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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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Datasets

632 datasets

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.

    PhenoCam images from ARSLTARMDCR site, Caroline County, Maryland, USA since 2017

      This data set consists of repeat digital imagery from a tower-mounted digital camera (hereafter, PhenoCam) maintained by the USDA-ARS Hydrology Remote Sensing Laboratory (HRSL) in the Lower Chesapeake Bay (LCB) watershed. HRSL 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.

      PhenoCam images from ARSOPE3LTAR site, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Maryland, USA since 2017

        This data set consists of repeat digital imagery from a tower-mounted digital camera (hereafter, PhenoCam) maintained by the USDA-ARS Hydrology Remote Sensing Laboratory (HRSL) in the Lower Chesapeake Bay (LCB) watershed. HRSL 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.

        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.