Location: Soil Management Research
2025 Annual Report
Objectives
Our overall goal is to develop multipurpose alternative oilseed and grain crops and innovative crop management strategies to diversify agricultural systems, reduce and/or efficiently utilize agricultural inputs, and add new economic opportunities and agroecosystem services for crop production in the Upper Midwest region. Over the next five years our research will focus on the following objective:
Objective 1: Identify sustainable alternative crops that complement corn and soybean and develop innovative production systems suitable for the Upper Midwest that efficiently use agricultural inputs and provide agroecosystem services, as well as new economic opportunities for end users.
• Subobjective 1A. Identify alternative oilseed crop genotypes with improved agronomic traits such as abiotic stress tolerance and reduced seed shattering that optimize productivity.
• Subobjective 1B. Develop new and improve existing practices for managing alternative oilseed crops and traditional crops to produce food, feed, and fuel while providing agroecosystem services (e.g., reducing soil erosion, scavenging excess N & P, and supporting pollinators).
• Subobjective 1C. Develop new and improve existing double- and relay-crop sequences with winter oilseed cover crops while protecting soils, suppressing weeds, and promoting pollinator abundance and diversity throughout the growing season.
• Subobjective 1D. Determine interactions of climate, soils, plants, and agricultural management on agroecosystem functions of pollinator forage and nutrition, crop nutrient capture and usage, soil GHG emissions, and carbon dynamics in novel and traditional cropping systems.
Approach
Our primary objective and overall goal is to develop new crops and innovative strategies to deploy them across the agricultural landscape to diversify Midwestern cropping systems, reduce or minimize negative impact, and improve economic and environmental sustainability while enhancing production. The following approaches will be taken to accomplish this: 1) identify new and alternative oilseed and small grain genotypes best suited for production in the Northern Corn Belt region, 2) develop best management practices for their production, 3) integrate them with traditional crops into innovative cropping systems (e.g., double- and relay-cropping) to sustainably intensify crop production, and 4) develop a better understanding of the impact of climate, soils, plants, and crop management on pollinator forage and nutrition, crop nutrient capture and usage, soil greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon dynamics in new and traditional cropping systems. These new crops and cropping systems will provide new economic opportunities, create healthier food choices, and increase agricultural input-use efficiency while adding agroecosystem benefits such as improved soil, air, and water quality and abundant resources to sustain healthy pollinator populations. Together, the outcomes of this research will enhance agricultural land-use efficiency and benefit U.S. farmers, rural communities, human health, chemical and food industries, as well as government and academia scientists.
Progress Report
This report summarizes progress for this project that began in 10/2019 and terminated in 12/2024.
Lack of diversified crop rotations in the upper Midwest has led to unintended consequences like soil erosion, reduced water quality from off-site movement of fertilizers, and reduced pollinator habitat that can negatively impact the health and abundance of pollinators. The new oilseed crops winter camelina and pennycress are being developed as feedstocks to make biofuels like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and use in other industrial and food processes. Our team has helped develop these novel oilseeds and demonstrated that they can be integrated into Midwestern crop rotations to potentially provide farmers with new economic opportunities and environmental benefits for rural America. Progress made by this project includes: 1) developed improved management practices like fertilizer and herbicide use to increase camelina and pennycress productivity; 2) identified new varieties of winter oilseeds, and new crops (e.g., perennial flax and sunn hemp) to improve yields and diversify cropping systems; 3) identified new combinations of alternative food grain crops (e.g., dry edible bean, sunflower, and chickpea) to double and relay crop with winter camelina and pennycress to produce two cash crops in a single season and increase productivity while keeping the agricultural landscape covered with living plant material nearly year-round to help reduce soil erosion and improve water quality; and 4) demonstrated that the winter oilseeds winter camelina and pennycress, when they are flowering, provide nutritious pollen and nectar to enhance the health and abundance of pollinators whose pollination services of food crops is essential for food security. Completion of this project has been instrumental in leading to the first-time ever commercial production of the new oilseed crop winter camelina. In collaboration with university and industry partners our research results on winter camelina have been compiled and used to update a new production guide for winter camelina. This growers guide, distributed by an industry partner (Cargill), is currently being used by farmers across the upper Midwest to produce winter camelina and relay crop soybean to produce two cash crops in a single season. Research results from this completed project have laid the foundation to continue making improvements in agricultural best management practices, such as weed control tactics and use of new crop varieties to increase the efficiency and productivity of new and alternative crops and cropping systems for the Upper Midwest. Research will be continued under the new project 5060-30500-001-00D, "Climate-Smart Alternative Crops and Cropping Systems for the Upper Midwest."
Accomplishments
1. New and alternative oilseed crops support pollinator populations. Pollinating insects pollinate many vegetable, fruit, and nut crops that humans depend on for food security. However, low flower abundance across agricultural landscapes is one cause of continued pollinator decline. ARS researchers from Morris, Minnesota, and Brookings, South Dakota, demonstrated that the mass flowering summer annual oilseed crops: borage, calendula, crambe, cuphea, echium, flax, camelina, canola, and sunflower provide critical floral resources to support pollinator communities. Planting these oilseeds at various times in spring and early summer can produce economically-viable seed yields while providing floral resources to support pollinators over the entire growing season. Results benefit farmers, the oilseed industry, ag consultants, and extension educators interested in adopting alternative oilseed production while supporting pollinators that are vital to U.S. food security.
2. Growing pennycress after early-maturing corn to increase crop productivity and profit. Pennycress is a new oilseed that can be grown as an intermediate crop between corn and soybean to provide three crops over two years, hence increasing productivity. However, establishing pennycress after corn harvest is challenging due to corn’s long maturity. ARS researchers from Morris, Minnesota, in collaboration with university colleagues from across the Corn Belt including Minnesota, Illinois, and Ohio, demonstrated that growing pennycress after a medium- season corn hybrid and double cropping soybean after pennycress harvest was 40% more profitable than using a full-season corn hybrid in the system. Research indicated that a medium maturity corn hybrid in a corn-pennycress-soybean rotation may be economically viable for the Midwest Corn Belt region. Results benefit farmers in selecting corn hybrids to follow with pennycress to maximize economic returns and benefit extension specialists, ag consultants, and others interested in incorporating pennycress into corn- soybean rotations.
3. Sunn hemp, a tropical forage legume crop, serves as cover, forage, and fiber. Because there are limited sunn hemp varieties available for production, non-specific varieties are sold for use. As sunn hemp is grown in more diverse locations, it is important to understand how it performs in different environments, and if the non-specific varieties available to the public differ in their performance. ARS researchers from Morris, Minnesota, with University of Wyoming collaborators demonstrated that non-specific sunn hemp varieties are unlikely to yield differently when harvested after 60 days and that growing conditions will have the largest effect on forage yield. This is the first report of sunn hemp production in Minnesota. Results will benefit producers interested in using sunn hemp as a forage crop and extension educators, researchers, and ag consultants interested in adopting sunn hemp into a crop rotation or feed ration.
Review Publications
Eberle, C.A., Harris, D.K., Jones, T.Z., Fowers, B., Mealor, B. 2024. Crotalaria juncea genotype biomass accumulation in northern semi-arid and humid-continental climates. Agronomy. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14102334.
Eberle, C.A., Scott, D.A., Forcella, F., Gesch, R.W., Weyers, S.L., Johnson, J.M., Schneider, S.K. 2024. Planting date impact on flowering, pollinator visitation and yield of mass flowering oilseed crops in the Northern Corn Belt. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12644.
Evangelista, R.L., Hojilla-Evangelista, M.P., Gesch, R.W., Cermak, S.C., Isbell, T.A. 2024. Aqueous fractionation of mucilage and protein from Camelina sativa seeds and defatted meal. Industrial Crops and Products. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.119560.
Mohammed, Y.A., Gesch, R.W., Wells, S., Heller, N., Lindsey, A., Hard, A., Winthrop, P.B. 2024. Economic evaluation of corn relative maturity hybrids in corn-pennycress-soybean rotations. Agronomy Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.21691.