; however, it received little media attention in the United States.”

“Physiological basis of genotypic response to management in dryland wheat.”

“Conservation Tillage and Nitrogen Management for Sugarbeet Production.”

“Is Static Nitrogen Management in Northwestern US Sugarbeet Production Appropriate?.”

“Coupling Dairy Manure Storage with Injection to Improve Nitrogen Management: WholeFarm Simulation Using the Integrated Farm System Model.”

“Toward strategic management of shale gas development: Regional, collective impacts on water resources.”

“The Palouse region of Washington and Idaho, USA. (approximately 60,000 people in a rural setting) is entirely dependent on groundwater from two basalt aquifers for potable water.”

“Comparing the Soil Management Assessment Framework to the Haney Soil Health Test Across Managed Agroecosystems.”

“Across 15 North Dakota nitrogen-rate sites, red and red edge NDVI predicted corn yield equally well at V6, but at the later V12 stage red edge NDVI outperformed red NDVI because red readings saturate once the canopy closes. For growers using GreenSeeker or Crop Circle sensors to guide in-season N, red edge is the better choice for late-season sidedress decisions.”

“Long-term agro-management strategies shape soil bacterial community structure in dryland wheat systems.”

“Advances in Disaster Modeling, Simulation and Visualization for Sandstorm Risk Management in North China.”

“Boosting soil health and crop nutrients with locally sourced biochar and compost in Sacramento urban agriculture.”

“Pathways for the Valorization of Animal and Human Waste to Biofuels, Sustainable Materials, and Value-Added Chemicals.”

“Assessing the impact of manure application in commercial swine farms on the transmission of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella in the environment.”

“Global Water Scarcity and Watershed Management Planning: A Case Study of Clear Lake, IOWA, USA.”

“Predicting redoxsensitive contaminant concentrations in groundwater using random forest classification.”

“Liming is a mitigation technique that can be used to restore forest health in acidified areas, but little is known about how it affects the growth or nutrient content of deer forage.”

“Impacts of stocking densities on soil biochemical and microbial properties in a mixed-grass prairie ecosystem at two landscape positions.”

“Species delimitation in endangered groundwater salamanders: implications for aquifer management and biodiversity conservation.”

“The comparison of three environmental metrics for Cd, Cu, and Ni in the agricultural region of the Mid Continent of USA.”

“The comparison of three environmental metrics for Cr, Pb, and Zn in the agricultural region of the Mid-Continent of USA.”

“The need for sustainable agricultural practices to meet the food, feed, and fuel demands of a growing global population while reducing detrimental environmental impacts has driven research in multifaceted approaches to agricultural sustainability. Perennial cropping systems and microbial biofertilizer supplements are two emerging strategies to increase agricultural sustainability that are studied in tandem in this study.”

“Soiltest biological activity with the flush of CO 2: VI. Economics of optimized nitrogen inputs for corn.”

“Prairie strips improve biodiversity and delivery of multiple ecosystem services from corn–soybean croplands.”

“Farmer identities influence wildlife habitat management practices in the US Corn Belt.”

“Timing of a single urea application (224 kg N/ha) strongly changed gas losses: fertilizer-derived N2O was under 0.05% of applied N across all six application dates — far below the IPCC 1% default — with fertilizer raising N2O rates above unfertilized soil only in early fall and early summer. The biggest combined N2O + ammonia losses came in cool, wet early-spring soils (>60% water-filled pore space), so matching application date to soil temperature and moisture can cut nitrogen losses.”

“Limited data have been available on aboveground nutrient dynamics in floodplain systems. Haying can result in nutrient removal.”

“In HLB-infected 'Ray Ruby' grapefruit in Florida, packing 975 trees/ha instead of 300 cut canopy volume per tree by 33% but raised fruit yield per hectare 160% and solids yield 190%, with slightly more acidic, higher-soluble-solids fruit. Controlled-release fertilizer blends with extra micronutrients and less potassium grew bigger canopies but did not improve yield — in fact yield per hectare dropped 24% in the first season — so micronutrient-boosted CRF is not a reliable fix for HLB in grapefruit.”

“In HLB-infected 'Ray Ruby' grapefruit, planting at 975 trees/ha (double-row high density) gave the highest fruit and solids yield per hectare despite smaller trees and lower yield per tree, with slightly more acidic, higher-soluble-solids fruit. Extra soil or foliar B/Mn/Zn (up to 6x recommended rates) raised leaf nutrient levels but did not improve yield or reduce bacterial titer — foliar micronutrients actually coincided with lower yield and photosynthesis in one year.”

“Regulatory watershed mitigation programs typically emphasize widespread adoption of best management practices to meet total maximum daily loads. However, the spatial resolution of the bay-level model used to determine these load reduction goals is so coarse that the regulatory plan cannot consider heterogeneity in local conditions, which affects BMP effectiveness.”

“This study demonstrates integrated modeling methods to assess water treatment costs over time associated with groundwater nitrate contamination.”

“Tree variability limits the detection of nutrient treatment effects on sap flux density in a northern hardwood forest.”

“Prediction of Cereal Rye Cover Crop Biomass and Nutrient Accumulation using Multi-Temporal Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Based Visible-Spectrum Vegetation Indices.”

“Longterm impacts of drain spacing, crop management, and weather on nitrate leaching to subsurface drains.”

“Sensitivity of fine particulate matter concentrations in South Korea to regional ammonia emissions in Northeast Asia.”

“Can We Increase Economic Return from Sugarbeet with SlowRelease Nitrogen Additions?.”

“Water and productivity accounting using WA+ framework for sustainable water resources management: Case study of northern Iran.”

“A propane-fueled in-field heat treatment to reduce Cercospora beticola survival in plant residue and improve CLS management in sugarbeet.”

“The case for static range nitrogen management in Idaho sugarbeet production.”

“Integrating the Water Planetary Boundary With Water Management From Local to Global Scales.”

“Modeling of tile-drained corn–soybean fields in Iowa (validated to within 6% for corn and 13% for soybean yields) showed drainage boosts soil oxygen in wet springs, which spurs deeper rooting that later buffers summer drought, raising yields about 6% — but it also increases subsurface flow and inorganic nitrogen leaching.”

“Soil health and nutrient dynamics in pasturelands: A decadal study on the effects of alternative grazing management.”