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Ag Data Commons migration begins October 18, 2023

The Ag Data Commons is migrating to a new platform – an institutional portal on Figshare. Starting October 18 the current system will be available for search and download only. Submissions will resume after the launch of our portal on Figshare in November. Stay tuned for details!

Long Term Agroecosystem Research Overview

In pursuit of sustainable U.S. agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched the Long-Term Agroecosystem (LTAR) network. The LTAR network is composed of 18 locations distributed across the contiguous United States working together to address national and local agricultural priorities and advance the sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture.

The LTAR network represents a range of major U.S. agroecosystems, including annual row cropping systems, grazinglands, and integrated systems representative of roughly 49 percent of cereal production, 30 percent of forage production, and 32 percent of livestock production in the United States. Furthermore, the LTAR sites span geographic and climatic gradients representing a variety of challenges and opportunities to U.S. agriculture.

The LTAR network uses experimentation and coordinated observations to develop a national roadmap for the sustainable intensification of agricultural production. While the LTAR network is a new network, experimentation and measurements began at some LTAR sites more than 100 years ago, while other locations started their research as recently as 19 years ago.

A primary goal of LTAR is to develop and to share science-based findings with producers and stakeholders. Tools, technologies, and management practices resulting from LTAR network science will be applied to the sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture. Technical innovations, including new production techniques, genetics, and sensor infrastructure applied at the farm/ranch level can increase the capacity for adaptive management, reduce time and operational costs, and increase profits and the quality of life for producers.

For full list of LTAR sites, view the sites matrix at https://ltar.ars.usda.gov/sites/.

For more information about the LTAR network visit: https://ltar.ars.usda.gov

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LTAR Research Sites

Data from the following LTAR sites are presented. They are related to topics such as agricultural sustainability, climate change, ecosystem services, and natural resource conservation at the watershed or landscape scale.

  • Archbold Biological Station (ABS), Venus, FL
  • Cook Agronomy Farm (CAF), Pullman, WA
  • Central Mississippi River Basin (CMRB), Columbia, MO
  • Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER), Cheyenne, WY; Fort Collins, CO; Nunn, CO
  • Eastern Corn Belt (ECB), Columbus, OH; West Lafayette, IN
  • Gulf Atlantic Coastal Range (GACP), Tifton, GA
  • Great Basin (GB), Boise, ID; Burns, OR
  • Jornada Experimental Range (JER), Las Cruces, NM
  • Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), southwestern MI
  • Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB), Oxford, MS; AR; LA; MO
  • Northern Plains (NP), Mandan, ND
  • Platte River-High Plains Aquifer (PRHP), Lincoln, NE
  • Southern Plains (SP), El Reno, OK
  • Texas Gulf (TG), Riesel, TX
  • Upper Chesapeake Bay (UCB), University Park, PA
  • Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB), Ames, IA; MN; WI
  • Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW), Tucson, AZ; Tombstone, AZ
  • Lower Chesapeake Bay (LCB), Beltsville, MD

    • Datasets

    276 datasets

    Manuresheds: Redesigning crop-livestock agriculture for sustainable intensification

      The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network is exploring the concept of the “manureshed,” the manure-spreadable land in the geographic, environmental, and social radius of a confined livestock operation. To better understand opportunities for expanding manuresheds in the United States, we identified the nationwide, county-level pattern of livestock distribution, manure excess, and crop assimilation of manure nutrients.

      Rangeland Analysis Platform: Monitor rangelands across the USA

        The Rangeland Analysis Platform ( rangelands.app) is a free online application that provides simple and fast access to geospatial vegetation data for U.S. rangelands. The tool was developed to provide landowners, resource managers, conservationists, and scientists access to data that can inform land management planning, decision making, and the evaluation of outcomes. The Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) uses innovative cloud computing technology to provide maps and analysis opportunities straight to your desktop, delivered securely and instantaneously.

        LandPKS (Land Potential Knowledge System): Mobile App for Extension, Land-Use and Project Planning, M&E and On-Farm Research

          **LandPKS** comprises a free modular mobile phone app connected to cloud-based storage, global databases, and models, downloadable from Google Play or the iTunes App Store; a system for storing and accessing user data; and a system for sharing data, information and knowledge. LandPKS is being developed to help users determine the sustainable potential of their land, including its restoration potential, based on its unique soil, topography and climate. The land potential assessments will be updated based on new evidence regarding the success or failure of new management and restoration systems on different soils.

          PhenoCam images from JERSHRUBLAND2 site, Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico, USA since 2022

            This data set consists of repeat digital imagery from the tower-mounted digital cameras (hereafter, PhenoCams) at the Jornada Experimental Range. JER is a member of the PhenoCam network, which has as its mission to serve as a long-term, continental-scale, phenological observatory. Imagery is uploaded to the PhenoCam server every 30 minutes. The archived images provide a permanent record that can be visually-inspected to determine the phenological state of the vegetation at any point in time. Vegetation greenness metrics (e.g., GCC) derived from the ratio of the green color band to sum of red, green, and blue color bands serve as proxies for vegetation greenness. Greenness metrics can be extracted from the images using simple image processing methods in 1-day or 3-day increments.

            PhenoCam images from JERSHRUBLAND site, Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico, USA since 2019

              This data set consists of repeat digital imagery from the tower-mounted digital cameras (hereafter, PhenoCams) at the Jornada Experimental Range. JER is a member of the PhenoCam network, which has as its mission to serve as a long-term, continental-scale, phenological observatory. Imagery is uploaded to the PhenoCam server every 30 minutes. The archived images provide a permanent record that can be visually-inspected to determine the phenological state of the vegetation at any point in time. Vegetation greenness metrics (e.g., GCC) derived from the ratio of the green color band to sum of red, green, and blue color bands serve as proxies for vegetation greenness. Greenness metrics can be extracted from the images using simple image processing methods in 1-day or 3-day increments.

              PhenoCam images from JERWERN site, Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico, USA since 2017

                This data set consists of repeat digital imagery from the tower-mounted digital cameras (hereafter, PhenoCams) at the Jornada Experimental Range. JER is a member of the PhenoCam network, which has as its mission to serve as a long-term, continental-scale, phenological observatory. Imagery is uploaded to the PhenoCam server every 30 minutes. The archived images provide a permanent record that can be visually-inspected to determine the phenological state of the vegetation at any point in time. Vegetation greenness metrics (e.g., GCC) derived from the ratio of the green color band to sum of red, green, and blue color bands serve as proxies for vegetation greenness. Greenness metrics can be extracted from the images using simple image processing methods in 1-day or 3-day increments.