Upper Susquehanna watershed and New York State improvements in nitrogen and phosphorus mass balances of dairy farms

Cela, S.; Ketterings, Quirine M.; Soberon, Melanie A.; Rasmussen, Caroline Nowak; Czymmek, Karl

doi:10.2489/jswc.72.1.1

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In contrast to farms with large herd size relative to available land, which export manure nutrient (Hristov et al, 2006;Cela et al, 2014), this study highlighted that low animal density (AU/ha) allowed for the development of cropping strategies that not only can easily recycle manure nutrients, but also allowed to grow crops for sale, which in turn provided a degree of flexibility to accommodate for strategic management objectives. In our study, the higher availability of land per cow in QC compared with WI may have contributed to the higher AR for both P and N balances in the former compared with the latter ( Figure 3); however, numerous factors affect whole-farm nutrient balance and their changes over time (Soberon et al, 2015;Cela et al, 2017).…”

Section: Animal Units Per Hectarementioning

confidence: 70%

“…Compared with data collected on farms, the higher efficiencies reported here may reflect the potential gains from following standard nutritional and NMP practices and from considering feeding, cropping, and nutrient management as a single unit of management. Nutrient mass balance can be reduced over time using a holistic approach to farm management including precision feeding, meticulous manure allocation, and fertilizer management Soberon et al, 2015;Cela et al, 2017). A second explanation for the high P and N efficiencies of our study may be related to the higher proportion of home-grown crop sold in our regional cases (Table 3) compared with the aforementioned commercial farms studies.…”

Section: Whole-farm Nutrient Utilization Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 86%

“…nutrient balance per kilogram of FPCM as an indicator of farm-level nutrient use efficiency for milk production (Cela et al, 2014(Cela et al, , 2017. The functional unit is important to consider as researchers seek ways to assess environmental impacts of systems intensification and identify dairy management practices that combine high milk performance with low environmental impact (Salou et al, 2017).…”

Section: Sensitivity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Economic effect of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus mass balance on Wisconsin and Québec dairy farms

Pellerin

Charbonneau

Fadul-Pacheco

et al. 2017

Journal of Dairy Science

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Our objective was to explore the trade-offs between economic performance (farm net income, FNI) and environmental outcomes (whole-farm P and N balances) of dairy farms in Wisconsin (WI; United States) and Québec (QC; Canada). An Excel-based linear program model (N-CyCLES; nutrient cycling: crops, livestock, environment, and soil) was developed to optimize feeding, cropping, and manure management as a single unit of management. In addition to FNI, P and N balances model outputs included (1) the mix of up to 9 home-grown and 17 purchased feeds for up to 5 animal groups, (2) the mix of up to 5 crop rotations in up to 5 land units and c) the mix of up to 7 fertilizers (solid and liquid manure and 5 commercial fertilizers) to allocate in each land unit. The model was parameterized with NRC nutritional guidelines and regional nutrient management planning rules. Simulations were conducted on a typical WI farm of 107 cows and 151 ha of cropland and, a Southern QC farm of 87 cows and 142 ha of cropland and all results were expressed per kg of fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM). In absence of constraints on P and N balances, maximum FNI was 0.12 and 0.11 $/kg of FPCM for WI and QC, respectively, with P and N balances of 1.05 and 14.29 g/kg of FPCM in WI but 0.60 and 15.70 g/kg of FPCM in QC. The achievable reduction (balance at maximum FNI minus balance when the simulation objective was to minimize P or N balance) was 0.31 and 0.54 g of P/kg of FPCM (29 and 89% reduction), but 2.37 and 3.31 g of N/kg of FPCM (17 and 24% reduction) in WI and QC, respectively. Among other factors, differences in animal unit per hectare and reliance on biological N fixation may have contributed to lower achievable reductions of whole-farm balances in WI compared with QC. Subsequent simulations to maximize FNI under increasing constraints on nutrient balances revealed that it was possible to reduce P balance, N balance, and both together by up to 33% without a substantial effect on FNI. Partial reduction in P balance reduced N balance (synergetic effect) in WI, but increased N balance (antagonistic effect) in QC. In contrast, reducing N balance increased P balance in both regions, albeit in different magnitudes. The regional comparison highlighted the importance of site-specific conditions on modeling outcomes. This study demonstrated that even when recommended guidelines are followed for herd nutrition and crop fertilization, the optimization of herd feeding, cropping, and manure spreading as a single unit of management may help identify management options that preserve FNI, while substantially reducing whole-farm nutrient balance.

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Section: Animal Units Per Hectarementioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Whole-farm Nutrient Utilization Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Sensitivity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Economic effect of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus mass balance on Wisconsin and Québec dairy farms

Pellerin

Charbonneau

Fadul-Pacheco

et al. 2017

Journal of Dairy Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…At the farm scale, the definition of N balance expands to include inputs and outputs associated with integrated crop–livestock production systems (Soberon et al 2015 ). Nitrogen balance can be scaled up to large watersheds (Thorburn and Wilkinson 2013 , Cela et al 2017 ) and countries (Zhang et al 2015 ) and aggregated across industry sectors (Stott and Gourley 2016 ).…”

Section: Nitrogen Balance As a Measure Of Nitrogen Losses To The Envimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Nitrogen Balancing Act: Tracking the Environmental Performance of Food Production

et al. 2018

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Farmers, food supply-chain entities, and policymakers need a simple but robust indicator to demonstrate progress toward reducing nitrogen pollution associated with food production. We show that nitrogen balance—the difference between nitrogen inputs and nitrogen outputs in an agricultural production system—is a robust measure of nitrogen losses that is simple to calculate, easily understood, and based on readily available farm data. Nitrogen balance provides farmers with a means of demonstrating to an increasingly concerned public that they are succeeding in reducing nitrogen losses while also improving the overall sustainability of their farming operation. Likewise, supply-chain companies and policymakers can use nitrogen balance to track progress toward sustainability goals. We describe the value of nitrogen balance in translating environmental targets into actionable goals for farmers and illustrate the potential roles of science, policy, and agricultural support networks in helping farmers achieve them.

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“…The New York P balance declined accordingly, resulting in a much smaller P surplus (Swink et al, 2009). Assessment of whole‐farm P balances (P imports with feed, fertilizer, animals, and/or bedding minus P exports through sales of milk and crops, as well as exports of animals and manure; Soberon et al, 2013) in New York and in the New York portion of the Upper Susquehanna Watershed (USW), headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBW), are consistent with these trends; whole‐farm P balances per hectare declined over 10 yr by 41% (statewide) and 51% (for the USW dairies), while milk production remained constant in both regions (Cela et al, 2017). Reduced P balances resulted primarily from reductions in nutrient imports (source reduction), particularly feed nutrients, reflecting increased efficiency of production over time (Cela et al, 2014, 2015, 2017; Soberon et al, 2015).…”

Section: The New York Phosphorus Index (Ny‐pi) Approach (Source × Tramentioning

confidence: 76%

Restructuring the P Index to Better Address P Management in New York

et al. 2017

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The New York Phosphorus Index (NY-PI) was introduced in 2001 after the release of the state's first Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Permit that required a nutrient management plan developed in accordance with NRCS standards. The stakeholder-based approach to development of the NY-PI, combined with a requirement for all regulated farms to determine a NY-PI score for all fields, ensured widespread adoption. While P management greatly improved over time, the initial NY-PI overemphasized soil-test P (STP), allowing for P addition if STP was low, even if the risk of P transport was high. Our goal was to develop a new PI approach that incentivizes implementation of best management practices (BMPs) where P-transport risk is high, building on feedback from certified planners (survey), analysis of a planner-supplied 33,000+ field database with NY-PI information, and modeling of the impacts of specific BMPs on P runoff using data from a central NY CAFO farm. We propose a new NY-PI structure that identifies landscape-driven P-transport risk if P is surface applied when crops are not actively growing to reach a raw PI score that is multiplied by credits (factors £ 1.0) for implementation of BMPs effective in reducing the risk of P transport. In this "Transport ´ BMP" approach, STP is used as P application cutoff. This approach could reduce barriers to regionalization of PIs, as states can identify landscape risk factors, soil-test cutoffs, and BMPs while maintaining the same management categories (no manure, P-removal-based rates, or N-based management).

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Upper Susquehanna watershed and New York State improvements in nitrogen and phosphorus mass balances of dairy farms

Cited by 15 publications

References 17 publications

Economic effect of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus mass balance on Wisconsin and Québec dairy farms

Economic effect of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus mass balance on Wisconsin and Québec dairy farms

The Nitrogen Balancing Act: Tracking the Environmental Performance of Food Production

Restructuring the P Index to Better Address P Management in New York

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