The document discusses the creation of the National Nutrient Uptake and Outcome Network (NUOnet) to collect and share nutrient management data. NUOnet was developed using the framework of the existing GRACEnet database. A prototype data entry template was created with additional tabs to collect various types of nutrient data. The goal of NUOnet is to provide a centralized database that connects nutrient, soil, and crop data to help address challenges in nutrient management. It aims to connect to other USDA databases to provide a more comprehensive view of the relationships between agricultural practices, soil health, and environmental and human outcomes.

1. The Potential of the Nutrient Uptake and
Outcome network (NUOnet) to
Contribute to Soil and Water Conservation
Jorge A. Delgado1,2, (Chair, POC), Sharon Weyers1
(Logistics and Communications POC), Curt Dell1,2
(Technical POC), Daren Harmel1,2 (Data POC), Bruce
Vandenberg, Greg Wilson, Jennifer Carter, Nancy
Barbour, Peter Kleinman, Karamat Sistani, April
Leytem, David Huggins, Tim Strickland, Newell
Kitchen, John Meisinger, Steve Del Grosso, Jane
Johnson, Kip Balkcom, John Finley, Naomi
Fukagawa, Mark Powell, and Scott Van Pelt

2. Nutrients are key for national and
international food security but when applied
at greater-than-needed levels, the potential
for nutrient losses increases. Management of
nutrients and water is important to reduce the
losses of nutrients, and conservation
practices are also key in nutrient
management.

3. “Examples of Hot Spots”

4. With the national and global environmental
challenges that we have related to nutrient
management, there is a need to use large quantities
of information to solve the complex agricultural
challenges humanity faces.

5. USDA Agricultural
Research Service
National Program 212
SOIL AND AIR
Action Plan 2016-2020

6. NP 212 Action Plan (2016-2020)
COMPONENT 2: MANAGING NUTRIENTS IN
AGROECOSYSTEMS
Problem Statement 2A: Improving Nitrogen
Management.
Problem Statement 2B: Improving phosphorus
management.
Problem Statement 2C: Improved Understanding
of Macro- and Micro-nutrient Cycling in Soils.

7. One of the proposed NP 212 products in the NP
212 Action Plan (2016-2020) is “a new
national/regional macro & micro-nutrient [N, P, K,
Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, etc.] database that
includes new best nutrient management
practices ……..”.

11. The Greenhouse gas Reduction through
Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network
(GRACEnet) project: This portal now
contains data from 17 ARS locations with over
450,000 total records including 116,000 soil
greenhouse gas (GHG) emission
measurements and 83,000 soil measurements.
It is no longer necessary for users of the public
portal to register but they must provide an e-
mail address to download data. The portal
available solely to ARS researchers remains
password protected, and contains more
extensive data than the public portal.

12. Data Entry Template (DET)

14. The USDA Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) organized a workshop entitled,
“Collaborative Research and Data
Networking: Leveraging GRACEnet-REAP
Successes,” that was held June 14 to 16,
2016, in Fort Collins, Colorado.

15. A direct workshop outcome was the decision
to create a National Nutrient Uptake and
Outcome Network (NUOnet), which had been
under discussion by ARS scientists from
several different national programs for several
months.
The Fort Collins workshop brought together
an initial invited group of members, which
was subsequently expanded during and after
the meeting to develop a NUOnet steering
committee.

16. We used the GRACEnet framework to
develop a new data entry template
(DET) and a NUOnet prototype to
allow nutrient managers,
conservationists, and other peers to
enter data.

17. NUOnet website – ( prototype)

18. • NUOnet Vision
• NUOnet prospectus
• NUOnet strategic goals
• NUOnet selected list of products
and action items for 2016/2017.
• NUOnet communication plan
• NUOnet selected list of
foundational goals.

19. NUOnet prototype

22. The steering committee and NUOnet database
committee completed editing the tabs and we have
a final NUOnet DET prototype.
It is still a prototype because we are going to start
collecting data and it will be tested with an ARS
beta tester group. As the NUOnet DET is tested we
may adjust it as needed. We will test it with
scientists conducting research on GHGs, manure
management, ammonia volatilization, wind
erosion, surface transport erosion, and other
areas, and the NUO DET will be adjusted as
needed using the input of the ARS beta tester
group.

24. The NUOnet effort added or modified the
following tabs:
i) nCalcNutrientEfficiency: Information about nutrient uptake efficiencies.
ii) nMgtAmendments: Information related to nutrient inputs.
iii) nMeasPlantMonitoring: Information about measuring nutrient status in
plants during the growing season.
iv) nMeasYieldNutrientUptake: Information about measuring nutrient
uptake.
v) nMeasBiomassMinAn: Information about nutrient concentrations.
vi) nMeasCropForageQuality: Information about crop and forage quality.
vii) nMeasNutrientCycling: Information about crop residue.
viii)nMeasGasLeachingNutrientLoss: Information about pathways for
losses such as leaching, denitrification, N2O and NO and ammonia
losses. It includes leaching of soluble carbon and nitrogen.
ix) nMeasWaterErosion: Information about water erosion and off-site
transport of water, nutrients, sediments, and soil organic matter. It also
has information about nitrogen and carbon losses.
x) nMeasWindErosion: Information about wind erosion and transport of
soil and nutrients, including carbon and nitrogen.
xi) nMeasGrazingPlants: Information about grazing, before and after and
nutrient concentrations.

25. i) nCalcNutrientEfficiency: Information about nutrient uptake
efficiencies.
Examples:
• Nitrogen Use Efficiency %
• Agronomic Efficiency kg/kg
• Nutrient efficiency ratioNitrogen kg/kg
• Nitrogen15 Use Efficiency kgN/ha
• ………

26. i) nMeasGasLeachingNutrientLoss: Information about pathways for
losses such as leaching, denitrification, N2O and NO and ammonia
losses. It includes leaching of soluble carbon and nitrogen.
Examples:
• Leaching
• Denitrification
• kg NOx-N/ha
• Ammonia volatilization

27. i) nMeasWaterErosion: Information about water erosion and off-site
transport of water, nutrients, sediments, and soil organic matter. It
also has information about nitrogen and carbon losses.
Examples
• losses or deposition
• erosion kg (sediment) /ha
• soil organic carbon kg C/ha
• kg total N /ha
• kg P/ha
• ………

28. NUOnet will be connected to other databases
such as GRACEnet, REAP, AgAR, the soil biology
databases, the LTAR database, and even
databases related to nutrient composition of food
and biomarkers of human health (i.e, the USDA
Food Data System [FooDS]). This connectivity
between databases has the potential to help
illuminate the complex connections between
conservation practices, nutrient use efficiencies,
soil health, soil biology, and animal and human
health.