Vegetable production occurs in many regions across Wisconsin, but no where is it more concentrated than on the irrigated sand soils of Central Wisconsin. The capacity for irrigation and the flexibility the sandy soils provide in terms of planting and harvest allow for optimal production of a number of different vegetable crops. However, these production systems are vulnerable to large environmental impacts because of the intensive crop management practices utilized for vegetable production and the nature of the sand soils. Many vegetable growers in the Central Sands and other regions of the state are interesting in improving the sustainability of their systems. Meeting the goal of enhanced sustainability will require development of systems with enhanced profitability for growers and reduced environmental impacts from the system.

Research on alternative production systems has been initiated to address goals of production systems with increased farmer profits and reduced environmental impacts. The primary focus of this research has been on improving the nitrogen use efficiency of the system. The first objective has been to remove more of the fertilizer nitrogen from the field in the form of the harvested crop. To meet this objective would require increasing the yield of the crop without increasing or decreasing the amount of fertilizer required to produce a crop with similar yield and quality. The second objective has been to retain more of the nitrogen not utilized by the crop in the field. To meet the second objective, requires practices that tie up nitrogen and keep it available for the following crop in the rotation.