Increasing Water Productivity, Nutrient Use Efficiency, and Soil Health in Rainfed Agricultural Systems of Semi-Arid Southern Great Plains

To sustainably increase the productivity of rainfed agricultural systems in the Southern Great Plains by:

Increasing precipitation use efficiency

Increasing N use efficiency

Reducing yield losses due to environmental stresses and weed pressure

Restoring and enhancing soil health

We are interested in studying the natural systems which shape and guide the processes of the natural world. Our long-term goal is to identify and characterize the scientific mechanisms specific to our principal areas of research.

Develop and extend new information and technologies that enhance long-term strategic management and in-season tactical management of Southern Great Plains cropping systems
Create new opportunities that educate and equip producers and students to utilize these best management practices

Read on to find out more about these projects

Diversified Crop Rotations

We have developed a powerful tool for use in the identification and characterization of the processes in our model system. A major advantage of this development is its improved sensitivity, which allows it to detect subtle dynamic property changes in response to our experimentation.

Improved Soil Health

We still have only a very limited understanding of most aspects about our planet. Answering questions about this is essential for understanding the mechanistic role it plays on other scientific processes, and for developing tools to further explore this research avenue with more sensitive measurements and improved data collection.

Increased Water and Nitrogen Use Efficiency

In an effort to gain a better understanding of the world around us, we have recently begun to use a new technique to investigate the organization and functionality of the diverse parts of our experimental model. We are currently looking to expand this work by collaborating with other labs who have the facilities and prior experience to investigate this project further.

Events & Media

Dr. J's Podcast

August 31, 2020

This podcast features two specialist from Oklahoma State University; Dr. Alex Rocateli (alex.rocateli@okstate.edu) and Dr. Jason Warren (jason.warren@okstate.edu), faculty members in the Plant & Soil Sciences Department. Topics: interseeding small grains into bermudagrass pastures, discussion on water usage, and overall productive capacity of pasture ground in this management system.

Listen now

Virtual Forage Field Day

August 18, 2020

Participants joined us online to learn about summer forage management practices. This live webinar was streamed from the Agronomic Research Station in Stillwater, Oklahoma and Cimarron Valley Research Station in Perkins, Oklahoma.

Watch Field Day Videos

Rainfed Ag and Rural Prosperity

December 11, 2019

Host Ron Hays talks with Dr. Tyson Ochsner, Dr. Brian Arnall and Dr. Beatrix Haggard about this multi million dollar research effort that focuses on improving southern plains agriculture in rainfed farm situations.

Listen here