Sustainable farming efforts led by SDSU

By Scout Nelson

Two researchers from South Dakota State University (SDSU) are collaborating with 20 eastern South Dakota farming operations and GEVO to implement practices aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing farm profitability.

The project, "Increasing the Adoption and Generation of Climate-Smart Practices to Produce Low Carbon-Intensity and Net Zero Sustainable Products," seeks to quantify the carbon intensity score for jet fuel derived from corn in South Dakota.

Hossein Moradi, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, co-leads the project with principal investigator David Clay. Clay, a distinguished professor and South Dakota Corn Endowed Chair in Precision Agriculture, has over 30 years of agricultural research experience.

Moradi, who joined SDSU in August 2018, initially had limited experience in agricultural statistics. However, as the director of SDSU's Statistical Consulting Center, he has collaborated with Clay for several years.

Moradi employs statistical models and machine learning techniques to transform data from satellites, drones, combines, soil tests, weather reports, and farmer practices into recommendations that reduce costs and improve profitability.

The project, which began in January, runs through December 2027. This is the first growing season for data collection, but researchers have climate data and satellite imagery from the past two years.

In collaboration with Iowa State and Colorado State, SDSU's share of the $30-million USDA-funded project is $1.8 million. The research team, working with Gevo, aims to develop sustainable transportation fuels from corn.

Moradi emphasizes the importance of integrating diverse data sources, saying, “Data comes in lots of shapes and forms. I must make sure all the data is at the same level.” He is focused on creating models that effectively analyze this data.

Clay highlights the farmers' role in reducing tillage intensity, planting cover crops, and using improved nitrogen management techniques.

Photo Credit: south-dakota-state-university