White, Sanders, Ordonez, and Rivera-Ocasio are working to develop a functioning adaptive management watershed site and to validate a new nitrogen fertilizer recommendation framework for corn in on-farm experiments.
This team has identified an adaptive management field site in State College, PA. They installed groundwater monitoring wells, soil water samplers, and a network of soil moisture sensors at the site. They are collecting soil water samples. The team has also installed a runoff collection system, so they can obtain data about overland flow at the site. They will continue collecting samples so they can build a robust data set for this experiment.
Each growing season, the team conducts a series of on-farm experiments on different soil types and with different cover crop management practices. Six different nitrogen rates are applied to the corn to develop a yield response curve to applied nitrogen. The results of the yield response curve, and measurements of plant biomass partitioning and N uptake will help the team refine and validate the new nitrogen fertilizer recommendation framework that credits N from cover crops and soil organic matter.
Experimental Nitrogen Recommendation Framework Tools
Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management, Penn State
cmw29@psu.edu
Link to bio
Postdoc, Department of Plant Science, Penn State
r.ordonez5203@psu.edu
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Graduate Assistant, Penn State
zxr81@psu.edu
Research Technician & PhD Candidate, Penn State
zps10@psu.edu
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Project funded by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Copyright Thriving Agricultural Systems in Urbanized Landscapes – 2023