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

This working paper examines the environmental and health impacts of nitrogen losses in United States row-crop agriculture and proposes a technical toolkit and policy framework to reduce these losses while maintaining crop yields.

• Nitrous oxide from agricultural soils represents approximately 50% of greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. agriculture. In 2022, the total footprint from soil emissions and fertilizer production was about 346 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents.
• The paper recommends a technical toolkit to minimize nitrogen losses and maintain yields, including 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 increasing cover crop use. It also suggests reducing the use of corn for ethanol to lower total losses.
• To scale nitrogen reduction, the author proposes a philanthropy-backed Coalition for Limiting Excess Agricultural Reactive Nitrogen (CLEAR) and a federal National Nitrogen Initiative. The latter would update NRCS Practice 590 with a streamlined "590 N" tier and link payments to verified outcomes based on nitrogen balance and nitrogen use efficiency.

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} }