1. K-State home
  2. »Research and Extension
  3. »Agricultural Research Center
  4. »Research & Extension Programs
  5. »Soil Science

Agricultural Research Center – Hays

Soil Science

Dr Obour
 Augustine Obour, KSU Agricultural Research Center - Hays
 

The overall goal of the Soils Program at Hays is to identify and develop soil management and agronomic production practices which protect soil, water, and air resources while sustaining crop yields and maintaining soil and environmental quality. To achieve this goal, the Program strongly relies on basic and applied research principles. The program approach is based on the concept of multi-functionality in which soils are managed to provide a number of ecosystem services, including: 1) conserve and store water, 2) meet the increasing demands for food and fiber production, 3) filter and purify air and water, 4) store urban and industrial wastes, 5) sequester carbon (C) to offset the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, and NO2) that contribute to projected global climate change, and 6) sustain wildlife habitat.
 
The emphasis of the Program is to develop efficient soil and nutrient management cropping systems for western Kansas. Specific  research efforts are focused on 1) investigating soil fertility and nutrient management issues in dryland (water-limited) cropping systems , 2) investigate the interaction among tillage, cropping sequence and nutrient management and evaluate their impacts on crop productivity, nutrient cycling, C sequestration  and overall soil health, and 3) develop oilseed and bioenergy feedstock production recommendations for western Kansas.

 

In the News

 

Dryland Soil Health Network meeting set for Feb. 18 in Hays
January 30, 2020
HAYS, Kan. – There’s no teacher like experience, and like any profession, farmers learn from their own experiences plus those of fellow growers and researchers. With that in mind, K-State Research and Extension is launching the Dryland Soil Health Network to help facilitate information sharing. 

Infiltration measurement on cover crop fields
May 5, 2019
Infiltration rate is an important soil quality indicator particularly for water-limited environments in the semiarid Great Plains. Soils with greater water infiltration will generate less runoff and store more water from precipitation for crops.  Learn more...

Where you grow what you grow
May 25, 2017
By Adityarup “Rup” Chakravorty, Soil Society of America
A new study, led by Augustine Obour at Kansas State University, looks at how three varieties of camelina perform when grown in two different regions within the Great Plains.  Continue reading on the Soil Society of America website ...

 

Publications

Holman, J.D., K. Arnet, J. Dille, S. Maxwell, A.K. Obour, T. Roberts, K. Roozeboom, and A. Schlegel. 2018. Can cover (or forage) crops replace fallow in the semiarid central Great Plains? Crop Sci. 58:1-13. 

Obour. A.K., C. Chen, H.Y. Sintim, K. McVay, P. Lamb, E. Obeng Y.A. Mohammed, Q. Khan, R.K. Afshar and V. D. Zheljazkov. 2018. Camelina sativa as a fallow replacement crop in wheat based crop production systems in the US Great Plains. Industrial Crops and Products. Ind. Crops and Prod.111:22-29. 

Ghimire, R., U. Norton, P. Bista, A.K. Obour, and J.B. Norton. 2017. Soil organic matter, greenhouse gases and net global warming potential of irrigated conventional, reduced-tillage and organic cropping systems. Nutr. Cycl.  Agroecosyt. 107:49-62. 

Holman, J.D., A. K. Obour, T. Roberts, and S. Maxwell. 2017. Nine years of cover crop research in the High Plains. In Proceedings of the Cover Your Acres Winter Conf., Vol. 14. 13-18. Oberlin, KS. January 17-18, 2017.

Islam, M.A., A.K. Obour, D.C. Rule, M. Bandara, and S.N Acharya. 2017. Forage and seed production potential, nutritive value, and fatty acid profile of fenugreek. Crop Sci. 57:1-9. 

Obour, A.K., M.M.  Mikha, J.D. Holman, and P.W. Stahlman. 2017. Changes in soil surface chemistry after fifty years of tillage and nitrogen fertilization. Geoderma 308:46-53.  

Obour, A.K., K. Harmoney, and J.D. Holman. 2017. Nitrogen fertilizer application effects on switchgrass herbage mass, nutritive value and nutrient removal. Crop Sci. 57:1754-1763. 

Obour, A.K., E. Obeng, Y. A. Mohammed, I.A. Ciampitti, T.P. Durrett, J.A. Aznar-Moreno, and C. Chen. 2017. Camelina seed yield and fatty acids as influenced by genotype and environment. Agron. J. 109:947-956. 

Obour, A.K., P.W. Stahlman, and C.A. Thompson. 2017. Long-term residual effects of feedlot manure application on crop yield and soil surface chemistry. J. Plant. Nutr. 40: 427-438. 

Obeng, E., A.K. Obour, N.O. Nelson, I.A. Ciampitti, and D. Wang. 2016. Response of dryland camelina to nitrogen and sulfur fertilizer. In Proc. of the Great Plains Soil Fertility Conf., 2016. Vol. 16:200-2007. 

Holman, J., T. Roberts, S. Maxwell, A.K. Obour, and A. Schlegel. 2016. Eight years of cover crop research in the High Plains. In Proc. of the Great Plains Soil Fertility Conf., 2016. Vol. 16:167-171. 

Obour, A.K., P.W. Stahlman, and J.D. Holman. 2016.  Soil chemical properties as influenced by long-term glyphosate-resistant corn and soybean production in the central Great Plains, USA. Geoderma 277. 1-9. 

Obour, A.K., A.J. Schlegel, D.A. Ruiz Diaz, and R. Perumal. 2016. Alleviating iron deficiency chlorosis in grain sorghum on high pH soils in western Kansas. In Proc. of the Great Plains Soil Fertility Conf., 2016. Vol. 16:76-83. 

Sintim, H.Y., A.T. Adjesiwor, V.D. Zheljazkov, M.A. Islam, and A.K. Obour. 2016. Nitrogen application in sainfoin under rain-fed conditions in Wyoming: productivity and cost implications Agron. J. 108:294-300. 

Sintim, H.Y., V.D. Zheljazkov, A.K. Obour, A.G. Garcia, and T.K. Foulke. 2016. Evaluating agronomic responses of camelina to seeding date under rain-fed conditions. Agron. J. 108:349-357. 

Sintim, H.Y., V.D. Zheljazkov, A.K. Obour, A.G. Garcia, and T.K. Foulke. 2016. Managing harvest time to control pod shattering in oilseed camelina. Agron. J. 108:489-492. 

Obour, A.K., P.W. Stahlman and C.A. Thompson. 2015. Wheat and grain sorghum yields as influenced by long-term tillage and nitrogen fertilizer application. Int. J. Soil Plant Sci. 7:19-28. 

Obour, A.K., H.Y. Sintim, E. Obeng, and V.D. Jeliazkov. 2015. Oilseed Camelina (Camelina sativa L. Crantz): production systems, prospects and challenges in the USA Great Plains. Adv. Plants Agric. Res. 2: 1-10. 

Sintim, H.Y., V.D. Zheljazkov, A.K. Obour, A.G. Garcia, and T.K. Foulke. 2015. Influence of nitrogen and sulfur application on camelina performance under dryland conditions. Ind. Crop Prod. 70:253-259. 

Sintim, H.Y., A. Burkhardt, A. Gawde, C.L. Cantrell, T. Astatkie, A.K. Obour, V.D. Zheljazkov, and V. Schlegel. 2015.  Hydrodistillation time affects dill seed essential oil yield, composition, and bioactivity.  Ind. Crop. Prod. 63:190-196. 

Islam, M.A., and A.K. Obour. 2014. Drought physiology of forage crops. In: M. Pessarakli (ed.) Handbook of Plant and Crop Physiology, 3rd Edition, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Publishing, Boca Raton, FL. pp. 427-440. 

Obour, A.K., and P.W. Stahlman. 2014. Long-term tillage and nitrogen fertilizer application effects on crop yields and precipitation use efficiency in a wheat sorghum cropping system. In Proc. of the Great Plains Soil Fertility Conf., 2014. Vol. 15. Denver, CO. March 4-5, 2014. 

Islam, M.A., A.K. Obour, J.M. Krall, J.T. Cecil, and J.J. Nachtman. 2013. Performance of turfgrass under supplemental irrigation and rain-fed conditions in the central Great Plains of USA. Grassland Sci. 59:111-119.

Islam, M.A., A.K. Obour, M.C. Saha, J.J. Nachtman, and R.E. Baumgartner. 2013. Small grains have forage production potential and nutritive value in central High Plains of Wyoming. Forage and Grazinglands. doi:10.1094/FG-2013-0121-02-RS. 

Islam, M.A., A.K. Obour, M.C. Saha, J.J. Nachtman, W.K. Cecil, and R.E. Baumgartner. 2013. Grain yield, forage yield, and nutritive value of dual-purpose small grains in the central High Plains of USA. Crop Management. doi:10.1094/CM-2012-0154-RS. 

Walsh, M.J., R.W. Groose, A.K. Obour, D.A. Claypool, R.H. Delaney and J.M. Krall. 2013. Seed persistence in soil of five medic cultivars in southeastern Wyoming, USA. Crop Sci.53:674-678. 

Agyin-Birikorang, S., Y.C. Newman, A.K. Obour, and G.N. Kasozi. 2012. Agro-ecological nitrogen management in soils vulnerable to nitrate leaching: a case study in the lower Suwannee watershed. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 92: 91-105. 

Silveira, M.L., A.K. Obour, J.M. Vendramini, and L.E. Sollenberger. 2011. Using tissue analysis as a tool to predict bahiagrass phosphorus fertilization requirement. J. Plant Nutr. 34:2193-2205. 

Obour, A.K., M.L. Silveira, J.M.B. Vendramini, L.E. Sollenberger, G.A. O’Connor, and J.W. Jawitz, 2011. Agronomic and environmental impacts of phosphorus fertilization of low input bahiagrass systems in Florida. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 89:281-290. 

Obour, A.K., J.M.B. Vendramini, M.L. Silveira, L.E. Sollenberger, G.A. O'Connor, and J. Jawitz. 2011. Phosphorus fertilization responses on bahiagrass pastures: forage production and water quality. Agron. J. 103:324-330. 

Silveira, M.L., A.K. Obour, J. Arthington, and L.E. Sollenberger. 2011. The cow-calf industry and water quality in South Florida, USA: a review. Nutr. Cycl.  Agroecosyst. 89:439-452. 

Obour, A.K., M.L. Silveira, J.M.B. Vendramini, J. Jawitz, G.A. O’Connor and L.E. Sollenberger. 2011. A Phosphorus budget for bahiagrass pastures growing on a typical Florida spodosol. Agron. J. 103:611-616. 

Obour, A.K., M.L. Silveira, J.M.B. Vendramini, L.E. Sollenberger, and G.A. O'Connor. 2011. Fluctuating water table effect on phosphorus release and availability from a Florida spodosol. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 91:207-217. 

Obour, A.K., M.L. Silveira, J.M.B. Vendramini, M.B. Adjei, and L.E. Sollenberger. 2010. Evaluating cattle manure application strategies on phosphorus and nitrogen losses from a Florida spodosol. Agron. J. 102:1511-1521. 

Obour, A.K., M. L. Silveira, M.B. Adjei, J. M. Vendramini and J. E. Rechcigl. 2009. Cattle manure application strategies effects on bahiagrass yield, nutritive value, and phosphorus recovery. Agron. J. 101:1099-1107. 

Akromah, R., S.Y.C. Essah and A.K. Obour. 2009. Reaction of local and improved cassava germplasm to the African cassava mosaic virus disease. Crop Res. 38:219-223.

 

Contact Information

Augustine Obour

Augustine Obour
Soil Scientist
KSU Ag Research Center
1232 240th Avenue
Hays, Kansas 67601-9228
Phone: 785-625-3425 x215
Fax: 785-623-4369
Email: aobour@ksu.edu
Website: Research Program

Brief Bio

Dr. Augustine Obour is an Assistant Professor of Soil Science at Kansas State University Agricultural Research Center, Hays. A native of Ghana, Obour earned a bachelor’s degree in Crop Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science &Technology, Ghana. He holds a master’s degree in Agronomy and a Ph.D in Soil and Water Science from the University of Florida.

His expertise is in soil and nutrient management with emphasis in tillage and nutrient management interactions in dryland cropping systems. He worked as a research scientist for the University of Wyoming from 2010 to 2013. He joined Kansas State University in May 2013.