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Data from: Organic production reduces subsurface nitrate leaching and maintains crop yields in US Mollisol

Published by Agricultural Research Service | Department of Agriculture | Catalog Last Checked: May 05, 2026 at 11:41 PM | Dataset Last Updated: March 18, 2026
Organic production aims to diversify crop rotation and use organic fertilizer sources to build soil fertility and improve soil health indicators. This data evaluates the impact of organic farming on water quality in artificially drained midwestern Mollisols of central Iowa. This 7-year study compares tile nitrate loss and yields under three cropping systems: (1) conventional corn (Zea mays L)-soybean (Glycine max L.), (2) organic corn–soybean–oat (Avena sativa L.)/alfalfa (Medicago sativa L)–alfalfa, and (3) organic perennial pasture. Nitrogen (N) fertilization consisted of sidedress urea ammonium nitrate for conventional corn (168 kg N ha−1) and spring-applied composted manure for organic corn (168 kg N ha−1) and oats (56 kg N ha−1). The dataset comprises of monthly values of subsurface drainage discharge, flow weighted nitrate concentrations, and the mass of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) in drainage discharge for each of 30 corresponding experimental plots from 2014 to 2020. Dataset also includes annual harvested grain yields corrected to standard moisture content and above-ground biomass yields (excluding grain).Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Field Operations.xlsx. Metadata information describing management practices and operations for each crop each year.Resource Title: NitrateLoad_SubsurfaceDrainage_FWNC.csv. This dataset provides monthly values of Nitrate-N load, subsurface drainage discharge, and flow weighted nitrate concentrations from 2014 to 2020.Resource Title Set: Yield_Alfalfa.csv, Yield_ConvCorn.csv, Yield_ConvSoybean.csv, Yield_Oat.csv, Yield_OrgCorn.csv, and Yield_OrgSoybean.csv. These datasets provide biomass and grain yields of conventional soybean and corn, organic soybean, corn, oats and alfalfa from 2014-2020.Resource Title: Precipitation.csv. Cumulative monthly precipitation for the study location, 2014-2020. Monthly values were calculated from daily values from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/request/coop/fe.phtml).

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
accrualPeriodicity R/P1M
bureauCode 
                                            [
  "005:18"
]
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "Rogovska, Natalia (natalia.rogovska@usda.gov) and Ruis, Sabrina (sabrina.ruis@usda.gov)",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:natalia.rogovska@usda.gov"
}
description <p dir="ltr">Organic production aims to diversify crop rotation and use organic fertilizer sources to build soil fertility and improve soil health indicators. This data evaluates the impact of organic farming on water quality in artificially drained midwestern Mollisols of central Iowa. This 7-year study compares tile nitrate loss and yields under three cropping systems: (1) conventional corn (<i>Zea mays</i> L)-soybean (<i>Glycine max</i> L.), (2) organic corn–soybean–oat (<i>Avena sativa</i> L.)/alfalfa (<i>Medicago sativa</i> L)–alfalfa, and (3) organic perennial pasture. Nitrogen (N) fertilization consisted of sidedress urea ammonium nitrate for conventional corn (168 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup>) and spring-applied composted manure for organic corn (168 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup>) and oats (56 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup>). The dataset comprises of monthly values of subsurface drainage discharge, flow weighted nitrate concentrations, and the mass of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) in drainage discharge for each of 30 corresponding experimental plots from 2014 to 2020. Dataset also includes annual harvested grain yields corrected to standard moisture content and above-ground biomass yields (excluding grain).</p><p dir="ltr">Resources in this dataset:</p><ul><li>Resource Title: Field Operations.xlsx. Metadata information describing management practices and operations for each crop each year.</li><li>Resource Title: NitrateLoad_SubsurfaceDrainage_FWNC.csv. This dataset provides monthly values of Nitrate-N load, subsurface drainage discharge, and flow weighted nitrate concentrations from 2014 to 2020.</li><li>Resource Title Set: Yield_Alfalfa.csv, Yield_ConvCorn.csv, Yield_ConvSoybean.csv, Yield_Oat.csv, Yield_OrgCorn.csv, and Yield_OrgSoybean.csv. These datasets provide biomass and grain yields of conventional soybean and corn, organic soybean, corn, oats and alfalfa from 2014-2020.</li><li>Resource Title: Precipitation.csv. Cumulative monthly precipitation for the study location, 2014-2020. Monthly values were calculated from daily values from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (<a href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/request/coop/fe.phtml&data=05|02|Andrew.McLaughlin@usda.gov|337be1ea0e1a4ce5b3e208de7941047e|ed5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697|1|0|639081517313761125|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ==|0|||&sdata=sYlh8F3XAnxvphOMd7eBeR6NyC4+YYvWtxBVqab9CYM=&reserved=0" target="_blank">https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/request/coop/fe.phtml</a>).</li></ul><p><br></p>
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    "title": "Metadata_NitrateLoad_SubsurfaceDrainage_FWNC.csv",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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]
identifier 10.15482/USDA.ADC/31370134.v1
keyword 
                                            [
  "Iowa",
  "alfalfa",
  "corn",
  "drainage water",
  "grain yields",
  "nitrate",
  "nitrogen",
  "oats",
  "organic farming",
  "pasture",
  "soybean",
  "subsurface drainage"
]
license https://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/
modified 2026-03-18
programCode 
                                            [
  "005:040"
]
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "Agricultural Research Service",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
spatial 
                                            "{"type": "Point", "coordinates": [-93.76698, 42.01944]}"
temporal 2014-01-01/2020-12-31
theme 
                                            [
  "geospatial"
]
title Data from: Organic production reduces subsurface nitrate leaching and maintains crop yields in US Mollisol

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