By Andi Anderson
Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers have received nearly $1.6 million in funding from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research’s Efficient Fertilizer Consortium to improve fertilizer management under Midwestern farming conditions.
The research is being led by Andrew Margenot, Associate Director for the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center and faculty member in the Department of Crop Sciences, and John Jones, faculty member in the Department of Crop Sciences.
Together, they will study how nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers perform in real farming environments. Their work aims to help farmers increase fertilizer efficiency, improve crop productivity, and reduce nutrient losses that can impact water quality.
The funding is part of a larger $9.3 million investment supporting 12 agricultural research projects focused on evaluating enhanced-efficiency fertilizers across different soils, climates, and cropping systems.
Sarah Lyons, FFAR scientific program manager, emphasized the importance of practical research for growers. She said, “Growers need robust, science-backed guidance for practical solutions that improve nutrient use efficiency in real-world conditions that reflect their own farming practices. These investments support actionable research that can help farmers make better and more profitable management decisions to strengthen productivity and environmental stewardship.”
Andrew Margenot received $768,000 to evaluate nitrogen fertilizer products and management practices in tile-drained corn production systems. His team will measure fertilizer efficiency and nitrogen losses through both gaseous emissions and water movement below the soil surface.
Speaking about the project, Margenot said, “This project will help test a new protocol for evaluating enhanced-efficiency fertilizer products under real Midwestern growing conditions. At the same time, it will generate locally relevant information about the agronomic and economic performance of nitrogen management practices that Illinois farmers can use when making fertilizer decisions.”
He further added, “Many of the nitrogen-loss reduction practices promoted in Illinois are designed to reduce nitrate moving through subsurface tile drainage. However, we still lack enough high-confidence field measurements showing exactly how much nitrate leaves fields through those systems. By pairing detailed water-quality measurements with crop yield and economic data, we can directly evaluate whether these practices work as intended. That gives farmers and policymakers stronger information on which practices deliver both environmental and agronomic benefits.”
John Jones received $843,000 to study phosphorus fertilizers and management practices across different Midwest soil types. His research will examine fertilizer placement, application timing, product types, and usage rates while tracking crop performance and environmental impacts. The four-year study will use advanced monitoring tools and rainfall simulations to better understand nutrient movement and runoff.
Jones highlighted the importance of long-term phosphorus research, stating, “Phosphorus does not move or behave like nitrogen, so a one-year snapshot can miss much of the story. By evaluating these products and management practices over multiple seasons, we can give farmers a clearer picture of how efficiently phosphorus is being used and where losses may occur.”
The projects are connected through collaborative efforts within the Illinois Nutrient Stewardship Alliance. Researchers will share findings, coordinate outreach activities, and demonstrate results during future field events.
In addition, a separate Illinois ACES Land Grant Initiative project will strengthen partnerships among researchers, Extension professionals, farmers, and agricultural stakeholders. The effort will focus on identifying nutrient management challenges, conducting on-farm studies, and delivering practical recommendations directly to producers.
The combined investments support both advanced scientific research and farmer-focused outreach. By connecting field studies with real-world agricultural needs, the projects aim to provide useful, reliable information that helps farmers improve fertilizer decisions, enhance profitability, and protect natural resources.
Concluding the initiative’s goals, John Jones said, “These projects give us a chance to connect careful field research with the questions farmers are asking across Illinois. The goal is not simply to generate more data. It is to produce information that farmers can use under the soil, weather and management conditions they actually face.”
Photo Credit: pexels-karolina-grabowska
Categories: Illinois, Sustainable Agriculture