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Nitrate N from artificially drained soils of the upper Midwest USA is finding its way to the Mississippi River and then to the Gulf of Mexico. There is some concern that this nitrate N is causing hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. The DRAINMOD-N model was used to evaluate the long-term effect of N application rate and drain spacing on corn (Zea mays L.) yield and nitrate N losses. Prior to evaluation, the model was calibrated and then validated against long-term field data from southwestern Minnesota. A 24-yr simulation showed that climate plays a major role in determining drainage, yield, and nitrate N losses from a moderately well-drained Normania clay loam (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Aquic Hapludoll) soil under continuous...
This project is part of the USDA's Mississippi River Basin Initiative. We are providing the water quality monitoring to assess the impact of various best management practices aimed at reducing nutrient runoff from agricultural lands.
Alternative cropping systems can improve resource use efficiency, increase corn grain yield, and help in reducing negative impacts on the environment. A 6-yr (1993 to 1998) field study was conducted at the Iowa State University's Northeastern Research Center near Nashua, Iowa, to evaluate the effects of non-traditional cropping systems [strip inter cropping (STR)-corn (Zea mays L.)/soybean (Glycine max L.)/oats (Avena sativa L.)]; alfalfa rotation (ROT)-3-yr (1993 to 1995) alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) followed by corn in 1996, soybean in 1997, and oats in 1998), and traditional cropping system (corn after soybean (CS) and soybean after corn (SC) on the flow weighted average nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) concentrations...
...in adopting various best management practices, but the tool...Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model (Williams...Report 97-SR 85.Ames, Iowa: Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University. http...Demonstration of Phosphorus Best Management Practices in the North...
The relationship between row crop land use and nitrate N concentrations in surface water was evaluated for 15 Iowa watersheds ranging from 1002 to 2774 km2 and 10 smaller watersheds ranging from 47 to 775 km2 for the period 1996 to 1998. The percentage of land in row crop varied from 24 to >87% in the 15 large watersheds, and mean annual NO3-N concentrations ranged from 0.5 to 10.8 mg/L. In the small watersheds, row crop percentage varied from 28 to 87% and mean annual NO3-N concentrations ranged from 3.0 to 10.5 mg/L. In both cases, nitrate N concentrations were directly related to the percentage of row crop in the watershed (p < 0.0003). Linear regression showed similar slope for both sets of watersheds (0.11)...
Drainage water management, also known as controlled drainage, is the practice of using a water table control structure at the end of the subsurface drain pipe to reduce subsurface drainage, and thereby nitrate losses. Methods to quantify the potential effects of drainage water management for entire watersheds are needed to evaluate the impacts of large-scale adoption. A distributed modeling approach was developed to apply the field-scale DRAINMOD model at the watershed scale, and used to assess the impact of drainage water management on nitrate load from an intensively subsurface drained agricultural watershed in west central Indiana. The watershed was divided into 6460 grid cells for which drain spacing, soil parent...
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is one of the largest programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that encourages farmers and ranchers to establish resource-conserving vegetative covers to address soil, water and related resource issues on their lands. This research study examines the relationship between the CRP and the changes in the groundwater levels within Texas County in the Oklahoma Panhandle region. The region overlies the central portion of the High Plains Aquifer that has shown significant decline in groundwater levels, due largely to the development of irrigated agriculture. Using the calibrated SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model and GIS-based analysis, a significant spatial...
This paper evaluates the economic and environmental impacts of three alternative landscape scenarios created by a team of landscape architects, following input from an interdisciplinary team of researchers. In the first scenario, the main objective was to increase production and profitability of commercial agriculture with environmental objectives given secondary weight. In the second scenario, water quality improvements were the main objective with secondary objectives being financial health of the agricultural sector and maintenance and restoration of biodiversity. In the third scenario, maintenance and restoration of native biodiversity was the main objective with secondary weight given to the financial health...
Using a model as a management tool requires testing of the model against field-measured data prior to its application for solving natural resource problems. This study was conducted to test the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM98) using four years (1996 to 1999) of field-measured data to simulate the effects of different N-application rates on corn yields and nitrate-nitrogen (NO[3]-N) losses via subsurface drain water. Three N-application rates (low, medium, and high), each replicated three times, were applied to corn in 1996 and 1998 under a randomized complete block design at a tile-drained corn-soybean rotation field near Story City, Iowa. No N-fertilizer was applied to soybean in 1997 and 1999. Model calibration...