Farmers in Iowa are studying interactions between crops, water usage, carbon and nitrogen storage, and how those factors combine to affect longterm soil biodiversity. It's part of a seven-state project in the Midwest.
Researchers are looking at the effects of crop combinations on soil and moisture across the Corn Belt.
Iowa State University Agronomy Professor Sotirious Archontoulis is running one research site in the five-year, $16 million project.
He's monitoring how crop management, carbon and nitrogen content affect soil moisture - and will try to predict the impact on the viability of future crops.