Search

The emerging movement to deepen and expand higher education's civic mission and work is calling on scholars to enter the public realm and become actively engaged in civic life. To heed the call, scholars will need to embrace and pursue a view of scholarship as a public rather than a private craft, one that brings them into public space and relationships in order to facilitate knowledge discovery, learning, and action relevant to civic issues and problems. In this paper, we tell the story of one scholar who has helped us understand and appreciate the craft of public scholarship in land-grant education. Drawing from the findings of an action research project we have launched, we then identify some of the practical skills, value commitments, and institutional supports that public scholars need in order to be successful in their work.

This article explores the need for diversification in agriculture in the Upper Midwest region of the United States, emphasizing an agroecological approach. The consolidation of the agricultural industry, along with cultural diversity and environmental degradation, poses challenges for the region. The article suggests that academic agroecologists can contribute to diversification by engaging in civic arenas, supporting place-based projects, and addressing supply chain challenges. Examples of ongoing projects, such as sustainable aviation fuel development and hybrid hazelnut production, are provided. The text also discusses steward ownership in agriculture, collaborative efforts, and responsible innovation. Collaboration among different sectors and scales, reducing social and economic inequities, and working with dominant agricultural firms and organizations are highlighted as important factors in addressing the complex issue of agricultural diversification in the Upper Midwest. [Extracted from the article]

Managing annual row crops on marginally productive croplands can be environmentally unsustainable and result in variable economic returns. Incorporating perennial bioenergy feedstocks into marginally productive cropland can engender ecosystem services and enhance climate resiliency while also diversifying farm incomes. We use one of the oldest bioenergy-specific field experiments in North America to evaluate economically and environmentally sustainable management practices for growing perennial grasses on marginal cropland. This long-term field trial called 9804 was established in 1998 in eastern Nebraska and compared the productivity and sustainability of corn (Zea mays L.) --both corn grain and corn stover--and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) bioenergy systems under different harvest strategies and nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates. This experiment demonstrated that switchgrass, compared to corn, is a reliable and sustainable bioenergy feedstock. This experiment has been a catalyst for other bioenergy projects which have also expanded our understanding of growing and managing bioenergy feedstocks on marginal cropland. We (1) synthesize research from this long-term experiment and (2) provide perspective concerning both the knowledge gained from this experiment and knowledge gaps and how to fill them as well as the role switchgrass will play in the future of bioenergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is offering new forms of support to society, as evidenced by rapid development of an agricultural "bio-economy," and increasing emphasis on production of ecological services in farmed landscapes. The advent of these innovations will engage agricultural professionals in critical civic debates about matters that are complex and that will often be controversial, and thus demand new sets of professional capacities that extend significantly beyond technical expertise. Specifically, agriculturalists will need a capacity to facilitating challenges to, and where appropriate, changes in prevailing worldviews--their own as well as those of others. In this article we report on pedagogy that aims to build such capacity, via a semester-length course on critical engagement in sustainable development of agricultural and other managed ecosystems. In the course we aimed to help prepare students to engage as professionals in critical discourse under circumstances where prevailing worldviews about agricultural development vary significantly among different stakeholders. We used experiential learning to encourage students to critically examine individual and collective worldviews and "mental models" relevant to sustainable development challenges. Experiential learning was particularly featured in an extended exercise in "scenario planning," a method of systemic analysis of alternative scenarios of future development in which the students began to function as a critical learning system. In reflective and evaluative essays, students indicated favorable evaluations of their learning experience and provided evidence of increased capacities highly relevant to civic professionalism within the context of the quest for sustainability as agriculture offers new forms of life support to society. (Contains 2 figures.)

We describe our pedagogical approaches and experiences with a novel course in agroecology (one semester, three credit-hours, for graduate students and upper level undergraduates). Our course responds to recent proposals that agroecology expand its disciplinary focus to include human factors as well as ecological factors, thus taking a more holistic and systemic perspective. the course structure and service-learning component are organized around the focal concept of "transformation," that is, a systemic change that addresses a certain ecological problem in an agricultural system. Our goal is to help train agricultural professionals who can work effectively in collaborative efforts to implement such transformations. toward this end, we have integrated methods from systems thinking, soft-systems methodology, and agroecosystems analysis, and used a service-learning component to provide students with an opportunity to apply and evaluate these methods in practice. Most students favorably evaluated the course. Ultimately, we expect that the course will help our students to develop a civic professionalism through which they apply their professional skills to complex public problems in agriculture. (Contains 2 tables.)

Ecosystem benefits of winter‐killed annual cover crops are less studied than winter hardy annuals. The objectives of this study were to determine (1) the effects of tillage practices and cover crop mixtures on biomass and soil cover of cover crops seeded into nearly mature maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and (2) if cover crop biomass can be estimated from soil surface coverage measurements. The study was conducted within two long‐term tillage trials from 2016 to 2018. Tillage included conventional—(CT), strip—(ST), and no‐till—(NT). Cover crops included annual ryegrass (AR; Lolium multiflorum L.); AR and crimson clover (CC; Trifolium incarnatum L.) mixture (ARCC); AR, CC, and forage radish (FR; Raphanus sativus L.) mixture (ARCCFR); and no‐cover (NC). Seeding rates for AR, ARCC, and ARCCFR were 28, 36, and 40.5 kg ha−1, respectively. The ARCCFR mix produced the most biomass (256 kg ha−1), followed by AR (174 kg ha−1) and ARCC (165 kg ha−1). Cover crop biomass was 260 and 136 kg ha−1 in maize and soybean; and 218, 201, and 177 kg ha−1 in CT, ST, and NT, respectively. Cover crop soil coverage between rows was 25% in maize and 14% in soybean. Cover crop biomass was associated with soil surface coverage (R2 = 0.841). Given that cover crop biomass drives ecosystem services associated with cover crops, limited biomass and ground coverage of winter killed cover crops seeded into nearly mature maize and soybean may not add ecosystem services in the upper Midwest. Core Ideas: Conventional tillage produced the highest cover crop biomass.Biomass of late interseeded cover crop in maize and soybean was limited.High cover crop biomass was not always due to species diversity.Annual ryegrass biomass was higher than crimson clover and forage radish in mixtures.Cover crop soil coverage was strongly associated with cover crop biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grassland restoration success depends on the development of plant communities that accord with restoration goals. Intraspecific variation in competitiveness may affect community development. For some grassland species, germplasm can be obtained from sources ranging from wild collections to selectively bred cultivars. The extent to which population source affects competitive outcomes in restoration projects is unclear. We addressed this knowledge gap in a glasshouse experiment comparing competitive response and effect among three sources of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) that are available for restoration: selectively bred cultivars, commercial ecotypes (commercially produced but not deliberately selected), and wild collections. Two strains per source type were grown with four associates chosen to encompass varied functional groups: conspecifics, Bromus inermis, Cirsium arvense, and Solanum ptycanthum. Switchgrass competitive response was evaluated for survival, height, biomass, and shoot:root biomass ratio; competitive effect was assessed as associate survival, height, biomass, and shoot:root ratio. Competitive responses of cultivars and commercial ecotypes were broadly similar, although cultivar biomass exceeded both that of ecotypes and wild collections, and ecotypes had the highest shoot:root ratio. Wild collections were most negatively affected by competition. The shoot:root ratios of all sources were highest when grown with S. ptycanthum, indicating that competitive responses were plastic; plasticity in fitness‐related traits can contribute to persistence in variable environments. Cultivars exerted negative effects on B. inermis. Secondary analyses indicated that all switchgrass sources were most inhibited by the annual S. ptycanthum. To summarize, population source affected multiple aspects of switchgrass competitive ability, when grown against functionally varied associates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasion potential should be part of the evaluation of candidate species for any species introduction. However, estimating invasion risks remains a challenging problem, particularly in complex landscapes. Certain plant traits are generally considered to increase invasive potential and there is an understanding that landscapes influence invasions dynamics, but little research has been done to explore how those drivers of invasions interact. We evaluate the relative roles of, and potential interactions between, plant invasiveness traits and landscape characteristics on invasions with a case study using a model parameterized for the potentially invasive biomass crop, Miscanthus × giganteus. Using that model we simulate invasions on 1000 real landscapes to evaluate how landscape characteristics, including both composition and spatial structure, affect invasion outcomes. We conducted replicate simulations with differing strengths of plant invasiveness traits (dispersal ability, establishment ability, population growth rate, and the ability to utilize dispersal corridors) to evaluate how the importance of landscape characteristics for predicting invasion patterns changes depending on the invader details. Analysis of simulations showed that the presence of highly suitable habitat (e.g., grasslands) is generally the strongest determinant of invasion dynamics but that there are also more subtle interactions between landscapes and invader traits. These effects can also vary between different aspects of invasion dynamics (short vs. long time scales and population size vs. spatial extent). These results illustrate that invasions are complex emergent processes with multiple drivers and effective management needs to reflect the ecology of the species of interest and the particular goals or risks for which efforts need to be optimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing intentional species introductions requires evaluating potential ecological risks. However, it is difficult to weigh costs and benefits when data about interactions between novel species and the communities they are introduced to are scarce. In anticipation of expanded cultivation of perennial biomass crops, we experimentally introduced Miscanthus sinensis and Miscanthus x giganteus (two non-native candidate biomass crops) into two different non-crop habitats (old field and flood-plain forest) to evaluate their establishment success and impact on ambient local communities. We followed these controlled introductions and the composition dynamics of the receiving communities over a 5-year period. Habitats differed widely in adult Miscanthus survival and reproduction potential between species, although seed persistence and seedling emergence were similar in the two biomass crops in both habitats. Few introductions survived in the floodplain forest habitat, and this mortality precluded analyses of their potential impacts there. In old field habitats, proportional survival ranged from 0.3 to 0.4, and plant survival and growth increased with age. However, there was no evidence of biomass crop species effects on community richness or evenness or strong impacts on the resident old field constituents across 5 years. These results suggest that Miscanthus species could establish outside of cultivated fields, but there will likely be a lag in any impacts on the receiving communities. Local North American invasions by M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus display the potential for Miscanthus species to develop aggressively expanding populations. However, the weak short-term community-level impacts demonstrated in the current study indicate a clear management window in which eradicating species footholds is easily achieved, if they can be detected early enough. Diligent long-term monitoring, detection, and eradication plans are needed to successfully minimize harmful invasions from these biomass crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yield stability is fundamental to global food security in the face of climate change, and better strategies are needed for buffering crop yields against increased weather variability. Regional- scale analyses of yield stability can support robust inferences about buffering strategies for widely-grown staple crops, but have not been accomplished. We present a novel analytical approach, synthesizing 2000–2014 data on weather and soil factors to quantify their impact on county-level maize yield stability in four US states that vary widely in these factors (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania). Yield stability is quantified as both ‘downside risk’ (minimum yield potential, MYP) and ‘volatility’ (temporal yield variability). We show that excessive heat and drought decreased mean yields and yield stability, while higher precipitation increased stability. Soil water holding capacity strongly affected yield volatility in all four states, either directly (Minnesota and Pennsylvania) or indirectly, via its effects on MYP (Illinois and Michigan). We infer that factors contributing to soil water holding capacity can help buffer maize yields against variable weather. Given that soil water holding capacity responds (within limits) to agronomic management, our analysis highlights broadly relevant management strategies for buffering crop yields against climate variability, and informs region-specific strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing global demand for food, bioenergy feedstocks and a wide variety of bio-based products. In response, agriculture has advanced production, but is increasingly depleting soil regulating and supporting ecosystem services. New production systems have emerged, such as no-tillage, that can enhance soil services but may limit yields. Moving forward, agricultural systems must reduce trade-offs between production and soil services. Soil functional zone management (SFZM) is a novel strategy for developing sustainable production systems that attempts to integrate the benefits of conventional, intensive agriculture, and no-tillage. SFZM creates distinct functional zones within crop row and inter-row spaces. By incorporating decimeter-scale spatial and temporal heterogeneity, SFZM attempts to foster greater soil biodiversity and integrate complementary soil processes at the sub-field level. Such integration maximizes soil services by creating zones of 'active turnover', optimized for crop growth and yield (provisioning services); and adjacent zones of 'soil building', that promote soil structure development, carbon storage, and moisture regulation (regulating and supporting services). These zones allow SFZM to secure existing agricultural productivity while avoiding or minimizing trade-offs with soil ecosystem services. Moreover, the specific properties of SFZM may enable sustainable increases in provisioning services via temporal intensification (expanding the portion of the year during which harvestable crops are grown). We present a conceptual model of 'virtuous cycles', illustrating how increases in crop yields within SFZM systems could create self-reinforcing feedback processes with desirable effects, including mitigation of trade-offs between yield maximization and soil ecosystem services. Through the creation of functionally distinct but interacting zones, SFZM may provide a vehicle for optimizing the delivery of multiple goods and services in agricultural systems, allowing sustainable temporal intensification while protecting and enhancing soil functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rotational grazing (RG) has attracted much attention as a cornerstone of multifunctional agriculture (MFA) in animal systems, potentially capable of producing a range of goods and services of value to diverse stakeholders in agricultural landscapes and rural communities, as well as broader societal benefits. Despite these benefits, global adoption of MFA has been uneven, with some places seeing active participation, while others have seen limited growth. Recent conceptual models of MFA emphasize the potential for bottom-up processes and linkages among social and environmental systems to promote multifunctionality. Social networks are critical to these explanations but how and why these networks matter is unclear. We investigated fifty-three farms in three states in the United States (New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania) and developed a stylized model of social networks and systemic change in the dairy farming system. We found that social networks are important to RG adoption but their impact is contingent on social and spatial factors. Effects of networks on farmer decision making differ according to whether they comprise weak-tie relationships, which bridge across disparate people and organizations, or strong-tie relationships, which are shared by groups in which members are well known to one another. RG adoption is also dependent on features of the social landscape including the number of dairy households, the probability of neighboring farmers sharing strong ties, and the role of space in how networks are formed. The model replicates features of real-world adoption of RG practices in the Eastern US and illustrates pathways toward greater multifunctionality in the dairy landscape. Such models are likely to be of heuristic value in network-focused strategies for agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last half-century, crop breeding and agronomic advances have dramatically enhanced yields in temperate summer-annual cropping systems. Now, diversification of these cropping systems is emerging as a strategy for sustainable intensification, potentially increasing both crop production and resource conservation. In temperate zones, diversification is largely based on the introduction of winter-annual and perennial crops at spatial and temporal locations in annual-crop production systems that efficiently increase production and resource conservation. Germplasm development will be critical to this strategy, but we contend that to be feasible and efficient, germplasm improvement must be closely integrated with commercialization of these crops. To accomplish this integration, we propose a novel approach to germplasm development: the reflective plant breeding paradigm (RPBP). Our approach is enabled by developments in genomics, agroecosystem management, and innovation theory and practice. These developments and new plant-breeding technologies (e.g., low-cost sequencing, phenotyping, and spatial modeling of agroecosystems) now enable germplasm development to proceed on a time scale that enables close coordination of breeding and commercialization (i.e, development of cost-effective production systems and supply-value chains for end-use markets). The RPBP approach is based on close coordination of germplasm development with enterprise development. In addition to supporting strategic diversification of current annual-cropping systems, the RPBP may be useful in rapid adaptation of agriculture to climate change. Finally, the RPBP may offer a novel and distinctive pathway for future development of the public plant-breeding programs of land-grant universities with implications for graduate education for public- and privatesector plant breeders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, funding agencies are investing in integrated and transdisciplinary research to tackle "grand challenge" priority areas, critical for sustaining agriculture and protecting the environment. Coordinating multidisciplinary research teams capable of addressing these priority areas, however, presents its own unique set of challenges, ranging from bridging across multiple disciplinary perspectives to achieve common questions and methods to facilitating engagement in holistic and integrative thinking that promotes linkages from scholarship to societal needs. We propose that structural equation modeling (SEM) can provide a powerful framework for synergizing multidisciplinary research teams around grand challenge issues. Structural equation modeling can integrate both visual and statistical expression of complex hypotheses at all stages of the research process, from planning to analysis. Three elements of the SEM framework are particularly beneficial to multidisciplinary research teams; these include (i) a common graphical language that transcends disciplinary boundaries, (ii) iterative, critical evaluation of complex hypotheses involving manifest and latent variables and direct and indirect interactions, and (iii) enhanced opportunities to discover unanticipated interactions or causal pathways as empirical data are tested statistically against the model. Using our ongoing multidisciplinary, multisite field investigation of climate change adaptation and mitigation in annual row crop agroecosystems as a case study, we demonstrate the value of the SEM framework for project design, coordination, and implementation and provide recommendations for its broader application as a means to more effectively engage and address issues of critical societal concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New innovation systems are needed to help agriculture meet its "grand challenges." These systems should integrate the major streams of discovery in agricultural bioscience (biotechnologies and agroecotechnologies) and engage this and other research with private enterprise, civil society, and government sectors, to develop new agricultural systems that meet high standards for performance in economic, social, and environmental terms. To create and sustain such innovation systems, a critical mass of agricultural bioscientists is needed with certain skills, understandings, and inclinations that enable constructive and ongoing participation in innovation systems. To achieve this critical mass, graduate education will play a crucial role. We outline a graduate curriculum for this purpose, similar in scope to a graduate minor program; it features two foundational courses, experientially based short courses and student experiences in cross-sector innovation systems. The curriculum is now being pilot-tested at the University of Minnesota with a cohort of 11 students, but is well suited to multi-institutional implementation. Initial evaluation data suggest that the first year of the curriculum promoted development of certain relevant skills and inclinations in an initial cohort of seven students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the use of adding carbon (C) to soil to facilitate prairie restoration and control weeds. It examines the mixed results of C addition by comparing productivity of 11 tallgrass prairie species and 10 weeds under 14 levels of C addition. Significant species-specific responses to C addition included increased biomass for six prairie species and lessened biomass for six annuals weeds.

Production of biomass feedstock crops could produce substantial environmental benefits, but these will be sharply reduced if these crops become invasive. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is being bred for biomass production; these selective efforts may enhance invasive traits. To inform the assessment of invasive risk, undomesticated switchgrass strains were used as a baseline for comparison with strains bred for biomass production. In a three-year field experiment, we compared juvenile plant densities and survival, persistence of established plants, and aboveground biomass between selectively bred (cultivar) and undomesticated switchgrass strains. Cultivars had modestly greater third-year biomass and first-year plant densities than commercial ecotypes but lower survival and persistence; consequently, third-year plant densities did not significantly differ between cultivars and commercial ecotypes. Higher initial establishment and subsequent self-thinning in cultivars resulted in stands that were similar to those of commercial ecotypes. Therefore, our results do not suggest that the breeding of current cultivars of switchgrass enhanced juvenile and young-stand traits associated with invasiveness. Because biomass yields were not greatly different between cultivars and commercial ecotypes, use of the latter in biomass grasslands could provide functional benefits, including an enhanced habitat for native biodiversity and reduced pathogen loads, without incurring large losses in biomass production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]