AMES, Iowa -- Farmers in the Corn Belt have two new Internet portals to the latest research findings on how to increase the resiliency of corn-based cropping systems under variable weather conditions.
The new "Sustainable Corn" website and blog are part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded project that is gathering and assessing research data from 26 field sites and thousands of farmers in the upper Midwest. The Climate and Corn-based Cropping Systems Coordinated Agricultural Project (CSCAP) brings together scientists from 10 land grant universities and a USDA Agricultural Research Laboratory.
Through collaborative research, education and extension, the CSCAP team seeks to identify and advance farm practices and public policies that increase Midwestern crop resilience, while minimizing environmental impacts, in response to increasingly more erratic and extreme weather events. The project is in its third year and is directed by Iowa State University Professor Lois Wright Morton.
The goal of the new website (www.sustainablecorn.org/) and blog (www.sustainablecorn.org/blog)
is to bring, to farmers and other agricultural decision-makers, the CSCAP team's latest findings regarding extended rotations, tillage management, cover cropping systems, drainage water management, integrated pest management, weather and agriculture, and nitrogen management in corn-based cropping systems in the upper Midwest.
Farmers, researchers, students, news media and others are encouraged to visit the blog weekly, comment on posts, ask questions, and share field experiences, especially experiences working on the landscape to make cropping systems more resilient to extreme weather events.
"We're excited to share information with farmers on our website and, through our new blog, to start some great conversations about our research findings; to get feedback through comments and blog discussions," said Jamie Benning, an extension program specialist at Iowa State and a principal investigator on the CSCAP team.
Blog post contributors are CSCAP team scientists and extension educators from 10 universities in the upper Midwest, including; Purdue University, Lincoln University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, South Dakota State University, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State.
Website and Blog Share Crop Research to Engage Corn-Belt Farmers
May 6, 2013