Two potential sites for a second project on cover crops were visited last October. Since then, the landscape, slopes and other available GIS-based information have been studied to determine the best site for this study. Tillage and crop rotation treatments for the systems to be evaluated will be established this spring, plus runoff-monitoring systems installed. This project is designed to determine the impact of a rye annual cover crop on sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen loss. Read more about Impacts of Cover Crops on Phosphorus and Nitrogen Loss with Surface Runoff Mar 2014

One project involves extensive fieldwork in the Cedar River watershed. Fourteen monitoring sites were selected last fall, with stream water collected from each site once every two weeks from mid-October until early December. Water sampling will resume in the spring, plus soil samples will be collected. The research will help identify actual nutrient losses in relation to land use practices. Read more about Distribution, Transport, and Biogeochemical Transformations of Agriculturally Derived Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Cedar River Watershed Mar 2014