** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE IN THE MIDWEST U.S. IS DOMINATED BY 2-CROP ROTATIONS, PRIMARILY CORN AND SOYBEANS. THE COMBINATION OF CHANGING CLIMATE PATTERNS AND DEPENDENCE ON A SIMPLETWO-CROP ROTATIONAL SCHEME IS CONCERNING BECAUSE THESE 2-CROP ROTATIONS MAY LACK RESILIENCE TO CHANGING WEATHER PATTERNS (GAUDIN ET AL. 2013; 2015). THE SOLUTION REQUIRES A TACTICAL APPROACH THAT STRIVES TO BUILD GREATER CROP RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE-RELATED STRESS (OVER A SHORT TIMEFRAME, I.E. DAYS TO WEEKS) AND BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW GREATER CROP RESILIENCE CAN SUBSEQUENTLY INCREASE CROP STABILITY (OVER A LONG TIMEFRAME, I.E. YEARS). FURTHERMORE, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO PREDICT HOW THESE RELATIONSHIPS WILL EVOLVE OVER TIME (I.E. DECADES) GIVEN CLIMATE CHANGE. HOWEVER,POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF MORE-DIVERSE CROPPING SYSTEMS WILL DEPEND ON WHETHER THEY ARE PROFITABLE ENOUGH TO BE WIDELY ADOPTED.THIS PROPOSAL WILL EMPLOY THE ABOVE STRATEGY BY:COMPARING RESILIENCE (RECOVERY AND RESISTANCE) OF CORN TO SOIL WATER DEFICITSOR EXCESSES AMONG FIVE CROPPING SYSTEMS (DIFFERING IN ROTATIONAL DIVERSITY) ACROSS THREE YEARS AND THREE LOCATIONS (9 NEW SITE-YEARS).PROJECTING YIELD VARIATION IN THESE FIVE SYSTEMS OVER YEARS UNDER VARIOUS CLIMATE-CHANGE SCENARIOS, USING CROP MODELING AND OUR EXPERIMENTAL DATA FOR 18 TOTAL SITE-YEARS.PREDICTING THE EXTENT TO WHICH ADOPTION OF POTENTIALLY MORE-RESILIENT SYSTEMS MAY BE CONSTRAINED BY ECONOMICS, INCLUDING LIMITED DEMAND FOR MINOR CROPS.WE WILL USE SHORT-RANGE OPTICAL SENSING OF THE PLANT CANOPY TO MEASURE RESISTANCE AND RECOVERY FROM EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS WITH DIFFERENT SOIL WATER DEFICIT OR EXCESS REGIMES. WE WILL FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON THE CORN PHASE OF FIVE DIFFERENT CROPPING SYSTEMS, WHICH ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF A WIDER CLASS OF OPTIONS. MODEL-BASED SIMULATIONS WILL BE LEVERAGED TO EXPLORE MECHANISTIC LINKS BETWEEN CROP AND YIELD RESPONSES IN THE CONTEXT OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND PLAUSIBLE FUTURE CLIMATE SCENARIOS ACROSS THE REGION. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO ASSESS THE CURRENT PROFITABILITY OF THE FIVE DIVERSIFIED CROPPING SYSTEMS AND HOW PROFITABILITY MAY CHANGE IF A SYSTEM IS WIDELY ADOPTED. THIS PROPOSED STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED AT THREE LOCATIONS IN MINNESOTA WITH CONTRASTING SOIL AND WEATHER CONDITIONS. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH IS POSITIONED TO DETERMINE THE PERFORMANCE OF CROPS FROM DIVERSIFIED ROTATION PRACTICES UNDER VARIABLE CONDITIONS OF SOIL, WEATHER (I.E., PRECIPITATION), AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EFFECT OF DIVERSIFICATION ON CORN RESILIENCE AND YIELD STABILITY.