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Illinois study reveals variability in subsurface phosphorus loss across crop fields

A University of Illinois study reveals soil phosphorus concentrations can vary greatly across a single field translating to sub-field variability of dissolved phosphorus, a readily available form promoting algal production, in tile, or artificial subsurface drainage, water.

“We monitored nutrient concentrations in water of 36 parallel tile laterals at our on-farm study site and found that those laterals located under large closed topographic depressions generally transport water with higher dissolved phosphorus concentrations,” said Luis Andino, graduate student in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the U of I and lead author on the study. | READ MORE