Agriculture Commons^™

Evaluating Strategies For Sustainable Intensification Of Us Agriculture Through The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network, Sheri Spiegal, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, David W. Archer, David J. Augustine, Elizabeth H. Boughton, Raoul Keith Boughton, Michel A. Cavigelli, Patrick E. Clark, Justin D. Derner, Emily W. Duncan, Cathleen J. Hapeman, R. Daren Harmel, Philip Heilman, Michael A. Holly, David R. Huggins, Kevin W. King, Peter A. Kleinman, Mark A. Liebig, Martin A. Locke, Gregory W. Mccarty, Neville Millar, Steven B. Mirsky, Thomas B. Moorman, Frederick B. Pierson, James R. Rigby, G. Philip Robertson, Jean L. Steiner, Timothy C. Strickland, Hilary M. Swain, Brian J. Wienhold, J.D. Wulfhorst, Matt A. Yost, Charles L. Walthall

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Sustainable intensification is an emerging model for agriculture designed to reconcile accelerating global demand for agricultural products with long-term environmental stewardship. Defined here as increasing agricultural production while maintaining or improving environmental quality, sustainable intensification hinges upon decision-making by agricultural producers, consumers, and policy-makers. The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network was established to inform these decisions. Here we introduce the LTAR Common Experiment, through which scientists and partnering producers in US croplands, rangelands, and pasturelands are conducting 21 independent but coordinated experiments. Each local effort compares the outcomes of a predominant, conventional production system in the region ('business as usual') …