The LTAR Cropland Common Experiment at Platte River/High Plains Aquifer

Abstract

The Platte River/High Plains Aquifer (PR/HPA) region is characterized by cropland, pastures, and grasslands that are faced with changing climatic conditions and agricultural intensification. The PR/HPA Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site is located in Eastern Nebraska with the goal of improving resilience, sustainability, and profitability of agroecosystems through enhancing ecosystem services and environmental quality, developing strategies for efficient agricultural production, and mitigating and adapting to climate change. To meet this goal, a common experiment and five ancillary experiments have been developed to evaluate prevailing regional practices in grain crop production systems compared to alternative practices in rainfed and irrigated systems. These experiments reflect different geographic regions and cropping systems within PR/HPA. The common experiment is at a plot scale under sub-drip irrigation. The prevailing practice is a corn–soybean rotation with a fixed N fertilizer rate. The alternative practice is a corn-winter wheat-relay cropped soybean rotation with temporally variable N rates using fertigation. There is also an auxiliary alternative practice, a corn–soybean rotation with temporally variable N rates using fertigation with fall manure application after soybean harvest. This document describes the regional characteristics, cropland LTAR experiments, stakeholder engagement, and future plans for the PR/HPA cropland experiments.