Location: Soil Management Research
Project Number: 5060-11610-004-001-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2019
End Date: Dec 31, 2023
Objective:
We will lead a farm-based effort to adopt kura clover and camelina cover crops into corn-soybean rotation to protect vulnerable wellhead areas from nitrate contamination.
Approach:
On each of four working farms we will establish field-scale research plots (each 5 acres) comparing nitrate reductions from: 1) Perennial kura clover groundcover in corn-soybean rotation, 2) fall-seeded/ spring harvested camelina oilseed in corn-soybean, and 3) Conventional corn-soybean with best nitrogen management. Agronomics (e.g. yields, nitrogen inputs) will be measured to compare economic inputs and returns from conventional practices and cover crops. Using hydrologic field data we will build crop-hydrological models illustrating tradeoffs between yield, farm economics, and nitrate contamination to inform agricultural policy on water protection.
