868 Articles found
Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Articles
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Model forecasts long-term impacts of forest land-use decisions
The drive to develop crops for use as biofuel, continues to raise questions about additional uses of forest land. A cutting edge computer model developed at North Carolina State University offers detailed insight to predict the environmental ...
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Crop sensors outdo farmers at choosing nitrogen rates
Choosing how much nitrogen (N) to put on corn fields isn’t something farmers take lightly. Many factors go into the decision, including past experiences, the timing of application, yield goals, and results from soil tests. Nevertheless, crop ...
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Assessing agroforestry`s advantages
Agroforestry, the deliberate placement of trees into crop and livestock operations, can help capture substantial amounts of carbon on agricultural lands while providing production and conservation benefits. However, we currently lack tools for ...
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Engaging High School students in soil science inquiry
In April 2007, teacher Irka Elsevier and then-graduate student Biance Moebius-Clune began their second inquiry unit designed to enable high school students to better understand soil science concepts through their own research and experiments. ...
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Harvesting Corn Stover and Soil Quality
Corn stover, left in fields after corn grain harvest, has been identified as a potential feedstock to help supply biofuel needed to offset a portion of the 14 million barrels of oils consumed daily by the U.S. transportation sector. It was projected ...
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Agroforestry Buffers Reduce Runoff from Agricultural Watersheds
Despite increased attention and demand for the adoption of agroforestry practices throughout the world, rigorous long-term scientific studies confirming environmental benefits from the use of agroforestry practices are limited. The objective of this ...
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Controlling Barnyardgrass with Corn Hybrid Selection
Barnyardgrass is a summer annual grass weed with a global impact on corn production. Yield losses due to barnyardgrass competition have been estimated up to 45% or more for crops such as cotton and corn. Besides corn, it can also be a serious ...
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Study of genotype x environment interaction for chickpea yield in Iran
Plant breeders aim to select genotypes with stable phenotypes across environments. Multienvironment trials (METs) including 3 yr and six locations for 17 genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) were performed in Iran. Bartlett`s test of ...
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Evaluation of NASA satellite- and model-derived weather data for simulation of maize yield potential in China
Use of crop models is frequently constrained by lack of the required weather data. This paper evaluates satellite-based solar radiation and model-derived air temperature (maximum temperature, Tmax; minimum temperature, Tmin) from NASA and their ...
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Forecasting cotton yield in the southeastern United States using coupled global circulation models
We developed methods of forecasting cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. var. hirsutum) yields at a county level 3 mo before harvest for the states of Alabama and Georgia. Cotton yield historical records for 57 counties were obtained from NASS and ...
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Relationship between subsoil nitrogen availability and sugarbeet processing quality
The loss of sugar content and processing quality during the harvest period happens frequently in sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris) grown in the Po Valley of Italy. The aim of this study was to assess the consequences on sugar content and ...
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SOYPOD: a model of fruit set in soybean
The soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] plant matches its reproductive potential to environmental conditions by adjusting the number of fruits and seeds that it produces. This adjustment is an important, but not well understood, part of the yield ...
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Improving soil nutrition with poultry litter application in low-input forage systems
Despite high volumes of manure production in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, there are still areas of forage production that are nutrient deficient because manures have traditionally been applied to higher-value row crops. This study was ...
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Potential phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium surpluses in an irrigated maize monoculture fertilized with pig slurry
Pig slurry (PS) is extensively applied to irrigated maize in nitrate-vulnerable zones of the Ebro Valley, Northeast Spain. Farmers base PS rates on the European Union (EU) Nitrates Directive (up to 170 kg N ha–1 derived from organic sources) or on ...
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A partial budget analysis for phosphorus-based nutrient management plans for Connecticut dairy farms
This study estimated changes in costs of manure handling, costs of the fertilizer replacement value of manure, and expected changes in net revenues associated with the implementation of manure nutrient management plans (NMPs) based on the agronomic ...
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Equivalency of broiler litter to ammonium nitrate as a cotton fertilizer in an upland soil
Estimates of litter value based on crop yield equivalency to inorganic fertilization may reflect the actual value of litter more accurately than estimates based on its N, P, and K content. The primary objective of this research was to identify a ...
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Evaluation of nitrogen sources and application methods for nitrogen-rich reference plot establishment in corn
Five different N sources were compared with null N treatment to evaluate their performance for N-rich reference plot establishment in corn (Zea mays L.). The sources, including calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), ...
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Ground-based canopy reflectance sensing for variable-rate nitrogen corn fertilization
Nitrogen available to support corn (Zea mays L.) production can be highly variable within fields. Canopy reflectance sensing for assessing crop N health has been proposed as a technology to base side-dress variable-rate N application. Objectives of ...
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Will variable-rate nitrogen fertilization using corn canopy reflectance sensing deliver environmental benefits?
Within-field variability of corn (Zea mays L.) N need calls for development of precision fertilizer application strategies. One approach many are investigating is in-season canopy reflectance sensing. Justification for this strategy partly rests ...
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On-farm assessment of the amount and timing of nitrogen fertilizer on ammonia volatilization
Ammonia (NH3) volatilization is one of the main pathways through which applied N enters the environment undesirably. A seven site-year on-farm field experiment was performed for 3 yr at Ottawa, ON, and 2 yr at Guelph, ON, and Saint-Valentin, QC, ...