71st SWCS International Annual Conference July 24-27, 2016 Louisville, KY

1. NUTRIENT TRACKING TOOL (NTT: 2ND GEN.):
AN APEX INTERFACE & A TOOL TO
EVALUATE THE ECONOMIC AND
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF FARM
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
(HTTP://NN.TARLETON.EDU/NTTG2)

2. General Description
and Use
A. Saleh

3. What is NTT
• Is built to evaluate the economic and
environmental impacts of management practices
at farm and small watershed levels
• NTT a free, user-friendly, web-based program,
and is directly accessible to producers, crop
consultants, government officials, and the
general public
• The results obtained from NTT can be used for
different programs such as trading & TMDL
• Is used as an interface for APEX and NCDC
models
8/4/2016 A. Saleh

4. How does NTT work?
• Uses Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender
(APEX) to determine nutrient and sediment losses and
runoff from agricultural fields
• Uses the Farm Economic Model (FEM) to assess the
cost/benefit of farm management practices
• A web-based program that requires no software
installation
• Transparent and easy to use
8/4/2016 A. Saleh

5. Field and Farm Linkage: NTT
• Ability of connecting the fields in the farm by APEX
routing function

6. Expected Results
A. Saleh

7. Major CPs for Delta area
Conservation Practice
Baseline Values 20.4 1.79 16.51 2.6538 165
Fertilizer Incorporation (3 in.) ‐22.8 ‐13.4 0.0 2.6 0.0
Nutrient Reduction (75%) ‐15.0 ‐21.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
NoTill 27.7 91.1 ‐0.5 ‐19.4 0.0
No Till+Incorporation ‐11.9 ‐7.8 ‐0.5 ‐19.5 0.0
Auto‐Irrigation (Furrow) ‐1.5 ‐1.7 2.0 ‐3.6 1.2
Furrow Diking ‐66.3 ‐74.3 ‐53.9 ‐65.9 1.2
Pads and Pipes 1 ‐8.7 ‐15.6 ‐12.8 ‐10.4 0.0*
Pads and Pipes 2 ‐26.8 ‐29.6 ‐12.4 ‐34.2 0.0*
Pads and Pipes 3 ‐48.4 ‐50.3 ‐30.2 ‐54.5 0.0*
Low Nutrients +Pads and Pipes 3 ‐57.4 ‐61.5 ‐30.2 ‐54.5 0.0*
Wetland (2 ac.) ‐17.5 ‐19.6 ‐9.9 ‐26.9 0.0*
Filter Strip (50 ft.) ‐32.0 ‐35.2 ‐8.8 ‐60.1 0.0*
Riparian Forest (50 ft.) ‐40.5 ‐41.9 ‐11.5 ‐74.7 0.0*
Grassed Waterway (50 ft.) ‐40.0 ‐38.5 ‐10.4 ‐67.3 0.0*
Streambank Stabilization ‐7.0 ‐10.6 ‐0.3 ‐38.3 0.0
Land leveling (0.1%) ‐25.9 ‐35.2 ‐1.3 ‐77.5 0.0
* Loss of Yield results from reduction in cropland using this Conservation Practice
Total N
(lbs/ac)
Total P
(lbs/ac)
Flow
(in.)
Sediment
(t/ac)
Corn Yield
(bu/ac)
Percent Change from Baseline

9. A. Saleh

12. Current Activities
• release of last version of NTT
(nn.Tarleton.edu/nttg2) will be officially
released on October 1, 2016
• Working with USDA‐NRCS and OCE office
creating a version of NTT for nutrient
assessment and trading tool
• Providing a version of NTT for CB (CBNTT) as a
trading tool
8/4/2016 A. Saleh

13. Science
A. Saleh

14. APEX (0806)
• APEX 0806 (Dr. Jimmy Williams) with TIAER
modifications
• APEX was developed by USDA scientists to
predict the effects of different management
scenarios on water quality, sediment yields,
and pollutant loading from various landuses
within fields and small watersheds
8/4/2016 A. Saleh

15. Weather
Hydrology
Erosion (wind and water)
Nutrients (N, P, and K)
CO2
Pesticides
Crop growth
Tillage
Management
Routing
Reservoirs
Groundwater
Grazing
Manure management
Components of Environmental models

16. • No-till • Contour farming
• Mulch-till • Critical area planting
• Prescribed grazing • Pasture planting
• Riparian forest buffer
• Forestry
• Grassed waterways
• Filter strips
• Terrace
• Range planting
• Field Border
• Fence
• Pipelines
• Nutrient management
• Brush management
• Grade stabilization structure
• Pest management
• Conservation crop rotation
NRCS Conservation Practices (CPs) Evaluated
in NTT

17. Economic Model (FEM)
 A whole-farm annual model that simulates the
economic impacts of a wide range of scenarios on
privately owned agricultural operations
 Model is calibrated with extensive data on farm
practices, budgets and other watershed information
 Includes a number of simulation and optimization
routines
 Can be modified easily for other land uses (e.g.,
Forestry and Urban)

18. Input and Output
Databases
A. Saleh

19. Databases
• Weather files
• 4‐KM2 resolution up to Dec‐2014 (PRZM data)
• Soil Data
• USDA‐NRCS soil survey (SUURGO) databases hosted in
NTT site (modified every six month) and debugged
automatically before used in NTT
• Ability to modify or create the soil (up to 10 layers)
• Slope calculation using the 10‐m DEM resolution
• Economic data and for simulation of FEM
• Capability of users to input their own data basis
8/4/2016 A. Saleh

20. Output
• Model outputs under Baseline and BMP’s
regimes
• N, P, C, Co2, Pesticide, Herbicides, and Sediment at
different forms and sources
• Crop yield
• Obtaining results at the edge of individual and
combined field(s) (sub‐watershed) and farm
(watershed)
• results of single or multiple scenarios (e.g., Nutrient
management and filter strips)
• Graphics
• PDF report8/4/2016 A. Saleh

21. CEEOT and NTT Intergraded Programs
SWAT (Watershed Model)
APEX (Field scale model)
FEM (Farm Economic
Model)
CEEOT(Farm and
Watershed Scales) NTT (Farm Scale)

22. Interface
A. Saleh

23. • Fast (fraction of a sec per year of simulation)
• Easy steps to create and simulate program
• Capability of users to input their own data basis
• Ability to modify the parameters for calibration
within the program
• Ability to download the project and associated
APEX files
• English and Spanish Languages
• Electronic help for NTT and associated programs
(e.g., APEX) in English and Spanish languages
8/4/2016 A. Saleh
Accessibility

24. Selection of Area of Interest (AOI)
Interface
• State and County data basis
• Google map rather Soil Survey Site
• Faster surfing the map
• Selection of multiple fields (sub‐watersheds) within a
farm (watershed)
• Using Shape files to select the AOI
• Using longitude and latitude or address to select the
AOI
• Ability to obtain the land use data
• View the picture of the AOI (if available by GOOGLE
MAP)
8/4/2016 A. Saleh

25. Project Properties

26. Area of Interest (AOI) Selection

27. Weather

28. Fields and Soils

29. Fields and Soils

30. Management Field 2 corn‐soyb

31. Management Field 2 C_W_S

32. Management Field 2 C_S_NM

33. Simulation

34. Detailed Result Summary

35. Graphs – Monthly – Annual

36. Economic Results
A. Saleh

37. APEX Interface
A. Saleh

38. NTT: As new APEX interface
• Ability of creating APEX files for the area of interest
using the mapping function

39. NTT: As new APEX interface
• Ability of modify files (e.g., Parm) and calibrate APEX
using NTT program

40. Current NTT Enhancements
• Working with our colleagues at USDA to
create a version of NTT for USDA
• Incorporation of Forestry management
practices
• Completion of Economic data for all US for
FEM simulation
• Assist international users to adopt NTT at
their region
8/4/2016 A. Saleh

41. CEEOT and NTT Intergraded Programs
SWAT (Watershed Model)
APEX (Field scale model)
FEM (Farm Economic
Model)
CEEOT(Farm and
Watershed Scales) NTT (Farm Scale)

42. Question and Comments
Thanks