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Student Spotlight: Emily Duncan, Modernizing Manure Management for a Cleaner Chesapeake
In May 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13508 on Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection, declaring the Bay a national treasure in need of renewal and defense. One of the goals of the first-ever presidential directive on the Bay was to restore clean water; this goal has yet to come to fruition.
The water quality of the Bay is impacted by excessive nutrients and sediment. At Penn State’s Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Farm at Rock Springs, Ph.D. candidate Emily Duncan, specializing in soil science, is currently investigating ways to improve farming practices with the goal of reducing nutrient and sediment loads to the Bay. Her research focus is on improving manure management to balance nitrogen efficiency and environmental trade-offs.
Nitrogen loss from field application of manure can be significant but manure management techniques can have a major impact on this loss of nitrogen.
The goal of Duncan’s research is to evaluate various manure application techniques and quantify the amount and fate of nitrogen going to crops, soil and water by each management method.
A new technique being tested at the Rock Springs site, alongside traditional broadcast application and aeration with banded application, is shallow disc injection.
“The presence of raised levels of ammonia and nitrate are reason for concern,” Duncan said. “[Shallow disc injection] has the potential to reduce runoff, pollution and odor.”
Duncan’s role is all about using precise measurements to quantify whether or not this new manure application technique will improve nitrogen efficiency and crop yields and ultimately reduce the nitrogen transported to the Bay. Nitrogen exists in many different forms as it is cycled through the farm ecosystem and Duncan measures its form and amount as it moves from gas, to soil, to water and to crops.
The test results will show how much nitrogen the crops used before being harvested; how much nitrogen and sediment were lost to surface runoff; how much nitrogen was lost to groundwater leaching; and how much nitrogen was lost to airborne emissions.
Duncan and her fellow researchers are hoping to see minimized nutrient and soil loss, improved nutrient uptake, more biological diversity and ecological interactions. They hope that their tests will provide manure management recommendations that improve nitrogen conservation, boosts in overall efficiency, productivity, profitability and sustainability for the site as a whole.
Duncan’s research is part of the Sustainable Cropping Systems project funded by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension program. Her advisor is Peter Kleinman, an adjunct associate professor of soil science and soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.
By Geoff Ruslau,
PSIEE Writing Intern
Contact
Emily Duncan
ewd5089@psu.edu