4R Farming Case Studies Available Online

Agriculture practice change is recognized as a low-cost solution for carbon sequestration and water quality improvements compared to larger off-farm municipal or commercial efforts. Implementing 4R Nutrient Stewardship practices on all farms is a key to this solution. Working with farmers, TFI collected data from 12 farms to calculate cost of practice changes, nutrient use efficiency improvements, and estimated greenhouse gas emission reductions (as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e)) related to fertilizer applications. Farmers shared the rates and type of fertilizer used, when and how it was applied, equipment use and cost, fertilizer price, and crop yields. 4R practice cost includes services used for fertilizer recommendations, such as soil sampling, variable rate mapping, software subscriptions, and tissue testing. These case studies showcase the cost and environmental performance of 4R practice implementation and represent various cropping systems across the United States. The 12 case studies are available on 4Rfarming.org, with more currently in development. If you are interested in developing case studies with TFI, please reach out to Sally Flis, TFI Senior Director of Agronomy.