Research at the Dickinson Research Extension Center, led by Dickinson REC director Chris Augustin and NDSU research agronomist Krishna Katuwal is beginning this spring to address how to maximize the use of soils and moisture for farming and grazing despite the area’s drier climate.
Western North Dakota is unique in that it has some of the best soils in the United States. However, it also has a semi-arid climate, with an average of 15 inches of precipitation per year, making the management of farmland and grazing land challenging.
Research at the Dickinson Research Extension Center, led by Dickinson REC director Chris Augustin and NDSU research agronomist Krishna Katuwal is beginning this spring to address how to maximize the use of soils and moisture for farming and grazing despite the area’s drier climate.
NDSU is partnering with Montana State University and the USDA-ARS in Mandan on this research initiative, which will initially study the soil water impacts from various crop rotations.
“Our goal is to improve sustainability for dryland agriculture production in semi-arid areas,” Augustin said. “We are assessing the impacts of different crop rotations paired with cattle grazing.”
Augustin noted that the project combines the work of two of North Dakota’s great resources.
“North Dakota’s two greatest resources are people and soils,” he said. “This project aims to improve the livelihood of the farmers and ranchers we serve and evaluate soil health impacts.”
Augustin and Katuwal’s research is funded through the Food, Energy and Water Security (FEWS) initiative at NDSU, which is supported by USDA-ARS funding. The FEWS initiative addresses many key issues facing food, energy and water resources today, strongly emphasizing technology and research.
“This research is tied directly into water use and impacts on food, feed and fuel production,” Augustin said. “One of the leading sustainability themes is economics, so we evaluate the different practices and economic advantages and disadvantages.”
Katuwal started at the DREC in 2024 and was quickly introduced to the project. His training in crop management practices includes finding ways to improve water use in dryland agriculture.
“Because another goal of this project is to enhance the resilience of dryland agriculture in semi-arid mid-west, I was instantly interested in it,” Katuwal said.
There’s a long history of crop-livestock research at the Dickinson REC, thanks to beef cattle specialist Douglas Landblom’s decades-long work comparing crop-livestock rotation and integration in enhancing soil health.
“As agriculture has adapted, we will adapt as well,” Augustin said. “Our baseline data being collected this year springs from a 15-year integrated cropping/livestock systems project that has documented a decrease in fertilizer use. After collecting baseline data, we will likely introduce more oilseed/fuel crops into this work.”
Using remote sensing and deep-water assessment will help the researchers identify if such rotations help enhance the resilience of dryland agriculture, added Katuwal. The group’s research involves using a four-foot-deep drill and drop Sentek soil sensors and a Resonon Pika L hyperspectral camera mounted in a vector hexacopter drone. The sensors collect soil moisture, salinity and temperature down to 4 ft at every 4-inch increment and can detect moisture changes of .01 percent.
Some DREC plots have already been planted with spring wheat, while others will be planted with sunflowers, corn, cover crops, peas and barley.
“We installed Sentek deep soil moisture sensors in plots that have already been planted. We will also collect hyperspectral images using a drone when crops are at their peak flowering phase and harvest time,” Katuwal said. “Assessing deep soil water dynamics along with hyperspectral imagery, we will identify how different crop rotations affect soil water management for improved water uses in dryland agriculture.”
Augustin said that a VERIS soil mapper is also being utilized to spatially determine soil organic matter, pH and salinity.
“This research speaks directly to the mission of the FEWS initiative. By taking a multidisciplinary approach, it provides science-based solutions that help farmers and ranchers build resilience through better soil moisture conservation and improved soil health,” said Frank Casey, associate director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and lead of the FEWS initiative. “It is gratifying to see how this work can strengthen the security and long-term stability of agricultural operations in western North Dakota.”
The NDSU Food, Energy and Water Security initiative projects receive funding from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.
