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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #416554
Research Project: Dryland and Irrigated Crop Management Under Limited Water Availability and Drought

Location: Soil and Water Management Research

Title: Reducing nitrate leaching and runoff through crop rotations in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Author
item ZHANG, YINGQI - China Agricultural University
item ZHANG, XIAOYU - China Agricultural University
item QI, JUNYU - University Of Maryland
item Marek, Gary
item HU, KELIN - China Agricultural University
item YAN, TIEZHU - Ministry Of Ecology And Environment
item ALE, SRINIVASALU - Texas A&M Agrilife
item ZHANG, GUILONG - Ministry Of Agriculture - China
item SRINIVASAN, RAGHAVAN - Texas A&M University
item CHEN, YONG - China Agricultural University

Submitted to: Agricultural Water Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/13/2025
Publication Date: 9/17/2025
Citation: Zhang, Y., Zhang, X., Qi, J., Marek, G.W., Hu, K., Yan, T., Ale, S., Zhang, G., Srinivasan, R., Chen, Y. 2025. Reducing nitrate leaching and runoff through crop rotations in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Agricultural Water Management. 319. Article no. 109817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109817.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109817

Interpretive Summary: Losses of nitrate (NO3) fertilizer via overland flow and percolation represent considerable potential economic and environmental losses in intensively managed agricultural regions. Nitrate contamination in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) has resulted in eutrophication events in the Gulf of Mexico. Management strategies including alternative cropping rotations may help mitigate nitrate losses and contamination. Nutrient tracking in such a large and complex watershed is difficult. However, Researchers from USDA-ARS Bushland, Texas A&M University, the University of Maryland, and China used a calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in conjunction with USGS stream gauge data to simulate nitrate losses for conventional and alternative cropping rotations. Results showed that cropping rotation adjustments reduced nitrate leaching by 20.6 percent and 7.2 percent on average for continuous corn and corn-soybean rotations compared to the continuous soybean scenario. An estimated savings of 3.3 million dollars in reduced fertilizer requirements was also simulated.

Technical Abstract: Nitrate (NO3) loss is the main source of water quality pollution in many agricultural regions. Mitigating nitrate loss from croplands in a tractable and beneficial manner has become a vital challenge. In this study, a heavy nitrate loading area of the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) was chosen, and a calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied to evaluate nitrate losses before and after cropping rotation adjustments and the associated benefits. Results showed that cropping rotation adjustments reduced nitrate leaching by 20.6 percent and 7.2 percent on average for continuous corn and corn-soybean rotations compared to the continuous soybean scenario. Furthermore, cropping pattern adjustments could bring 5.0 million US dollars benefits to the society including 3.33 million US dollars benefit for fertilizer savings. Overall, this study provided insights for mitigating nitrate losses through runoff and leaching and highlighted the importance of integrated basin-wide management from multiple perspectives.