The U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC) of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) provides dairy-industry solutions for food security, environmental sustainability and economic viability. It builds valuable science-based research initiatives focused on improving dairy production systems, soil ecology, forage production, forage quality, nutrient management and ecosystem services.
SHARE funding supports many research projects at the USDFRC that are aimed at seeking solutions to reducing surface runoff, nutrient loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and other soil-related issues. Findings and insights from these projects help to inform SHARE’s outreach and engagement efforts as well as stakeholders such as farmers, crop consultants, educators and policymakers.
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SHARE support staff are housed within the USDFRC. These include:
Jules Reynolds, Project Coordinator, leads the internal coordination for SHARE and serves as its central resource and liaison. This includes overseeing the development of agreements, project summaries, and reporting and facilitating connections with and between internal and external partners.
Ashley Waggoner, Engagement Coordinator, is a soil scientist working with internal and external partners to spread knowledge of soil health research, identify potential collaboration opportunities, and act as a resource for anyone with questions about soil health.
Lynn Grooms, Agricultural Information Officer, has a split position between SHARE and the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center. Her work with SHARE involves internal and external communications with the SHARE leadership team, partners, stakeholders, and the media.
Top photo: Ashley Waggoner, SHARE engagement coordinator (left), talks with attendees of the World Dairy Expo about water infiltration and nutrient runoff under different farming practices. She uses her master's and doctorate degrees in soil science to communicate soil-health principles to the public. Bottom photo: Waggoner also worked with USDFRC researchers to create an educational display of cover crop seeds.
The U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center’s Dairy Ecology Lab is conducting several research studies that address soil health, carbon pools, forages, and farm profitability. Here are summaries of the lab’s current studies.
​​​Dairy Ecology Lab members collect bees found on flowering plants on private farms throughout southern Wisconsin. Bumblebees are released after identification.
​​​Pollinator Study
How do farm-management practices and in-field and edge of field plant communities affect floral resources and the pollination services provided by bees in Wisconsin? This is the focus of a study led by Jess Gambel, postdoctoral fellow in the Dairy Ecology Lab. The research team is collaborating with farmers on research design and outreach. Study findings will be published in an Extension paper and a research article in 2025.
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Carbon Stock Study
Alison Duff, research ecologist in the Dairy Ecology Lab, is evaluating carbon stocks in above- and below- ground carbon pools (vegetation, soils) in established forage plots. The plots include annual (corn silage) and perennial (alfalfa, intermediate wheatgrass) forages, as well as a more diverse perennial system (pasture mix comprised of five grass and legume species). Belowground comparisons include roots and soil to 35 inches deep. Study findings are expected to be published in 2026.​
An eddy covariance tower installed in an alfalfa-meadow fescue field is continuously measuring weather data, soil moisture and temperature data, and ‘carbon fluxes’ – the exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the field. Over time, these data can be used to assess whether fields are a carbon source or a carbon sink. The Prairie du Sac Agricultural Research Station currently has flux towers in alfalfa, alfalfa-meadow fescue, and corn silage fields. The towers will remain in place over multiple years to improve our understanding of how different phases of the crop rotation affect farm carbon balance.
Carbon Balance in Alfalfa, Alfalfa-Grass Mixtures
For this project, the Dairy Ecology Lab is collaborating with Josh Gamble, principal investigator and research agronomist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Plant Science Research Unit in St. Paul, Minnesota. The researchers are evaluating the impacts of alternative alfalfa-management practices on field-scale carbon fluxes, labile soil carbon, and soil organic carbon.
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The project team is assessing tradeoffs in greenhouse gas emissions, field profitability, and forage productivity and quality. The team also is developing outreach programming to engage agricultural producers in the research, and to share project results.​
Soil sensors are buried in the alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixture fields to continuously measure soil moisture and temperature.
Dairy Cropping Systems Trial
This project is led by the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center’s Dairy Ecology and Precision Cover Crop Labs. Collaborators include Marta Moura Kohmann, assistant professor and Extension specialist in the University of Wisconsin-Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, and Al Rotz, agricultural engineer with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit in University Park, Pennsylvania.
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The team is comparing the productivity, profitability, and fossil-energy footprint of dairy forage-cropping systems that vary in input intensity, perenniality, and crop diversity. This involves measuring greenhouse gas emissions, soil-carbon accumulation, and forage productivity to evaluate carbon balance of the selected systems. The data will be made available to improve predictions made by the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) and the Ruminant Farm Systems Model (RuFaS).
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The IFSM will be used to predict how implementation of the cropping systems would affect farm carbon balance and other sustainability outcomes. The researchers are developing outreach programming to engage agricultural producers in the research and share project results.
Here are additional recent research projects by USDFRC scientists:
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The Cover Crop Breeding Network unites USDA/ARS, universities, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Materials Centers, and farmers to develop better cover crop varieties. This nationwide breeding program identifies needs for cover crop improvement, develops molecular and high-throughput tools for selection, explores cover crop adaptation across the United States, and releases varieties (two hairy vetch and five winter pea lines currently in the release process).
A crew working with the Heathcliffe Riday Laboratory at the USDFRC plants 2,400 genotypes of hairy vetch in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.
Jessica Sherman, biological science technician, takes greenhouse gas emission measurement and soil moisture and temperature readings for a field experiment at the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center's Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research Unit in Marshfield, Wisconsin.
A shallow disc injector is among the equipment used at the USDFRC's Environmentally Integrated Dairy Management Research Unit for studying the impacts of low disturbance liquid dairy manure incorporation. The research unit is located in Marshfield, Wisconsin.
​Publications from the Dairy Forage Research Team
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​Young E.O., Sherman J.F., Bembeneck B.R., Jackson R.D., Cavadini J.S., Akins, M.S. Influence of pasture stocking method on surface runoff and nutrient loss in the US upper Midwest. 2023. Nitrogen. 4(4), 350-368. https://doi.org/10.3390/nitrogen4040025
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Sherman, J.F., Young, E.O. 2022. Greenhouse gas emissions with low disturbance liquid dairy manure incorporation into a live winter cereal cover crop-corn system. Agronomy. 12(12):1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12122978
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Sherman, J.F., Young, E.O., and Cavadini, J. 2021. Tillage and liquid dairy manure effects on overland flow nitrogen and phosphorus loss potential in an Upper Midwest corn silage-winter triticale cropping system. Agronomy 11, 1775. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091775
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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Sherman, J.F., E.O., Young, W.E. Jokela, and J. Cavadini. 2021. Impacts of low-disturbance dairy manure incorporation on ammonia and greenhouse gas fluxes in a corn silage–winter rye cover crop system. J. Environ. Qual. 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20228
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Sherman J.F., Young, E.O., Jokela W.E., Casler M.D., Coblentz W.K., Cavadini J. 2021. Influence of soil and manure management practices on surface runoff phosphorus and nitrogen loss in a corn silage production system: A paired watershed approach. Soil Systems. 5(1):1. https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems5010001
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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Sherman J., Young E.O., Jokela, W. E., and Cavadini J. 2021. Impacts of low disturbance liquid dairy manure incorporation on alfalfa yield and fluxes of ammonia, nitrous oxide, and methane. Agriculture. 11(8):750. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11080750
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Sherman, J.F., E.O. Young, W.E. Jokela, and J. Cavadini. 2020. Influence of low disturbance fall liquid dairy manure application on corn silage yield, soil nitrate and rye cover crop growth. J. Environ. Qual. 49, 1298–1309. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20085
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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Sherman, J.F., Young, E.O., Coblentz, W.C., and J. Cavadini. 2020. Runoff water quality following low-disturbance manure application in an alfalfa-grass hay crop forage system. J. Environ. Qual. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20058
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Visit U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center: USDA ARS for more information.