Project collaborators
Damon Smith and Shalini Yerukala, Department of Plant Pathology
Maria Oros, Data Science Institute
Project start and end dates
February 2025-April 2025
Project summary
“Maria’s insight and motivation were instrumental in bringing the alfalfa meta-analysis manuscript to completion, and her drive consistently made the work better and more impactful. She also developed innovative ROI calculators for alfalfa, soybean, and corn, a valuable contribution that will benefit the farming community and agricultural decision-making for years to come.”
—Dr. Shalini Yerukala, UW–Madison
Alfalfa is a cornerstone crop for dairy production, with many of the management recommendations farmers rely on established through decades of work and collaboration. However, new technologies have been developed over the last decade to improve management, but little coordinated research had been conducted on how these practices could be used to maximize profitability on the farm. To bridge this gap, we developed a systematic review and meta-analysis that compiled and evaluated the use of newly developed fungicide tools and low-lignin alfalfa varieties for plant disease management in Wisconsin. By integrating results from field trials, expert knowledge, and modern statistical and machine-learning tools, we aimed to build a fully reproducible workflow that quantifies yield responses and economic returns under modern production conditions.
This project established a reproducible, data-driven framework to quantify the agronomic and economic impacts of using fungicides on alfalfa in Wisconsin. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of multi-year field trials to synthesize yield and disease-control responses to foliar fungicide applications and related management factors. The meta-analytic model integrated study-level covariates such as cutting interval duration, alfalfa type (conventional vs. low-lignin), and growth stages to estimate overall and context-specific treatment effects. The resulting framework supports the next generation of decision tools, such as our ROI calculator, that translate research evidence into practical, data-driven guidance for farmers considering new fungicide products and management strategies.
Project deliverables
- Alfalfa Fungicide ROI Calculator (published by the Crop Protection Network)
- Paper publication (in progress)