Cargando…

Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa

Many communities in the Midwestern United States obtain their drinking water from shallow alluvial wells that are vulnerable to contamination by NO(3)-N from the surrounding agricultural landscape. The objective of this research was to assess cropping systems with the potential to produce a reasonab...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: De Haan, Robert L., Schuiteman, Matthew A., Vos, Ronald J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5332022/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28248976
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171994
_version_ 1782511474896273408
author De Haan, Robert L.
Schuiteman, Matthew A.
Vos, Ronald J.
author_facet De Haan, Robert L.
Schuiteman, Matthew A.
Vos, Ronald J.
author_sort De Haan, Robert L.
collection PubMed
description Many communities in the Midwestern United States obtain their drinking water from shallow alluvial wells that are vulnerable to contamination by NO(3)-N from the surrounding agricultural landscape. The objective of this research was to assess cropping systems with the potential to produce a reasonable return for farmers while simultaneously reducing the risk of NO(3)-N movement into these shallow aquifers. From 2009 to 2013 we conducted a field experiment in northwest Iowa in which we evaluated five cropping systems for residual (late fall) soil NO(3)-N content and profitability. Soil samples were taken annually from the top 30 cm of the soil profile in June and August, and from the top 180 cm in November (late fall). The November samples were divided into 30 cm increments for analysis. Average residual NO(3)-N content in the top 180 cm of the soil profile following the 2010 to 2013 cropping years was 134 kg ha(-1) for continuous maize (Zea mays L.) with a cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop, 18 kg ha(-1) for perennial grass, 60 kg ha(-1) for a three year oat (Avena sativa L.)-alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-maize rotation, 85 kg ha(-1) for a two year oat/red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)-maize rotation, and 90 kg ha(-1) for a three year soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)-winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-maize rotation. However, residual NO(3)-N in the 90 to 180 cm increment of the soil profile was not significantly higher in the oat-alfalfa-maize cropping system than the perennial grass system. For 2010 to 2013, average profit ($ ha(-1) yr(-1)) was 531 for continuous corn, 347 for soybean-winter wheat-maize, 264 for oat-alfalfa-maize, 140 for oat/red clover-maize, and -384 (loss) for perennial grass. Considering both residual soil NO(3)-N and profitability data, the oat-alfalfa-maize rotation performed the best in this setting. However, given current economic pressures widespread adoption is likely to require changes in public policy.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5332022
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-53320222017-03-10 Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa De Haan, Robert L. Schuiteman, Matthew A. Vos, Ronald J. PLoS One Research Article Many communities in the Midwestern United States obtain their drinking water from shallow alluvial wells that are vulnerable to contamination by NO(3)-N from the surrounding agricultural landscape. The objective of this research was to assess cropping systems with the potential to produce a reasonable return for farmers while simultaneously reducing the risk of NO(3)-N movement into these shallow aquifers. From 2009 to 2013 we conducted a field experiment in northwest Iowa in which we evaluated five cropping systems for residual (late fall) soil NO(3)-N content and profitability. Soil samples were taken annually from the top 30 cm of the soil profile in June and August, and from the top 180 cm in November (late fall). The November samples were divided into 30 cm increments for analysis. Average residual NO(3)-N content in the top 180 cm of the soil profile following the 2010 to 2013 cropping years was 134 kg ha(-1) for continuous maize (Zea mays L.) with a cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop, 18 kg ha(-1) for perennial grass, 60 kg ha(-1) for a three year oat (Avena sativa L.)-alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-maize rotation, 85 kg ha(-1) for a two year oat/red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)-maize rotation, and 90 kg ha(-1) for a three year soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)-winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-maize rotation. However, residual NO(3)-N in the 90 to 180 cm increment of the soil profile was not significantly higher in the oat-alfalfa-maize cropping system than the perennial grass system. For 2010 to 2013, average profit ($ ha(-1) yr(-1)) was 531 for continuous corn, 347 for soybean-winter wheat-maize, 264 for oat-alfalfa-maize, 140 for oat/red clover-maize, and -384 (loss) for perennial grass. Considering both residual soil NO(3)-N and profitability data, the oat-alfalfa-maize rotation performed the best in this setting. However, given current economic pressures widespread adoption is likely to require changes in public policy. Public Library of Science 2017-03-01 /pmc/articles/PMC5332022/ /pubmed/28248976 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171994 Text en © 2017 De Haan et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
De Haan, Robert L.
Schuiteman, Matthew A.
Vos, Ronald J.
Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa
title Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa
title_full Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa
title_fullStr Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa
title_full_unstemmed Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa
title_short Residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest Iowa
title_sort residual soil nitrate content and profitability of five cropping systems in northwest iowa
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5332022/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28248976
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171994
work_keys_str_mv AT dehaanrobertl residualsoilnitratecontentandprofitabilityoffivecroppingsystemsinnorthwestiowa
AT schuitemanmatthewa residualsoilnitratecontentandprofitabilityoffivecroppingsystemsinnorthwestiowa
AT vosronaldj residualsoilnitratecontentandprofitabilityoffivecroppingsystemsinnorthwestiowa