Nitrogen, Groundwater Quality, and a Changing Climate: Intersecting challenges for Wisconsin agriculture

Speaker: Chris Kucharik, Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Agriculture’s long-term reliance on nitrogen to maintain or increase crop productivity has contributed to increased nitrate concentrations in groundwater across Wisconsin over the last several decades. Climate change will bring a shift towards increased precipitation and a higher frequency of extreme rainfall events that will make nutrient management more challenging thereby exacerbating current water quality issues. This presentation will review our current understanding of the intersection of nitrogen, groundwater quality, and climate, and highlight ongoing field research and numerical modeling.