Drought impact on crop production and the soil environment: 2012 experiences from Iowa

Al‐Kaisi, Mahdi; Elmore, Roger W.; Guzman, Jose G.; Hanna, H. Mark; Hart, Chad E.; Helmers, Matthew J.; Hodgson, Erin W.; Lenssen, Andrew W.; Mallarino, Antonio P.; Robertson, Alison E.; Sawyer, John E.

doi:10.2489/jswc.68.1.19a

Cited by 104 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Average yield by year was 10.8, 10.9, and 9.4 Mg ha -1 for 2010, 2011, and 2012. During 2012, the US agriculture sector experienced one of the most severe and extensive droughts in recent history, where reduced precipitation and high temperatures caused significant stress in corn during critical phases of development (Al-Kaisi et al, 2013). Even though there were no statistical differences among average yields across all 3 yr in this study, we observed that Indiana fields were most negatively affected in 2012, when yields averaged 6.8 Mg ha -1 .…”

Section: Results and Discussion Yield And Yield Variance Reductioncontrasting

confidence: 40%

Validating a Digital Soil Map with Corn Yield Data for Precision Agriculture Decision Support

et al. 2016

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Capturing the variability in soil-landscape properties is a challenge for grain producers attempting to integrate spatial information into the decision process of precision agriculture (PA). Digital soil maps (DSMs) use traditional soil survey information and can be the basis for PA subfi eld delineation (e.g., management zones). However, public soil survey maps provide only general descriptions of soil-landscape features. Th erefore, improved DSMs are needed that use high-resolution data that more precisely model soil-landscape characteristics. Additionally, reliable methods are needed to validate DSM products for PA. Th e objective of this study was to validate with corn (Zea mays L.) yield data the performance of a new DSM product, termed Environmental Response Unit (ERU), compared with the USDA Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) soil map. Th e ERU was developed by integrating SSURGO information with highresolution elevation data. For validation, corn yield maps were collected and corrected for common data collection errors from 409 fi elds across Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska in 2010 to 2012. Reductions in the area-weighted variance (R v ) of corn yield for ERU and SSURGO were calculated relative to the whole-fi eld variance. Th e average R v across all site-years for SSURGO and ERU was 16 and 25%, respectively, which equated to a 57% higher median yield variance reduction with ERU over SSURGO. Th is variance reduction technique showed the potential of ERU as an improved model better representing soillandscape properties that impact corn yield. Th is research also has application potential for determining the success of a DSM for identifying management zones in PA.

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Section: Results and Discussion Yield And Yield Variance Reductioncontrasting

confidence: 40%

Validating a Digital Soil Map with Corn Yield Data for Precision Agriculture Decision Support

et al. 2016

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“…Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and severity of growing-season drought (Dai 2012;Hatfield et al 2013) and produce more extreme precipitation in the spring (Kunkel et al 1999;Hatfield et al 2013) (defined as [ 30 mm in 24 h). Drought reduces agricultural crop yield (e.g., a 24% reduction of the U.S. maize harvest in 2012, Al-Kaisi et al 2013) and enriches soil nitrate concentrations (Balkcom et al 2003). We focus on the 2012-2013 Midwestern U.S. drought as a ''natural experiment'' to understand how changing climate may alter N loading to streams and rivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weather whiplash in agricultural regions drives deterioration of water quality

et al. 2017

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Excess nitrogen (N) impairs inland water quality and creates hypoxia in coastal ecosystems. Agriculture is the primary source of N; agricultural management and hydrology together control aquatic ecosystem N loading. Future N loading will be determined by how agriculture and hydrology intersect with climate change, yet the interactions between changing climate and water quality remain poorly understood. Here, we show that changing precipitation patterns, resulting from climate change, interact with agricultural land use to deteriorate water quality. We focus on the 2012-2013 Midwestern U.S. drought as a ''natural experiment''. The transition from drought conditions in 2012 to a wet spring in 2013 was abrupt; the media dubbed this ''weather whiplash''. We use recent (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) and historical data to connect weather whiplash (drought-to-flood transitions) to increases in riverine N loads and concentrations. The drought likely created highly N-enriched soils; this excess N mobilized during heavy spring rains (2013), resulting in a 34% increase (10.5 vs. 7.8 mg N L -1 ) in the flow-weighted mean annual Biogeochemistry (2017) 133:7-15 DOI 10.1007 nitrate concentration compared to recent years. Furthermore, we show that climate change will likely intensify weather whiplash. Increased weather whiplash will, in part, increase the frequency of riverine N exceeding E.P.A. drinking water standards. Thus, our observations suggest increased climatic variation will amplify negative trends in water quality in a region already grappling with severe impairments.

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“…The same was valid for the C/N ratio under constant use of systems with partial or no turning of the soil layer (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th system) and under alternation of plowing and disking (the 6th system). The magnitude of the effect of long-term use of different types of tillage is driven by soil properties [19][20][21][22], the timing and frequency of tillage events [23,24], climate [6,25] and choice of crop [26][27][28].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Independent and Combined Effect of Some Soil Tillage Systems on Nitrogen and Carbon Concentration in Soil Structural Units of Haplic Chernozems

Nankova¹,

Yankov²

2015

JAST-B

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This paper aimed at studying the effect of different types of soil tillage systems on the change of total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in the soil structural units of different size after dry structural analysis of soil. The research was carried out in a 6-field rotation system (grain maize-wheat-sunflower-wheat-bean-wheat) at the end of the 2nd rotation. Six out of 24 soil tillage systems were selected; they were applied independently and in combination in the crop rotation. After that, they were compared to the system with constant deep plowing. So a total of seven soil tillage systems were investigated. The selected systems for main soil tillage were the following: plowing (control variant), disking, cutting, nil tillage (direct sowing), plowing-disking, plowing-nil tillage, disking-nil tillage. Three depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm were studied, as well as soil structural units were of the following sizes: > 10 mm, 10-5, 5-3, 3-1, 1-0.25 mm and < 0.25 mm. As a result of systematic implementation of different soil tillage systems, higher N and C concentrations were established by the layers according to constant plowing. Constant disking and its alternation with nil tillage increased the total N concentration with 15.6% and 11.1%, respectively, in comparison with the constant plowing. The same was valid for C concentration in soil, but the highest increase was established in the variants with constant cutting and nil tillage. The exceeding was with 14.0% and 13.2%, in comparison to constant plowing. The redistribution of N and C depending on the structural soil units was most expressed in the 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm layers. The highest amounts of C and N were found in the soil units with size less than 5 mm, mainly in the < 0.25 mm fraction. At depth of 20-30 cm, the role of the size of soil structural units for C and N redistribution decreased strongly. The values of C/N ratio were moderate only under the use of constant disking. This index was low under all other soil tillage systems. The correlation of total N with C in soil was high, positive and significant depending on the size of structural soil units and the tillage systems, as average for the investigated factors in this experiment. The minimal tillage and the tillage without turning of soil, used independently and in combination, had the highest contribution to preserving the organic matter in the haplic Chernozems of Dobrudzha region.

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Drought impact on crop production and the soil environment: 2012 experiences from Iowa

Cited by 104 publications

References 7 publications

Validating a Digital Soil Map with Corn Yield Data for Precision Agriculture Decision Support

Validating a Digital Soil Map with Corn Yield Data for Precision Agriculture Decision Support

Weather whiplash in agricultural regions drives deterioration of water quality

Independent and Combined Effect of Some Soil Tillage Systems on Nitrogen and Carbon Concentration in Soil Structural Units of Haplic Chernozems

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