In the Spotlight: Researcher Jasdeep Singh from Cornell University

Dairy Soil & Water Regeneration is tapping into the talents of the best and brightest researchers in the country. They’re doing work through eight institutions located in major dairy-producing regions, from Vermont to California.

DSWR Dispatch is highlighting these all-important project partners.

Today, meet Jasdeep Singh, postdoctoral research associate in Cornell University’s Nutrient Management Spear Program.

Tell us a little bit about you.

I grew up on a family farm in the Punjab state of India. I completed my Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture with a major in soil science, agronomy and agroforestry from Punjab Agricultural University in 2016. I completed my Ph.D. with a Graduate Certificate in data science from South Dakota State University in 2020.

After my Ph.D. work, I joined Agrohydrology Lab at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, where I spent about two years before joining the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in July 2022 as a research scientist. I joined the Nutrient Management Spear Program as a postdoc at Cornell University in June 2023.

My research interests can be broadly categorized as:

Soil health assessment and management
Soil-plant-environment interactions and greenhouse gas emissions
Process-oriented modeling of carbon and nitrogen

What is your role in Dairy Soil & Water Regeneration?

I am a postdoc with the team. I am involved in supervising day-to-day project activities, including field and lab measurements, mentoring support staff, preparing project reports, liaison between Cornell and other collaborating project partners, and participating in outreach project activities through extension meetings and field days and sharing outcomes at professional conferences.

What is the focus of your team’s DSWR research?

On two commercial dairy farms, our team is conducting field investigations of soil health management systems, such as reduced tillage systems (e.g., strip-till and no-till) and rotations that include cover crops, in association with novel manure products. These systems can offer alternatives to commonly used field practices such as full-width tillage, winter fallow and liquid manure application. We are also evaluating the value of novel manure products. In other words, the quantity of nitrogen that can be provided by these manure sources in a given year and their effect on improving soil health and reducing environmental footprints without sacrificing forage quantity and quality.

What have you learned so far?

At one farm, in the first two years the soil health management system has shown lower yields than were obtained with commonly used field practices, but there was less of a yield reduction in higher-yielding zones. Commonly used field practices did show higher nitrous oxide emissions than the soil health management system across yield zones.

The farmer noticed that it has become easier to implement field operations over time in the soil health management system. Our data now reflect higher bulk density values with soil health management systems. The challenge, however, is the application of compost in this system where we don’t have drag hose equipment available. Currently, the farm crew uses drag lines to apply the manure to reduce the risk of compaction of the soil. Compost application with box spreaders may contribute to compaction over time and this is an issue that will need to be addressed.

At the other farm, corn silage yields and greenhouse gas emissions were influenced by differences in weather. In 2022, a wet year, we found higher nitrous oxide and corn silage yield with liquid manure compared to solid manure products. In 2023, corn silage yields were similar across systems, but yields were lower overall, reflecting a drought that year.

Our preliminary findings are that soil health properties are not responsive to the effects of treatment yet. We did notice that surface broadcasting of liquid manure in the fall contributed significantly to greenhouse gas emissions while injection of liquid manure in the spring had limited effects on emissions. Further evaluation is needed to see if the difference in emissions in primarily due to the difference in timing of application (fall versus spring) or more influenced by the method of application (surface application versus injection).

In our nitrogen replacement study at this same farm which we implemented in 2023, there was no response to side-dress nitrogen for any of the manure-based products. Application of flocculated and evaporated solids seemed to slightly reduce yields. None of the treatments impacted crude protein content of the silage. A second year of research to test carry-over nitrogen and decrease past nitrogen credits is being conducted in this year.

What excites you about your work on this project?

The most exciting part of working on this project is that the research is conducted on-farm — in farmers’ fields, with their equipment and according to their timing and logistics. I enjoy meeting them every week, seeing them work hard to run their operations, getting to know them and learning from them.

It’s also exciting because of how well the project is integrated and how well the research methodologies are executed uniquely between different institutes, NGOs, the dairy industry, federal agencies and academic institutions. In addition, the technology use is advanced, and hence ensures our methodologies and measurement values are rigorous.

Furthermore, I appreciate the efforts of communication team, helping to improve us professionally and synchronizing messaging throughout project. Given that this is such a big project, learning opportunities are tremendous, from everyday planning to communication to research to outreach, working collaborative among different teams, mentoring, and writing publications. I am fortunate to be part of this project.