EDITOR’S NOTE: This press release has been updated from a version published on November 10, 2021 to include a recording of the webinar.
AMES, Iowa — The Iowa Learning Farms (ILF) conservation webinar recorded Nov. 17 at noon CST feature Sotirios Archontoulis, associate professor of integrated cropping systems at Iowa State University. Archontoulis conducts research to identify practices that increase both crop productivity and environmental sustainability. The research has produced data pointing toward practices that balance nitrogen (N) fertilizer application and system utilization in corn crops.
In the webinar, “Past, Present, and Future Optimum N Rates for Corn,” Archontoulis draws on the results of field experiments and simulation models to describe future sustainable and profitable cropping systems that could be widely deployed. He also discusses how N fertilizer affects soil-root-plant processes from a systems perspective, and how this model provides guidance in the determination of optimum N application rates for corn crops.
“Nitrogen is critically important to productivity in agricultural crops, but it is also a critical contributor to water quality degradation when unused N is transported to waterways,” said Archontoulis. “Striking a balance in N application rates that provide the needed nourishment without contributing to leaching of N into waterways is the goal of much of our research. The ability to predict optimum N rates is probably five times more difficult than predicting crop yields, but we are making solid progress and are eager to see field results across greater scales.”
Iowa Learning Farms – November 17, 2021 from ISU CALS ONLINE on Vimeo.
About Iowa Learning Farms:
Established in 2004, Iowa Learning Farms is building a Culture of Conservation by encouraging adoption of conservation practices. Farmers, researchers and ILF team members are working together to identify and implement the best management practices that improve water quality and soil health while remaining profitable. Partners of Iowa Learning Farms include the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources, EPA Section 319 Grant Program and GROWMARK, Inc.
— Iowa Learning Farms