4R N Management Science Consensus to Modify Nitrous Oxide Estimation in the Field to Market Fieldprint Calculator

The Field-to-Market Sustainability Alliance (>65 member organizations) developed a Fieldprint Calculator (FPC) to estimate key sustainability metrics addressing land use, water quality, soil conservation, irrigation water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for leading U.S. agricultural field crops (corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, rice, and potatoes). Currently, that FPC GHG estimation relies on a simple N-rate-dependent multiplier to estimate fertilizer N impacts on nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions. Through collaborative efforts by the N program and stewardship leaders in IPNI and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), an industry-sponsored project was planned, proposed to, and accepted by Field to Market leaders to modify the N₂O estimator to be more inclusive of all 4Rs. IPNI and TFI identified leading cropping system N management and N₂O emission scientists from within the USDA and leading agricultural universities, to invite them to a science coordination and consensus-building workshop. The N science workshop was planned for early March 2015, and will be facilitated by The Prasino Group. The discussions, decisions, and science-vetting will be transparent and adhere to ISO standards, with oversight by a Science Advisory Group. The workshop objective is to develop regionally sensitive, 4R-tiered (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced) N management frameworks for corn-soybean and wheat cropping systems in the U.S, that reflect improved N use efficiency and effectiveness. It is anticipated that the 4R tiered N management framework will enable the invited N science workshop participants to assign modifiers (i.e., coefficients) to the FPC N-rate dependent estimates of N₂O emissions, to afford farmers, their advisers, and the industry to continuously improve their 4R sustainable N management practices, while reducing crop agriculture N₂O emissions; without sacrificing crop yields or soil productivity. The resulting 4R tiered N management frameworks and N₂O emission modifiers will be used by Field to Market to update and improve their FPC fertilizer N-related N₂O emission algorithm by late 2015 to mid-2016.