2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) 1) Assess and monitor the effectiveness of past, present, and future soil resource management practices using the Soil Management Assessment Framework.. 2)Develop innovative, ecologically-based crop and soil nutrient management practices for enhanced productivity and negligible off-site agricultural impacts.. 3)Conduct field-scale evaluations of selected conservation practices to support the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) and quantify landscape effects on soil water and nutrient availability. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) This project utilizes an ecological soil management approach to place a greater emphasis on measuring and understanding the interactions that result from the human decision-making processes regarding soil resources, land use, tillage, crop selection, and other management practices. Our emphasis on the expected and non-expected responses and interactions is important because many of our current soil and crop management decisions are not sustainable as evidenced by erosion, decreased soil organic matter content, contamination of surface and ground water resources, compaction, and/or acidification. The project is designed around three objectives that focus on (1) evaluating and improving two assessment tools, the soil conditioning index (SCI) and the soil management assessment framework (SMAF), (2) developing improved nutrient, tillage, carbon, and crop management practices that will enhance productivity without negative off-site consequences, and (3) evaluating existing and new conservation practices at the field and watershed scale. Use, evaluation, and further improvement in the SMAF as a tool to assess the soil quality effects of soil management practices provides a common thread throughout the entire project. Studies at multiple scales will provide information that can “contribute to the efficiency of agricultural production systems (Strategic Plan Objective 1.2) and "provide science-based knowledge and education to improve quality and management of soil, air, and water resources" (Strategic Plan Objective 5.2). Our primary customers include the NRCS, DOE, conventional and organic producers, fertilizer industry, and scientific community. The project also provides information for three cross-location projects identified in the 202 Action Plan, one Cross-Location Education and Research (CLEAR) project, the inter-Agency Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP). 3.Progress Report Soil quality assessment was initiated on 5 of the 14 ARS Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) benchmark watersheds. Indicators measured include bulk density, water stable aggregation, microbial biomass carbon, acidity (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), total organic carbon and nitrogen (N), nitrate and ammonium N, and phosphorus. A database is being developed that includes information about the soils and management practices at the sites where samples were collected (metadata). The data will be interpreted using the soil management assessment framework (SMAF). This multi-location assessment effort strengthened interactions among ARS scientists at Tifton, GA, El Reno, OK, West Lafayette, IN, Temple and Lubbock, TX, and Ames, IA. Approximately 2.3 to 2.8 tons per acre of corn stover were collected using a single-pass harvest system. Grain yield was significantly greater where corn stover had been harvested in 2005, although continuous corn yields declined by 10% in 2006. Soybean yield was decreased by 30% (32.4 versus 46.7 bushels per acre), presumably because stover removal dropped plant-available phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) to critically low levels. An organic field research site at the Iowa State University Agronomy and Agricultural Engineering Research Station is being managed for alfalfa forage production during its second year of transition toward becoming a certified organic production site. Neutron tubes, wells and automated soil water sensors were installed in field studies to provide data for developing better estimates of plant-available water in the SMAF. A 7 bushel-per-acre response to sulfur fertilization was obtained on a Des Moines lobe site, indicating this essential nutrient may be becoming a limiting factor for some producers. Laboratory analysis of soil samples taken after 35 years of no-tillage, ridge-tillage, disking, chisel, and moldboard plowing comparisons for continuous corn and a corn–soybean rotation are nearly complete. The 25-acre site is now in transition for a biomass removal study. To minimize residual tillage effects, the fields were deep tilled following corn harvest in autumn 2006, disked, and planted to an oat crop. There were no significant differences in oat yield due to cropping history (continuous corn versus a corn-soybean rotation) but there was a residual tillage treatment effect with the long-term no-till plots yielding significantly less than those managed using chisel plowing or disk tillage (78.9, 84.3, and 87.1 bushels per acre, respectively). Areas where ridge-till or moldboard plowing had been used were intermediate, averaging 82.2 and 82.9 bushels per acre, respectively. The new experimental plan will include three levels of corn stover removal (0, 50, and 100%), two agronomic management strategies (standard and intensive), charcoal (bio-char) evaluations (reported on in CRIS Project 3625-11120-003-00D, and annual and perennial cover crop treatments. New plots are currently being laid out and initial soil samples are being collected. This research is also a major contributor to the multi-location Renewable Energy Assessment Project (5440-12210-009-00L). 4.Accomplishments Title: Stover harvest strategy affects bioenergy feedstock quantity, quality and sustainability. Problem addressed: Crop residue has been identified as a near-term source of biomass but many issues needed to develop sustainable management practices are unknown. Accomplishment: Four harvest scenarios using a single-pass grain and residue combine were evaluated. Leaving the lower 40 to 50 cm of each plant and collecting only the cobs and upper plant parts provided the best biofuels feedstock in terms of water content and mineral ash. It also left a reasonable amount of surface cover to protect the soil against wind and water erosion. Replacement value for macro-nutrients (N-P-K) was estimated at $23 per acre or $5 per ton of stover. Harvesting the lower portion of the plant added very little dry matter, slowed harvest efficiency, increased nutrient replacement costs, transportation and storage costs, and decreased surface soil protection. This addresses National Program 202: Problem Area 6: Impact on Soil of Residue Removal for Biofuel Production. Title: Appropriate grazing management increases infiltration and minimizes sediment and phosphorus loss in runoff water from pastures. Problem addressed: Producers need guidelines for managing pastures to ensure profitable animal production with minimum environmental impact. Accomplishment: Five forage management strategies for smooth bromegrass pastures were evaluated. When pastures were not grazed or harvested, forage and root production was less than when they were. Phosphorus (P) concentrations in the forage grass were higher during spring and lower during the fall. The percent surface cover was the variable most related to sediment and P losses. Managing pastures to ensure adequate surface cover will increase infiltration of rainwater, thus decreasing runoff and loss of sediment and soluble P. This addresses National Program 202: Problem Area 4: Nutrient Management for Crop Production and Environmental Protection. Title: Producer–researcher interactions determine success of participatory research. Problem addressed: Organic farming systems are very site specific but in need of more science-based research and technology transfer. Accomplishment: Positive and negative experiences encountered during the development of a certified organic research site were documented to enable others to pursue on-farm participatory research studies with a better understanding of both the opportunities and challenges that must be addressed to develop successful programs. Five transition strategies were evaluated using economic return as a primary factor for monitoring success. Using crops with low production costs such as oat, triticale, and alfalfa or red clover generally provide the least stressful transition. Five models for managing organic research sites were also developed to help producers and researchers become more aware of the different roles, goals, and management challenges that will be faced when developing a certified organic research site or conducting other types of participatory research. This addresses National Program 202: Problem Area 5: Adoption and Implementation of Soil and Water Conservation Practices and Systems. Title: Electrical spectra helps characterize undisturbed soil from a crop rotation study. Problem addressed: Long-term crop rotations are expected to improve the connection of large (macro) soil pores essential for moving water and air into the soil profile and allowing root growth, but these changes in soil pores are not easy to quantify. Accomplishment: Undisturbed soil samples taken from a long-term crop rotation site had significantly more water retained after fast drainage (roughly the field capacity of the soil) than those from a corn-soybean site. There were no significant differences between the crop management systems on the rate that ponded water infiltrated the soil, nor for the density of the soil. Some samples from both fields contained continuous earthworm burrows reflecting the fact that neither cropping system was tilled. Soil electrical properties were affected by the presence or absence of the continuous worm burrows, but not by crop rotation differences. The soil electrical properties were more related to soil differences, especially the presence or absence of naturally-occurring lime (calcium carbonate). In this study, no tillage was beneficial to soil structure, and long-term rotation did not have much additional effect on soil structure. This addresses National Program 202: Problem Area: Soil Management to Improve Soil Structure and Hydraulic Properties Output: Improved soil moisture sensors. 5.Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations ARS scientists associated with the project made several presentations at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture's 20th anniversary celebration and had articles about their research published throughout the year in the Leopold Center Newsletter. This Center provides guidance and practical information to many small farmers throughout the Midwest. Dr. Logsdon participated in the southern regional soil physics information group meeting in May 2007 where information was shared with several scientists including those from some of the "1890 Schools." Some of these scientists are also authors or co-authors for chapters in the book Soil Science: Step-by-Step Field Analyses that she is editing. 6.Technology Transfer Number of non-peer reviewed presentations and proceedings 21 Number of newspaper articles and other presentations for non-science audiences 3 Review Publications Logsdon, S.D. 2007. Subsurface lateral transport in glacial till soils. Transactions of the ASABE. 50:875-883. Kleinman, P.J., Sullivan, D., Wolf, A., Brandt, R., Dou, Z., Elliott, H., Kovar, J.L., Leytem, A.B., Maguire, R., Moore Jr, P.A., Sharpley, A.N., Shober, A., Sims, T., Toth, J., Toor, G., Zhang, H., Zhang, T., Saporito, L.S. 2007. Selection of a Water-Extractable Phosphorus Test for Manures and Biosolids as an Indicator of Runoff Loss Potential. Journal of Environmental Quality. 36(5):1357-1367. Hoskinson, R., Karlen, D.L., Birrell, S.J., Radtke, C.W., Wilhelm, W.W. 2006. Engineering, nutrient removal, and feedstock conversion evaluations of four corn stover harvest scenarios. Biomass and Bioenergy. 31(2-3): 126-136. Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science? Gibson, L.R., Nance, C.D., Karlen, D.L. 2007. Winter triticale response to nitrogen fertilization when grown after corn or soybean. Agronomy Journal. 99:49-58. Haan, M.M., Russell, J.R., Powers, W.J., Kovar, J.L., Benning, J.L. 2007. Effects of forage management on pasture productivity and phosphorus content. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 60:311-318. Haan, M.M., Russell, J.R., Powers, W.J., Kovar, J.L., Benning, J.L. 2006. Grazing management effects on sediment and phosphorus in surface runoff. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 59:607-615. Karlen, D.L., Lemunyon, J.L., Singer, J.W. 2006. Forages for Conservation and Improved Soil Quality. In: Barnes, R.F., Nelson, C.J., Moore, K.J., Collins, M., editors. Sixth Edition of Forages, Volume II The Science of Grassland Agriculture. Ames, IA: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. p-149-166. Mc Andrews, G.A., Liebman, M., Cambardella, C.A., Richard, T.L. 2006. Residual effects of composted and fresh solid swine (Sus scrofa l.) manure on soybean (Glycine max (l.) merr.) growth and yield. Agronomy Journal. 98(4):873-882. Karlen, D.L., Hurley, E.G., Andrews, S.S., Cambardella, C.A., Meek, D.W., Duffy, M.D., Mallarino, A.P. 2006. Crop rotation effects on soil quality at three northern corn/soybean belt locations. Agronomy Journal. 98:484-495. Karlen, D.L., Cambardella, C.A., Bull, C.T., Chase, C.A., Gibson, L.R., Delate, K. 2007. Producer-Researcher Interactions on On-Farm Research: A Case Study on Developing a Certified Organic Research Site. Agronomy Journal. 99:779-790. Baum, K., Pierzynski, G., Kleinman, P.J., Kovar, J.L., Maguire, R., Moore Jr, P.A., Zhang, T. 2006. Evaluating the influence of storage time, sample handling method, and filter paper on the measurement of water extractable phosphorus in animal manures. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 37:451-463. Anapalli, S., Ma, L., Malone, R.W., Heilman, P., Ahuja, L.R., Kanwar, R., Karlen, D.L., Hoogenboom, G. 2007. Simulating management effects on crop production, tile drainage, and water quality using RZWQM-DSSAT. Geoderma 140:3 (2007)297-309. Published on-line 5/23/2007. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.04.013. Nance, C.D., Gibson, L.R., Karlen, D.L. 2007. Soil Profile Nitrate Response to Nitrogen Fertilization of Winter Triticale. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 71:1343-1351.