The Long-Term Cropping Systems Experiment was established in 1980 by USDA-ARS Soil Scientist Lloyd Mielke at the  at the University of Nebraska, Rogers Memorial Farm, near Lincoln, NE to understand how cropping system performance was influenced by seasonal temperatures and precipitation under various crop rotations and tillage treatments under rainfed conditions in southeastern Nebraska.

Producer relevance

The experiment represents cash-grain production systems. The majority of producers in the area would employ the simplest crop rotation (control). The most complex crop rotation represents an aspirational treatment that most farmers in the area would employ.

Expected benefits

Experimental treatments were selected to be carbon-building, use fewer external inputs, no-tillage, soil health-building.

Local stressors

The expected climate change-related stressors in the area are: droughts, heat, extreme precipitation events, seasonal temperature changes, shifting rainfall patterns, shifting snowfall patterns.