bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Can agricultural colleges meet the needs of sustainable agriculture?
Authors: Lacy William B. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractAs concern about the long-term viability of our food and fiber system has grown, many agricultural research administrators, prominent scientists and policymakers have focused increasing attention on the important research and educational needs in sustainable agriculture. Colleges of agriculture should be important in meeting the challenges of sustainable agriculture; a central question is whether they are adequate for the task. This paper highlights several individual and institutional constraints that limit the ability of these colleges to address the needs: 1) assumptions and biases regarding the relationship between humans and nature, and the concept of progress; 2) the demographic characteristics, education, and experience of research scientists; 3) the specialized departmental organization of research institutions; 4) imbalances among analyses on the molecular, cell, organism and ecosystem levels; 5) emphasis on farm level analysis and technology development; 6) new agricultural biotechnologies that may overemphasize short-term, narrow technical considerations and proprietary products; 7) compartmentalization of education by discipline, and the limited informal and field experiences for students; 8) the background and education of current Extension Service agents; 9) the emphasis on economic effects in research impact assessments, to the neglect of environmental effects and social consequences for farmers, rural communities and society at large; 10) limited capability for comprehensive public policy analysis.Despite these limitations, new research agendas and college programs are effectively addressing many needs of sustainable agriculture systems. To be more successful, these efforts must be broad-based and sensitive to a wide range of issues, and must include all participants in the system.
Institutional issues and strategies for sustainable agriculture: View from within the land-grant university
Authors: Batie Sandra S. , Swinton Scott M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractSustainable agricultural research and education have gained acceptability within the land-grant system, but they still must be fully integrated into its fabric. Challenges remain in three key areas: knowledge generation, research and education, and funding. New biological and ecological knowledge is needed on plant-animal-human-environment interactions from the microbial level on upward so that we can move beyond anecdotal evidence of biological integration efficiencies to scientific understanding of the underlying processes and opportunities for human intervention. Socioeconomic research must address human motivations to change farming methods and the likely impacts of these changes on farmers, consumers, other species, and the quality of the environment.Generating this knowledge will affect the integration of research and education. Having farmers set the research and outreach agenda dissolves the old distinction between research and extension. This situation is complicated by budgetary stress and uncertainty about the dividing line between public and private responsibilities. The funding of sustainableagriculture creates a dilemma. Earmarked funding has helped legitimize sustainable agriculture in the land-grant university, but if it fails to become integrated into the routine land-grant research and education agenda, it will lose its newly gained momentum in the event those funds disappear.
What non-land-grant researchers can contribute to agricultural sustainability
Authors: Lockeretz William 
Published: October 2009

AbstractResearch on agricultural production has been largely the domain of an institutional system established especially for the purpose. However, the complexities and diverse character of agriculture require diversified modes of research. Such a strategy might be better pursued by a more diversified set of research institutions. Non-land-grant institutions, although lacking the land-grant system's strong experience in agriculture and its close ties with farmers, potentially represent a large pool of scientific expertise in a broad range of fields relevant to agriculture. Also, they are under different institutional constraints, and may be in a better position to do more speculative, long-range research that does not promise immediate practical benefits. Although such research has been criticized by people in the sustainable agriculture movement who believe that research should be more directed at farmers' current problems, a truly sustainable agriculture will require a deeper grasp of how agricultural systems work. Achieving this will demand a breadth of understanding that extends beyond the production-oriented studies that dominate current sustainable agriculture research programs.
Whole farm case studies and focus groups: Participatory strategies for agricultural research and education programs
Authors: Murray Helene , Butler Lorna Michael 
Published: October 2009

AbstractResearch and extension personnel are beginning to look for new strategies to involve more farmers and the non-farm public in their programs. Two approaches we have used are wholefarm case studies (WFCS) and focus groups. WFCS in Oregon and Washington led to several research and educational programming ideas that are currently being pursued in both states. A focus group to study water quality, nitrate leaching and farming practices in Skagit County, Washington is one outcome of the WFCS process. It is made up of 16 people, including farmers, university personnel, members of environmental groups, and government representatives.We review these two complementary participatory strategies for systems-oriented sustainable agriculture research and education programs. Both have been very useful for building problem-solving partnerships between the land-grant universities and agricultural and environmental constituents in our area. Noteworthy outcomes include: complementary applied on-farm and experiment station research; farming systems analysis; public education; new linkages with environmental and agricultural interest groups; additional grant funds to address identified priority issues; and interdisciplinary teams that cut across the biological and social sciences and include diverse citizen representation.
A framework for evaluating the sustainability of agricultural production systems
Authors: Stockle C. O. , Papendick R.I. , Saxton K.E. , Campbell G.S. , van Evert F.K. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractSustainable agriculture has gained acceptance as a conceptual approach for shaping farming systems of the future. All definitions of sustainable agriculture include food productivity, food safety, resource protection, quality of life and environmental quality. However, the sustainability of a wide range of farming systems has been judged only subjectively. Currently there are no scientific criteria to evaluate the sustainability of a specific farming system. We propose a framework for evaluating the relative sustainability of a farming system using nine attributes: profitability, productivity, soil quality, water quality, air quality, energy efficiency, fish and wildlife habitat, quality of life, and social acceptance. Each attribute is scored and then weighted in a way that is subjective and dependent on the judgment of the evaluating team, but that must be expressed numerically. The scoring must be based on quantifiable constraints within each attribute. Constraints can be quantified by direct measurement, which is already true for those related to profitability, productivity, water quality and energy efficiency. Constraints that are not readily measurable will need other evaluation techniques, including expert opinion and computer simulation models.
Some ideas and guidelines for research on ecological agriculture
Authors: Raupp Joachim 
Published: October 2009

AbstractResearch on ecological agricultural systems should not confine itself to their biological and technological aspects, but should also deal with their social and human implications. Moreover, the goal should be to improve ecological agriculture, not just to document the performance of existing systems. Comparative studies of ecological versus conventional production systems are not adequate to achieve this goal. We need a broad research program that deals with fundamental agroecosystem processes, socioeconomic questions, appropriate livestock production systems, food quality, and information transfer among farmers and others. Research strategies on several levels are needed for this purpose, such as pot and field experiments, case studies, and modeling.
Midwestern land-grant university scientists' definitions of sustainable agriculture: A delphi study
Authors: Walter G. , Reisner A. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractWhat scientists include among the essential attributes of sustainable agricultural systems can influence the development of agricultural research agendas and how research is done. Current perspectives on sustainability place varying emphasis on environmental and agrarian values and propose different amounts and kinds of change in agricultural production, agricultural science, and rural social institutions. In a delphi study, agricultural scientists at North Central region land-grant universities considered environmental management and development of new farming technologies as essential to a definition of sustainable agriculture, but gave little importance to social or scientific restructuring. With some qualifications, we characterize their view of sustainability as a stewardship perspective that does not include social considerations and explicitly rejects radical social change.
Grain yield response of corn, soybean, and oat grown in a strip intercropping system
Authors: Ghaffarzadeh Mohammadreza , Préchac Fernando García , Cruse Richard M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractConventional Midwestern U.S. row crop agriculture has created significant environmental problems and made the farm economy reliant on government subsidies. Environmentally friendly and economically profitable alternatives are badly needed. This study addresses production characteristics of strip intercropping, a system that may meet both requirements. Two experiments were conducted in 1989 and 1990: one on a cooperating farmer's field with ridge tillage and the second at a university research farm with conventional tillage. The objective was to evaluate grain yields of different rows in adjoining strips (3.8 or 4.6 m wide) of three crops. Corn, soybean, and oat strips were either inter seeded with nondormant alfalfa or seeded with hairy vetch as a cover crop after oat grain harvest. Outside corn rows had significantly higher yields than center rows in 1990, when plant water stress was low, but under dry conditions in 1989, early season competition for water caused corn to yield less in the row bordering oat than in the row bordering soybean. Comparative soybean yields in border and center rows also depended on rainfall; with adequate water, soybean yield next to the oat strip was greater than or equal to yield in the center of the strip. Oat border rows yielded higher than those in the oat strip center. Timing differences in crop life cycles and water availability seem to influence how these crop species interact, particularly at the border positions. Overall, the strip intercropping system seems a suitable alternative to current practices.
The life cycle of alternative agricultural research
Authors: Anderson Molly D. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe acceptance and utility of alternative agricultural research can be enhanced by better incorporating social sciences and issues and by broadening its scope to the entire food system rather than focusing only on food production. Researchers have made strong contributions in developing and evaluating alternative agricultural technologies, but research attention also is needed to articulate strategies for synthesizing those technologies into coherent strategies, to examine the social effects of different scenarios, and to create better decisionmaking processes for ensuring broad-based knowledgeable participation in the choices among alternative strategies. Research that addresses human needs beyond food and fiber will help build truly alternative and desirable agricultural systems.
Short-term effects on earthworm populations of sidedressing corn with solid dairy cattle manure in a boreal climate
Authors: Estevez B. , Côté D. , Pagé F. , Coderre D. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractWe evaluated the short-term effects on earthworms of sidedressing solid dairy cattle manure on corn. The manure rates were 40, 46 and 53 t/ha applied in 1991, and a control (no manure). From 1988 to 1990, the manure plots received solid dairy cattle manure sidedressed at an annual rate of 40 to 50 t/ha, the equivalent of 100 kg N/ha, while the control received a standard mineral fertilization. The experiment took place at the MAPAQ experimental station in St.-Lambert, Quebec, Canada. Sampling occurred in autumn 1991 and spring 1992.Sidedressing solid dairy cattle manure in spring increased earthworm populations compared with the control in fall 1991, but no significant population differences were observed among the three different manure treatments, which were then pooled for further statistical analysis. In spring 1992, the populations declined, at which time the manure treatment and the control did not differ significantly in abundance, but total earthworm biomass and Lumbricus biomass were significantly higher in the manure treatment. Cocoon production showed significant differences between treatments, which provides evidence for the potential effect of manure sidedressing on earthworm population dynamics. Although the genusAporrectodea(endogeic) was dominant among the treatments, sidedressing of solid dairy cattle manure also stimulatedLumbricuspopulations, especially juveniles and adult L terrestris (epianecic).
Combining alternative and conventional systems for environmental gains
Authors: Painter K.M. , Young D.L. , Granatstein D.M. , Mulla D.J. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractTwo conventional cropping systems (winter wheat/dry peas and winter wheat/spring barley/dry peas) in the dryland grain region of southeastern Washington were compared with several alternative systems regarding profitability and environmental impacts. Two of the alternative systems use green manure crops and have low fertilizer and pesticide requirements. The remaining two are otherwise conventional rotations modified to include soil-building crops, bluegrass seed and rapeseed.Estimates of annual off-site erosion damage ranged from $6.56 to $20.50 per rotational acre, while on-site damage estimates ranged from $0.50 to $1.55 per rotational acre. Estimated leaching losses of pesticides to a water table 3.6 feet deep were negligible, but significant leaching losses of nitrate-N were predicted to occur from fall-applied inorganic fertilizer.Including bluegrass in a conventional grain rotation increased estimated net returns over variable costs by 16% and decreased soil loss by 33% compared with the most profitable conventional rotation. The next most profitable alternative system, rapeseed plus a conventional grain rotation, had slightly higher net returns over variable costs than the second most profitable conventional rotation, with slightly less soil loss. When fixed costs of machinery depreciation and land are included, the alternative systems fared relatively better. An experimental wheat/pea/medic system had higher projected net returns over total costs than the most profitable conventional rotation, while averaging just one-third as much soil loss per year. A wheat/barley/sweetclover green manure rotation was similar in profitability to the less profitable conventional rotation, but had only two-thirds as much soil loss.We constructed a mixed-integer linear programming model to determine the profitmaximizing combination of conventional and alternative rotations under 1990 farm bill provisions. Planting all or nearly all land to the bluegrass plus conventional grain rotation maximized returns over total costs for high, medium, and low program crop price scenarios. Farmers maximized profit by participating in both the wheat and barley programs under the low price scenario, only in the wheat program with moderate prices, and in neither the wheat nor the barley program under the high price scenario.
The compatibility of domestic birds with a nonchemical agroecosystem
Authors: Clark M. Sean , Gage Stuart H. , DeLind Laura B. , Lennington Marian 
Published: October 2009

AbstractWe evaluated free-range domestic chickens and geese as components of a nonchemical apple orchard intercropped with potato. Chickens and geese were compatible with the system but provided different benefits and had different requirements. Chickens were omnivorous and highly active throughout the day, and dispersed throughout the available area. In contrast, geese were strictly herbivorous and less active, and usually remained close to their coop and water source. Geese substantially reduced vegetation biomass under the trees and around the potatoes without damaging either crop. Chickens reduced noncrop vegetation biomass slightly but also consumed several insect species, including Japanese beetle and Colorado potato beetle. Factors influencing the feasibility of integrating domestic chickens or geese into agroecosystems are discussed.
Weed science in sustainable agriculture
Authors: Zimdahl Robert L. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractFive thoughts about the role and future of weed science in agriculture are analyzed. Much about the tools, techniques, and achievements of weed science should be lauded. Its achievements in basic science and its worldwide contributions to agricultural production and productivity are incontestable. The discipline has been based primarily on chemical technology, and the weed science community has been shaped by the available technology and by the purposes of its members. New, sustainable weed management systems will rely on knowledge derived from answers to new questions about weed-crop relationships and management techniques. As weed scientists develop better management systems, they will need to find better words to describe what they do and why it is important.
An overwintering cover crop increases inoculum of VAM fungi in agricultural soil
Authors: Galvez L. , Douds D.D. , Wagoner P. , Longnecker L.R. , Drinkwater L.E. , Janke R.R. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractWe conducted a field experiment within a low-input reduced tillage trial to determine how a cover crop affects inoculum levels of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi. Plots with and without the hairy vetch cover crop were established on September 30, 1993, under moldboard plow (MP), chisel-disk (CD), and no-till (NT) treatments in low-input (LI) management, and MP in conventional (CONV) management. We conducted a 3-week colonization assay in the greenhouse with bahiagrass seedlings to assess the relative colonization potential of the soils in the fall and following spring. Hairy vetch roots were colonized by indigenous VAM fungi by 65 days after planting, with plants from NT being more colonized than plants from MP or CD plots. Spore populations were greater in the LI than in the CONV system. The beneficial effect of the cover crop on VAM spore populations in soil was manifested in the spring, with theGlomustype group more abundant in plots with cover than without it. The greenhouse bioassay showed that colonization potential of spring 1994 soil samples was higher in plots with cover than without cover for both the LI and CONV systems. Just one season of an overwintering cover crop of hairy vetch increased the inoculum of VAM fungi the following spring before the next cash crop was planted.
Environmental policy and swine manure management Waste not or want not?
Authors: Hoag Dana L. , Roka Fritz M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractLivestock production and manure handling decisions often have been treated in the literature as separate enterprises. Policymakers, too, have ignored the interactive nature of manure management by focusing on land application for nutrient disposal. This study outlines a systems approach to describe the interrelated decisions producers face, using examples from North Carolina and Iowa that show how producers' attitudes toward manure management lead them to handle manure differently in different regions. In North Carolina, nutrients in manure are “not wanted.” There are economic incentives to treat manure, thus reducing its nutrient content, and to apply it on as little land as possible. In Iowa, nutrients are “not wasted.” Producers conserve the nutrients in manure and use them more fully, applying manure to higher value crops such as corn. Policies that influence manure management can be made more effective by accounting for the differences in producers' incentives to waste or want the nutrients.
Economic analysis of an areawide program for biological control of the alfalfa weevil
Authors: White J.M. , Allen P.G. , Moffitt L.J. , Kingsley P.P. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractAn areawide program for biological control of the alfalfa weevil showed expected economic benefits of $2.2 billion, expressed in present value terms. Alfalfa producers and consumers of livestock products are the main beneficiaries. The control program was highly successful, with a benefit/cost ratio of about 91. Not all areawide biological pest control programs will be as successful; a benefit-cost analysis like the one described here should be performed before areawide control is initiated to identify programs expected to provide economic benefits.
Tillage, seeding and fertilizer application technologies
Authors: Wilkins Dale E. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractTillage, seeding and fertilizing implements for rainfed cereal production with a winter precipitation pattern have unique functional requirements. In designing and developing implements for these systems, soil and water conservation principles are critical and must be integrated into the total production system. Plant diseases, insects, weeds, environmental degradation, crop yield, crop quality and economics all may be influenced by tillage, seeding and fe rtilizing implements. Advances have been made in implements f or improved residue management, stand establishment and crop fertilization that leave more crop residue on the surface for soil and water conservation. However, they alter the seed and root zones, often resulting in uncontrolled pests, reduced yields, or increased production costs. Research is needed to integrate production implements into ecosystem management through automatic control systems for improved tillage, se eding and fertilizing. These systems should include field history mapping, real-time soil sens ors, and models to link data bases with equipment functions.
Insect pests and management technologies in dryland wheat in Washington
Authors: Pike K. S. , Tanigoshi L. K. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractSix species of ophids (Homoptera: Aphididae) are the most economically significant insect pests of wheat in Washington. Management technologies under development or in use in Washington emphasize biorational approaches, including development and use of resistance germplasm, manipulation of pest populations through cropping systems, and development of biological controls. We review wheat yield losses caused by aphids, their biological control, and the effects of conservation tillage and systemic seed treatment.