Evaluating Soil Function and Forage Production Following Irrigated Cropland Transition to Support Healthy Grazing Systems in Eastern Colorado

Commodities

• Agronomic: grass (misc. perennial)
• Animals: bovine

Practices

• Animal Production: feed/forage, range improvement, rangeland/pasture management
• Education and Training: extension, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, workshop, youth education
• Natural Resources/Environment: habitat enhancement, soil stabilization
• Production Systems: agroecosystems
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, soil chemistry, soil microbiology, soil physics, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: partnerships, social networks

Across eastern Colorado and broader western United States, hundreds of thousands of acres of irrigated cropland have been decommissioned as groundwater reserves decline and surface water rights tighten, yet producers lack reliable guidance on how soils recover following these transitions or how to evaluate the viability of converting decommissioned land to productive grazing systems. This project addresses three interconnected questions: How do soil biological, chemical, and physical properties change following irrigation cessation? What environmental and management factors drive or constrain recovery? And what are the economic costs and returns of restoration for producers managing transitioning lands?

To answer these questions, we will establish a distributed, producer-partnered research network across eastern Colorado integrating field soil sampling, drone-based vegetation surveys, land-use history reconstruction, satellite remote sensing, and economic analysis. Sites will span native rangelands, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) lands, and formerly irrigated center-pivot fields ranging from 10 to 40 years since cessation, capturing the full successional gradient producers encounter. Field sampling will quantify soil microbial biomass and community composition, nutrient mineralization, organic matter, bulk density, water content, infiltration, compaction, and pH. These data will be integrated with satellite products and meteorological records to map recovery trajectories at the landscape scale and identify soil conditions associated with successful forage establishment. Economic analyses will link soil condition and forage outcomes with restoration costs and grazing potential, giving producers quantitative guidance for evaluating land-use transition investments.

This project has both incremental and transformative significance. Incrementally, it will give producers practical benchmarks for assessing soil recovery and targeting restoration investments on their own lands. Transformatively, it will generate the first field-validated framework for managing the rapidly expanding area of decommissioned irrigated land across the western Great Plains, a challenge that will only intensify as groundwater depletion continues.

Results will be disseminated through multiple channels. Participating ranchers will engage via annual producer meetings, field workshops, and the Winter Zoom Series (a producer-led virtual forum) where findings will be interpreted collaboratively in relation to management decisions. Outreach products including fact sheets, soil health interpretation guides, infographics, short videos, and management summaries will be distributed through Colorado State University Extension, producer networks, and local conservation districts. Hands-on educational modules for Future Farmers of America chapters, community colleges, and university courses will build soil health literacy among early-career agricultural professionals. Post-event surveys will track changes in producer knowledge, attitudes, and intended management practices to document adoption over time.

Expected outcomes include: (1) a field-validated dataset characterizing soil recovery across land-use transitions in eastern Colorado; (2) spatial maps identifying recovery trajectories and their environmental drivers; (3) economic estimates of restoration costs and returns to support producer decision-making; (4) practical outreach tools for producers, advisors, and land managers; (5) peer-reviewed manuscripts on soil recovery in semi-arid irrigated systems; and (6) stronger producer-scientist networks and improved regional capacity to sustain soil function, forage productivity, and working-land viability through land-use transitions.