• Overview: Laboratory scale studies are being conducted in lysimeters to determine crop yield response to precisely managed soil-water conditions. Field scale studies are also being conducted to evaluate the influence and interaction of water table depths and fertility management on corn, soybean and wheat yield.

 
• Goal: Develop water table management production recommendations to optimize crop yield and be able to reliably predict using Stress Day Index type simulation models yield response to water related stresses.

 
• Importance: Rainfall is adequate on average for most agricultural crops, yet, significant production losses in terms of reduced yield and quality occur most years throughout much of North Carolina due to short terms droughts. In any given year, approximately 50 percent of the states four million acres of row crops are either corn, soybean and/or wheat. Approximately 75 percent of this production occurs on shallow water table soils in the Coastal plain and Tidewater regions. In most years, yields are reduced by either too much or too little water. Production efficiency and yield reliability can be improved with proper water management.

 
• Cooperators: R. Skaggs (BAE), C. Croizer (Soil Science), J. W. Gilliam (Soil Science), G. Chescheir (BAE), J. Parsons (BAE), K. Cassel (Soil Science)

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