|
| | ||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| HOME | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBE | NEWSSTAND LOCATIONS | ||||
| ||||
|
|
| | |
Effort aims to bring diversity back into agriculture Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Agri News staff writer
OWATONNA, Minn. -- Steven Morse is leading a multi-state effort to reintroduce diversity into the landscape.
Called Green Lands, Blue Waters, the project's goal is to leverage the resources of land-grant universities to improve water quality and habitat diversity, reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico and improve rural economies.
Morse outlined the plan at the Minnesota chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society meeting Friday in Owatonna. Morse is a former state legislator and Department of Natural Resources commissioner. He is a University of Minnesota senior fellow serving through June as the School of Agriculture endowed chair in agricultural systems.
Farmers in the upper Midwest have learned to grow corn and soybeans very well, Morse said, but the two-crop system doesn't protect the soil until mid- to late June. Statewide, two-thirds of the cropland is planted to corn and soybeans. As alfalfa production has declined, soybean production has increased. The state lost one-third of its alfalfa production from 1975 to 1999, he said.
"We really need to look at system change and putting perenniality back into the cropping rotation," Morse said.
This is where Green Lands, Blue Waters can help. By bringing together a consortium of universities and organizations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, Illinois, Louisiana and Missouri, the plan is to develop viable economic alternatives for row-crop farmers.
The plan would target areas within each watershed for perennial cover, be it along waterways or on highly erodible land. Cover could range from perennial grasses to trees, or perhaps a yet unknown crop.
Changing crop rotations would be voluntary, but Morse figures farmers will pursue cropping system changes if there is an economic reward.
The project fits well with the Conservation Security Program, Morse said, as both strive to keep working lands working and tailor crop production to fit the needs of the land, water, habitat, economy and healthy people. The goal is to have the consortium organized by June. |
| | |
| |
Copyright 2006 Agri News
All Rights Reserved
