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Long‐term tillage and manure application can alter a soil's ability to sequester nutrients and mineralize C and N. A laboratory incubation study (C and N mineralization) evaluated the long‐term impact of poultry litter (PL) application (>10 yr) and tillage practice (>25 yr). Soil chemical properties (pH, total C, total N, and Mehlich‐1 extractable P, K, Ca, and Mg) were also assessed. Soil was collected (0–5‐, 5–10‐, and 10–20‐cm depths) from continuous soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and corn (Zea mays L.) systems managed under conventional tillage (CT) or no‐till (NT) with either PL or inorganic fertilizer (IF) applications. The study was located in northeast Alabama on a Hartsells fine sandy loam (a fine‐loamy, siliceous, subactive, thermic Typic Hapludult). Poultry litter and NT increased soil nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg), primarily at the 0‐ to 5‐cm depth. No‐till concentrated nutrients near the soil surface as opposed to the more even distribution seen under CT. The NT‐PL treatment had higher soil C for corn and soybean (2.25 and 1.83 g kg−1 C, respectively), followed by NT‐IF (1.73 and 1.11 g kg−1 C, respectively). Carbon and N mineralization was higher at the 0‐ to 5‐cm depth for NT and CT compared with lower depths. Long‐term PL application increased C and N mineralization more than IF. As depth increased, more C and N mineralization occurred under CT due to plow layer mixing. Results indicated that long‐term tillage with PL application can increase soil C and N mineralization, nutrient retention, and organic matter.

The use of commercial nitrogen (N) fertilizers has led to enormous increases in US agricultural productivity. However, N losses from agricultural systems have resulted in numerous deleterious environmental impacts, including a continuing increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas (GHG) and an important catalyst of stratospheric ozone depletion. Although associated with about 7% of total US GHG emissions, agricultural systems account for 75% of total US N2O emissions. Increased productivity in the crop and livestock sectors during the past 30 to 70 years has resulted in decreased N2O emissions per unit of production, but N2O emissions from US agriculture continue to increase at a rate of approximately 0.46 teragrams of carbon dioxide equivalents per year (2002–2009). This rate is lower than that during the late 20th century. Improvements in agricultural productivity alone may be insufficient to lead to reduced emissions; implementing strategies specifically targeted at reducing N2O emissions may therefore be necessary.

Interest in using gypsum as a management tool to improve crop yields and soil and water quality has recently increased. Abundant supply and availability of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum, a by-product of scrubbing sulfur from combustion gases at coalfired power plants, in major agricultural producing regions within the last two decades has attributed to this interest. Currently, published data on the long-term sustainability of FGD gypsum use in agricultural systems is limited. This has led to organization of the American Society of Agronomy's Community "By-product Gypsum Uses in Agriculture" and a special collection of nine technical research articles on various issues related to FGD gypsum uses in agricultural systems. A brief review of FGD gypsum, rationale for the special collection, overviews of articles, knowledge gaps, and future research directions are presented in this introductory paper. The nine articles are focused in three general areas: (i) mercury and other trace element impacts, (ii) water quality impacts, and (iii) agronomic responses and soil physical changes. While this is not an exhaustive review of the topic, results indicate that FGD gypsum use in sustainable agricultural production systems is promising. The environmental impacts of FGD gypsum are mostly positive, with only a few negative results observed, even when applied at rates representing cumulative 80-year applications. Thus, FGD gypsum, if properly managed, seems to represent an important potential input into agricultural systems.

There are growing concerns regarding the fate of nutrients, especially phosphorus (P), from land application of animal waste. One approach being studied to reduce runoff losses of P is to treat manure or the soil receiving manure with chemical amendments such as gypsum. This study used rainfall simulations to examine the impact of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum application on runoff nutrient losses on a Coastal Plains soil (Luverne sandy loam; fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults). Four rates of FGD gypsum (0, 2.2, 4.4, and 8.9 Mg ha) were applied to plots of Coastal Bermudagrass ( L.) that had received application of 13.4 Mg ha poultry litter. Plots with 8.9 Mg ha FGD gypsum but no poultry litter and plots with neither poultry litter nor FGD gypsum were also used. Rainfall simulation was used to generate water runoff for 60 min, and samples were analyzed for soluble reactive P (SRP) and soluble Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and Zn. Total concentration of Ca, Mg, K, Na, Fe, Mn, and Zn and concentration of heavy metals Ar, Hg, Al, Sb, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Ni, Si, V, Se, Tl, and hexavalent chromium were also analyzed. Results indicated a maximum of 61% reduction in SRP concentration in runoff with the application of 8.9 Mg ha FGD gypsum. This translated to a 51% reduction in total SRP load during the 60-min runoff event. Concentrations of heavy metals in runoff were all found to be below detection limits. The results indicated that use of 4.4 Mg ha FGD gypsum on Coastal Plains pastures receiving poultry litter could be an effective method of reducing SRP losses to the environment.