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Development of a conservation-oriented precision agriculture system: Water and soil quality assessment

R.N. Lerch, N.R. Kitchen, R.J. Kremer, W.W. Donald, E.E. Alberts, E.J. Sadler, K.A. Sudduth, D.B. Myers and F. Ghidey
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation November 2005, 60 (6) 411-421;
R.N. Lerch
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N.R. Kitchen
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R.J. Kremer
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W.W. Donald
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E.E. Alberts
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E.J. Sadler
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K.A. Sudduth
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D.B. Myers
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F. Ghidey
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ABSTRACT:

A comprehensive approach to achieving sustained crop productivity and profitability requires implementation of conservation systems that simultaneously consider soil and water quality. The objectives of this study were to: 1) assess long-term surface and groundwater quality in a conventionally managed field; 2) assess long-term changes in soil quality in a conventionally managed field; and 3) use this assessment to support development of the precision agriculture system presented in the companion paper. The study site was a 36-ha (89 ac) field in the Central Claypan Area of northeastern Missouri. The field was managed in a cornsoybean rotation using mulch tillage and soil incorporated fertilizer and pre-emergence herbicide inputs for 13 years (1991 to 2003). In general, agrichemical leaching to groundwater was minimal, but the existing management system negatively impacted the quality of surface runoff in five of the nine years reported. Preliminary spatial assessment indicated that the northern half of the field has been the main source of herbicides, nutrients, and sediment transported in surface runoff from this field. Topsoil loss and, therefore, decreased depth to the claypan from historic erosion of the field was a key soil quality indicator related to limitations in crop productivity. Spatial variability in soil loss over the last 150 to 200 years controls the soil quality, water quality, and crop productivity patterns currently observed within this field. Therefore, spatial variability in soil erosion, or a surrogate measure such as depth to claypan, serves as a useful basis for the development of a comprehensive precision agriculture system.

Footnotes

  • Robert N. Lerch, Newell R. Kitchen, Robert J. Kremer, William W. Donald, Edward E. Alberts, Edward J. Sadler, Kenneth A. Sudduth, and Fessahaie Ghidey all work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research Unit, at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri. D. Brenton Myers works as a graduate fellow in the Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, also at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri.

  • Copyright 2005 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 60 (6)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 60, Issue 6
November/December 2005
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Development of a conservation-oriented precision agriculture system: Water and soil quality assessment
R.N. Lerch, N.R. Kitchen, R.J. Kremer, W.W. Donald, E.E. Alberts, E.J. Sadler, K.A. Sudduth, D.B. Myers, F. Ghidey
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 2005, 60 (6) 411-421;

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Development of a conservation-oriented precision agriculture system: Water and soil quality assessment
R.N. Lerch, N.R. Kitchen, R.J. Kremer, W.W. Donald, E.E. Alberts, E.J. Sadler, K.A. Sudduth, D.B. Myers, F. Ghidey
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 2005, 60 (6) 411-421;
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