DSystems
The DSystems Program is a multi-year, multi-disciplinary program focused on broad agriculture and community systems (up to four years).
Current DSystems Projects
Bridging Nitrogen Budgets from Field to Watershed Scales for Region-Specific Solutions to Achieve Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Targets
Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient for crop growth and productivity. Nitrogen loss from agricultural landscape not only wastes this previous farming input, but also affects water quality. There is thus an urgent need to improve overall nitrogen use efficiency and manage nitrogen loss from agricultural landscapes – which include but are not simply crop fields – for increasing both agronomic production efficiency (and thus net economic return of farming) and water quality. Better understanding of the nitrogen cycle by bridging the nitrogen budgets from field to watershed scale is the foundation to solve the nutrient loss reduction challenge.
DSynergy
The DSynergy Program is a one or two-year project for groups seeking to define how their research and outreach can be integrated across disciplinary boundaries.
Current DSynergy Projects
Advancing Drainage Water Recycling for Resilient Agriculture and Improved Water Quality in Illinois
This project explores how Drainage Water Recycling (DWR) can enhance crop resilience and improve water quality in Illinois agriculture. By capturing and reusing drainage water for irrigation, this innovative approach aims to address key challenges like water scarcity, nutrient loss, and crop productivity in the state.
Beyond Cereal Rye: Evaluating Soil, Crop, and Water Quality Synergies with Legumes and Brassica Cover Crops
Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategies in the upper Midwest (MN, IA, and IL) identify cover cropping as the most effective in-field conservation practice to achieve nutrient loss reduction goals. Cereal rye is the most commonly grown cover crop in this region because it overwinters and produces considerable biomass in the spring, but also it may reduce the yield of the following cash crop. Addressing the yield gap of cash crops following cereal rye is essential to increase the adoption of cover crops by farmers in Illinois, a trend that is expected to continue considering the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction goals.
Evaluation of Grazing or Harvesting Cereal Rye in Corn-Soybean Rotation: Understanding Impacts in an Integrated Crop-Beef Cattle Operation
Integrated crop and beef cattle operations require special consideration and planning to evaluate what systems will be the most mutually beneficial. The use of cover crops in cropping systems has gained popularity and has historically been utilized for the potential to improve soil health. However, these cover crops also offer potential benefits to livestock production. This multidisciplinary team will evaluate the impacts of including cover crops in an integrated crop and beef cattle operation. The central hypothesis is that grazing cover crops or harvesting cover crops for feed can generate short-term economic benefits in an integrated crop and beef cattle operation while still providing long-term conservation benefits and enhancement of soil health. We believe that understanding and quantifying the feed value of cover crops and the impact of grazing or harvesting cover crops on soil health will help producers make management decisions that balance dual goals of profitable beef production and sustainable soil management. Collectively, including cover crops in integrated operations will benefit both the individual farmer and society.
I-FUSION DSI: Integrated Farming Using Sensing and Intelligence for Optimized Next-Gen Crop–Livestock Systems at the Dudley Smith Initiative Farm
Illinois corn–soybean systems need management strategies that maintain profitability while improving soil and water stewardship. This project evaluates managed grazing of cover crops as a practical pathway to retain nutrients, protect soil structure, and create decision-ready guidance for Illinois producers. We will run paired field trials at the Dudley Smith Initiative Farm (Christian County) and the University of Illinois Animal Sciences Research Farms (Champaign), comparing three systems: grazed cover crops, ungrazed cover crops, and no-cover controls.