Integrated Conservation Strategies to Reduce Tile Drainage Nitrate-N Losses from Row-Crop Production at Watershed Scale

The University of Minnesota will implement an integrated conservation strategy at a watershed scale in Minnesota to reduce tile-drainage nitrate-nitrogen losses from corn-soybean cropping. The agronomic, economic and environmental benefits will be evaluated in comparison with a paired watershed with farmers using their traditional management practices. The integrated strategy will include: an innovative and practical satellite remote sensing-based, in-season, site-specific precision nitrogen management technology to optimize corn nitrogen management; cover crops to take up residual nitrogen in the soil after harvest; and a denitrifying bed woodchip bioreactor to further remove nitrate-nitrogen from tile drainage effluent.