Judd Hill Project: Integrating Soil and Water Conservation and Pest Management Strategies for Sustainable Cotton Production
A joint effort by Arkansas State University, USDA-ARS, University of Arkansas, and Judd Hill Foundation to quantify the benefits of conservation practices to improve the sustainability of cotton production, including pest management, water-use efficiency, and water quality. This project is a research-based project at the Judd Hill Foundation farm, which is representative of 1000s of acres in the northern Mississippi Delta region. Conservation tillage, cover crops, and grassed filter strips in conjunction with IPM for these different systems has been implemented and meticulous data collected on crop growth and development, yield, and various environmental aspects including nutrient run-off and GHG emissions.
Engagement Targets
Notes: (1) Minor fluctuations in the number of retained growers is expected from year to year. These fluctuations may be due to year-over-year crop rotation effects or other factors beyond the control of the project. Enrolled acres represent the total number of acres on an individual farm in a specific year. The ability to report enrolled acres is based on the Fieldprint Project Standard requirement that individual growers enrolled in projects enter at least 10% of the acres managed for a specific crop. (2) Entered acres represent the actual number of enrolled acres for which data is entered in the Fieldprint Platform for analysis.
Objectives
For both irrigated fields, the conservation management system had similar yield compared to the conventional management system (1561 and 1570 lb/acre, respectively). This demonstrates that incorporating cover crops and reduced tillage does not significantly decrease yield in cotton.
In 2025, moisture sensing stations monitored soil conditions and showed a more consistent moisture content in conservation (cover crop) tillage systems compared to conventional (winter fallow) systems.
In June 2024, the Judd Hill Foundation held an educational field day for middle school students to learn about irrigation practices and cotton production.
There were no field days or workshops scheduled in 2025.
By utilizing conservation practices (cover crops and reduced tillage) in cotton production, we were able to mitigate two additional pathways for nutrient loss into water as compared to conventional methods. These practices also reduced soil erosion about 38% -- from 3.9 to 2.4 ton/acre/year.
In 2025, water quality monitoring was continued at Judd Hill to document the effects of conservation systems on runoff water quality. Nutrient runoff and sedimentation were reduced in conservation systems.
No significant difference was found in greenhouse gas emissions among the different treatments.
Based on Fieldprint Calculator Metric results, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced in conservation systems compared to conventional systems, and further reduced in plots that were rainfed with no supplemental irrigation.