4R nutrient stewardship—are we there yet?

4R nutrient stewardship is an innovative approach to best management practices (BMPs) for fertilizer. It ensures that the right source (or product) is applied at the right rate, in the right place, and at the right time (Roberts, 2007; Bruulsema et al., 2009). In the lead article of a 5-part series on 4R Nutrient Stewardship in the American Society of Agronomy’s Crops and Soils magazine, Bruulsema et al. (2009) wrote “This simple concept can help farmers and the public understand how the right management practices for fertilizer contribute to sustainability for agriculture. Getting practices “right” depends on important roles played by many partners including farmers, crop advisers, scientists, policymakers, consumers, and the general public.” The concept of 4R stewardship not only provides structural stability to our own management decisions, but also offers us a simple and effective means of communicating to those outside agriculture about how our management contributes to sustainability. To truly be “right” practices must be site-specific for the crop, field, and for the zone within the field. Yet, the scientific foundation upon which 4R nutrient stewardship is built and that leads us to nutrient BMPs is universal

The Relationship Between Soil Test and Small Grain Response to P Fertilization in South Dakota Field Experiments

Phosphorus is one of the two most limiting nutrients to crop production in South Dakota. Because of this fact, many recommendations for P fertilizer are made each day by the South Dakota State University Soil Test Lab. Nearly 65,000 tons of available O are marketed each year in South Dakota as commercial fertilizer. This amounts to over 18 million dollars or expense for South Dakota farmers. Therefore, it becomes essential that recommendations for phosphorus fertilizer be as accurate as our knowledge of the soil-plant system allows. Those recommendations are currently based on the results of the Modified Bray 1, 1:7 soil test, a test used by many states throughout the Midwest. Based on data collected from 74 small grain field experiments over a 13-year period, this test explains less than 30% of the variation in yield response to P fertilization. The purpose of this study was twofold: 1. to compare several alternative soil test on the basis of field response data; and 2. To evaluate the influence of several factors on the relationship between soil test and yield response to P fertilization

Fertilizer Recommendations Guide

This publication provides information on fertilizer recommendations for crops grown in South Dakota. It also includes information on soil micronutrients

Fertilizing Wheat

This publication provides recommendations for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, secondary, and micronutrient requirements of South Dakota soils. Information on fertilizer application and guidance for fertilizing reduced and no-till wheat is also included

Observing the Evolution of the Universe

How did the universe evolve? The fine angular scale (l>1000) temperature and polarization anisotropies in the CMB are a Rosetta stone for understanding the evolution of the universe. Through detailed measurements one may address everything from the physics of the birth of the universe to the history of star formation and the process by which galaxies formed. One may in addition track the evolution of the dark energy and discover the net neutrino mass. We are at the dawn of a new era in which hundreds of square degrees of sky can be mapped with arcminute resolution and sensitivities measured in microKelvin. Acquiring these data requires the use of special purpose telescopes such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), located in Chile, and the South Pole Telescope (SPT). These new telescopes are outfitted with a new generation of custom mm-wave kilo-pixel arrays. Additional instruments are in the planning stages.Comment: Science White Paper submitted to the US Astro2010 Decadal Survey. Full list of 177 author available at http://cmbpol.uchicago.ed

4R nutrient stewardship—are we there yet?

4R nutrient stewardship is an innovative approach to best management practices (BMPs) for fertilizer. It ensures that the right source (or product) is applied at the right rate, in the right place, and at the right time (Roberts, 2007; Bruulsema et al., 2009). In the lead article of a 5-part series on 4R Nutrient Stewardship in the American Society of Agronomy’s Crops and Soils magazine, Bruulsema et al. (2009) wrote “This simple concept can help farmers and the public understand how the right management practices for fertilizer contribute to sustainability for agriculture. Getting practices “right” depends on important roles played by many partners including farmers, crop advisers, scientists, policymakers, consumers, and the general public.” The concept of 4R stewardship not only provides structural stability to our own management decisions, but also offers us a simple and effective means of communicating to those outside agriculture about how our management contributes to sustainability. To truly be “right” practices must be site-specific for the crop, field, and for the zone within the field. Yet, the scientific foundation upon which 4R nutrient stewardship is built and that leads us to nutrient BMPs is universal.</p

Maximizing (Productivity and Efficiency) in Contemporary Agriculture

A unique feature of the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium is the range in scale of the sub-disciplines represented, from nanometers to global. Perhaps never in history has the Colloquium’s capacity to exploit this cross-cutting of scales been more important than it is today. Arguably, the single most important challenge for the field of plant nutrition is to contribute all it can to improving global productivity while at the same time increasing resource use efficiency. The global character of the demand for agricultural products and many of the most critical environmental issues creates a tight linkage between improving productivity and minimizing environmental impact. Sustainably meeting this challenge will require close cooperation and understanding among disciplines, across geographies, and between public and private sectors. Three concepts are offered that may facilitate this interaction. • The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Framework: Application of the right nutrient source, at the right rate, right time, and right place is a concept that when seen within a framework connecting practices to on-farm objectives and sustainability goals, along with critical performance indicators, can help keep individuals working on “parts” cognizant of the “whole”. • Mainstreaming of Simulation Models: Models recently developed can help identify unrealized yield potential and better manage the growing uncertainty of weather and climate. • Global Data Networks: More extensive exploitation of electronic technology that facilitates global data collection, sharing, analysis, and use could expedite the acquisition and application of agronomic and plant nutrition knowledge