2025 Discovery Farms Year in Review
In 2025, Discovery Farms completed two projects, added one, and hosted many outreach events to share their data.
Articles
Diving Deep Into Plant Available Water
Filled to Capacity Crunch the Numbers What Determines Availability References How much can we influence the plant available water in soils? Let’s break down what plant available water is and how it can be improved. Plant available water is the maximum amount of water a plant can extract from the soil. It can also be […]
Research and Real-World Experience Drive Conservation Decisions at the WWASH Conference
Farmers played a key role in shaping the agenda at the 2025 Wisconsin Water and Soil Health Conference, which emphasized real-world experience, and highlighted farmer-led experimentation paired with measured on-farm research to advance soil health, water quality, and farm profitability across Wisconsin.
Quantifying Nitrate Leaching from Agricultural Soils
There are several common ways to quantify nitrate leaching. Each method has different benefits and tradeoffs in terms of data accuracy, equipment needed, and time and labor requirements.
Phosphorus Losses Checked by Layered Practices and Careful Timing: A Discovery Farms Project
Discovery Farms project finds that layering practices and implementing them at specific times can reduce phosphorus loss and positively impact water quality.
▶ Nitrogen Leaching: Trends, Risks and Regional Insights
Lindsey Hartfiel explores how nitrogen moves through soil and water systems, the impact of agricultural practices, and the importance of data-driven decision-making to mitigate nitrogen leaching.
▶ How Does Nitrate Leaching Respond to Nitrogen Inputs from Fertilizer and Manure?
Dr. Steven Hall, assistant professor and extension cropping systems and water quality specialist, explores how nitrate leaching responds to nitrogen inputs from both synthetic fertilizer and manure in Wisconsin cropping systems.
Grazing to Protect Surface Water: Considering critical and sensitive areas
Identifying critical and sensitive areas of your farm and managing them accordingly, especially at sensitive times of year, protects surface water quality while maintaining a productive grazing system.
▶ The Zone of Interaction: Exploring phosphorus stratification
In this video, Kelsey Hyland and Laura Paletta from UW–Madison Extension’s Ag Water Program explore phosphorus stratification in Wisconsin agricultural soils and its implications for water quality.
Wanted: Fields under cover
This article was originally published in the Journal of Nutrient Management. Overwintering cover crops is a proven way to further reduce phosphorus losses from cropland. In a cropping system, soil and nutrients work together to deliver healthy plants and productive crops. Fine-tuning soil and nutrient management to achieve profitable harvests and water quality protection can seem […]
▶ Watch: 4th Annual Discovery Farms Multi-State Webinar
This Discovery Farms Multi-State Webinar includes presentations from Wisconsin, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Vermont on farmer-led water quality research in these four states.
▶ Watch: Flood Mitigation and Water Quality in Extreme Weather Conditions
This webinar discusses the dual purpose of some ag conservation practices and the extreme weather making them necessary featuring Dr. Steve Vavrus, Wisconsin State Climatologist, and Sheri Schwert, Agriculture Water Quality Outreach Specialist.
