Reducing Nitrogen Losses in US Row-Crop Agriculture: Challenges, Solutions, and Policy Pathways

The paper identifies that nitrous oxide from agricultural soils constitutes about half of U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, with a combined soil and fertilizer production footprint of 346 million tonnes of CO2e in 2022. It proposes a technical toolkit for reducing losses—including soil testing, precision application, and cover crops—and suggests reducing nitrogen-intensive end uses like corn for ethanol. To scale these efforts, the author recommends a philanthropy-backed coalition (CLEAR) and a federal National Nitrogen Initiative that updates NRCS Practice 590 to tie payments to verified outcomes based on nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen balance.

• Nitrous oxide from agricultural soils represents approximately 50% of greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. agriculture, and the total footprint from soil emissions and fertilizer production was about 346 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2022.
• The paper recommends a technical toolkit to maintain yields while reducing nitrogen losses, which includes annual soil testing, precision and variable-rate application, shifting fall applications to spring or later, using nitrification and urease inhibitors, improving drainage and irrigation management, accounting for nitrate in irrigation water, and utilizing cover crops.
• To scale nitrogen loss reductions, the author proposes the creation of a philanthropy-backed Coalition for Limiting Excess Agricultural Reactive Nitrogen (CLEAR) and a federal National Nitrogen Initiative that would streamline NRCS Practice 590 and link payments to verified outcomes.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Reducing Nitrogen Losses in US Row-Crop Agriculture: Challenges, Solutions, and Policy Pathways. https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-nitrogen-losses-us-row-crop-agriculture-challenges-solutions-and-policy-pathways

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Reducing Nitrogen Losses in US Row-Crop Agriculture: Challenges, Solutions, and Policy Pathways. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-nitrogen-losses-us-row-crop-agriculture-challenges-solutions-and-policy-pathways.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Reducing Nitrogen Losses in US Row-Crop Agriculture: Challenges, Solutions, and Policy Pathways |url=https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-nitrogen-losses-us-row-crop-agriculture-challenges-solutions-and-policy-pathways |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendreducing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Reducing Nitrogen Losses in US Row-Crop Agriculture: Challenges, Solutions, and Policy Pathways}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/reducing-nitrogen-losses-us-row-crop-agriculture-challenges-solutions-and-policy-pathways}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }