Sustainability Commons^™

Agroecosystems Analysis From The Grass Roots: A Multidimensional Experiential Learning Course, Mary Wiedenhoeft, Steve Simmons, Ricardo Salvador, Gina Mcandrews, Charles A. Francis, James W. King, David Hole

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

An intensive, experiential travel course in Agroecosystems Analysis was conducted in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska (United States) during summers of 1998 and 1999. The intended student audience was advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. Pretravel readings and a week-long series of farm visits, which consisted of in-depth interviews with the farmers and their families, prepared student teams to analyze and evaluate the production, economic, environmental, and social sustainability of 10 farms. Students shared their analyses both orally and in written reports. Based on a multifaceted student evaluation process, we found that participants were highly motivated, strongly engaged with the course …

Action Education In Land Use Decisions: Student Views On Urbanization And Farmland Loss, Mindi Schneider, Charles A. Francis, Dick Esseks

CARI Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture

Loss of prime farmland is a serious concern in the United States and around the globe. With rapid urban population increases, the activities and perceived needs of concentrated groups of people result in the swallowing of some of the most fertile lands in this country. Today we have just under 2 acres of productive farmland per person in the United States. Given the current population growth rate due to births and immigration, plus the present rate of farmland loss, World Watch Institute estimates that we will have about 0.6 acres or one-third as much farmland available per person by 2055--a …

Fire Climate Interactions And Predicting Fire Season Severity In The Mediterranean Climate Areas Of California, Southern Oregon, And Western Nevada, Alan H. Taylor, Carl N. Skinner, Andrew M. Carleton, Scott L. Stephens, Valerie Trouet, Bernd Haupt, Andrew Pierce

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

• We identified annual area burned for 37 National Forests in Washington, Oregon, and California between 1929 and 2004 from annual fire reports. Variation in area burned each year on National Forest lands is strongly related (r2 = 0.87) to total area burned in California. This indicates area burned in National Forests is a good indicator of total area burned in a state. • Four large groups of National Forests were identified that had similar temporal patterns of fire extent. Three of these groups were spatially coherent and included mainly: 1) Washington and northern Oregon; 2) northern California and California …

Land Use Change And Modification Of Near-Surface Thermal Records In The Northern Great Plains, Rezaul Mahmood, Ken Hubbard, Christy Carlson

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

The North American Great Plains have experienced a rapid overturning of natural grasslands to agricultural land use over the last century. Moreover, in some areas more than 80% of the land use has changed from dry land to irrigated agriculture during the second half of the twentieth century. It is speculated that these changes have modified near-surface atmospheric condition and our modeling study seems to support this. To identify changes in land surface- atmospheric modifications we have applied a soil moistureenergy balance model at three locations in Nebraska: Mead, York, and McCook. The model was applied for three land uses …

Composting Of Feedlot And Dairy Manure: Compost Characteristics And Impact On Crop Yields, Galen E. Erickson, Terry J. Klopfenstein, Walker Luedtke, Mark Schroeder, Charles A. Francis, Gary Lesoing

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Since 1993, approximately 17,600 tons of beef feedlot and dairy compost have been spread on 1,100 acres. Crop yields were measured to determine the impact of a one-time compost application by using no-compost check strips in large-scale production fields. Adding compost to irrigated corn, irrigated soybeans, and dryland corn acres significantly increased yields, with four-year average increases of 2.3, 1.5, and 2.7%, respectively. For all crops measured, the response to compost was greatest the first year following application and declined linearly in subsequent years. The increased yield from compost application offsets spreading costs using average prices for crops.

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, May/June 2000

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

CSAS Joins New Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Nebraska’s Future Agriculture: Natural Resources, Human Capital, and Rural Communities

Call for 2001 North Central SARE Research and Education Preproposals

North Central SARE Maintains Marketing Listserv

Integrated Farm Project: A Model for Collaboration

Nebraska Study Shows Monarch Danger Is Exaggerated

Registration Fee Set for Alternative Ag Expo

CSAS Bids Heidi Carter Farewell

Farmers' Markets Moving Ahead

Community Supported Agriculture: New Potentials for Nebraska

E-conference on Integrating Sustainable Food Security

Dynamic Fluvial Systems And Gravel Progradation In The Himalayan Foreland, Nicholas Brozovic, Douglas W. Burbank

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Although the large-scale stratigraphy of many terrestrial foreland basins is punctuated by major episodes of gravel progradation, the relationships of such facies to hinterland tectonism and climate change are often unclear. Structural reentrants provide windows into older and more proximal parts of the foreland than are usually exposed, and thus provide key insights to earlier phases of foreland evolution. Our magnetostratigraphic studies show that, although the major lithofacies preserved within the Himachal Pradesh structural reentrant in northwestern India resemble Neogene facies in Pakistan, they have a much greater temporal and spatial variability. From 11.5 to 7 Ma, major facies boundaries …

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, March/April 2000

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Marketing Featured at NSAS Annual Meeting

Nebraska’s Future Agriculture: Innovative Producers Get More of the Consumer’s Food Dollar

New Proposal for National Organic Standards

130 Countries Finalize Trade Treaty on Biotech Food

NSAS Director Carusi to Wisconsin

OFRF Proposal Deadline July 15

USDA Ag Biotech Advisory Committee Formed

Alternative Ag Expo

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, January/February 2000

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Small Businesses Are Backbone of Communities

Nebraska's Future Agriculture: Multiple Functions of Rural Landscapes

Conference to Promote Sustainable Food Systems

2000 NSAS Meeting Features Salatin

UNL Centers Offer Entrepreneurial Assistance

NCR SARE Announces Availability of Producer Grants

USDA Invests $180 Million in Rural America, Agricultural Research

New Wallace Center Created at Winrock International

Farmland Loss Accelerates

Glickman Appoints Committee on Small Farms

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, November/December 1999

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Conference Shows Large Interest in Small Farms

University Role in Biotechnology: What Do People Say and Why?

Loss of Biodiversity a Growing Concern

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, September/October 1999

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

New Energy in Farming Communities

University Role in Biotechnology: How Do We Assess The Risks And Benefits?

CSAS Director Receives Honorary Degree

Sooby Now at OFRF

NCR SARE Revised Web Site

New Food Ethics Journal in 2000

DOE Announces New Wind Energy Initiative

Conference Celebrates Sustainable Ag Coming of Age in 2000

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, July/August 1999

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Biotechnology Issues Discussed at NABC Meeting in Lincoln

University Role in Biotechnology: How Do We Sustain Food Production?

CSAS Issues Volumes 10 and 11

SARE Marketing Conference in Lincoln This November

September 10 is Deadline for NCR SARE Preproposals

Nebraska Legislative Bills Study Management and Help Beginning Farmers/Ranchers

Voluntary Program Will Boost Organic Exports

Canada Introduces National Standard for Organic Agriculture

Merrigan to Head USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service

Nominations Sought for Steward of the Land Award

Thanks and Farewell, Glen

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, May/June 1999

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

The Farmer and the Dean

University Role in Biotechnology: Who Owns Genes and Diversity?

CSAS Volume 9 Discusses Watersheds

SARE Appoints Paula Ford North Central PDP

Coordinator Policy Project Identifies Retention of Farms and Farmland as Top Priorities

Olson Heads to Kentucky

Organic Grain Farming Workshops

Two Alternative Agriculture Conferences in Midwest

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, March/April 1999

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

We Came! We Saw! We Heard!

University Role in Biotechnology: Who Benefits From New Technologies?

Highlights of Upcoming Book: Under The Blade (Part 6)

Study Finds Consolidation Harms Nation's Consumers And Farmers

National Ag Biotech Meeting in Lincoln

Nordic Agroecology Course Welcomes Students

Agroecology Field Course Offered

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, January/February 1999

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

A Question of Sustainability!

Highlights of Upcoming New Book: Under the Blade (Part 5)

Global Perspectives on Biotechnology (or) What's This Farm Boy Doing in Brussels?

NCR SARE Producer Grants Available

University Role in Biotechnology: How Do We Set Research Priorities?

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, November/December 1998

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Grants to Teach Sustainable Agriculture

Spring CSAS Seminar Series: Re-Integrating Agriculture and Community in the Midwest

Highlights of Upcoming New Book: Under the Blade (Part 4)

Watershed Information Flows Along the Internet

Nordic Agroecology Program Begins August 1999

Beef Home Study Courses Begin Fifth Year

Two On-farm Assessment Tools

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, September/October 1998

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

A Broader View and Challenge for the CSAS

Highlights of Upcoming New Book: Under the Blade (Part 3)

Integrated Farm Update: Will Grazing Crop Residues Hurt Next Year's Yields?

Honeybee Populations Lowest Levels in Decade

Socrates Network in Europe

New Course: Urbanization of Rural Landscapes, Offered Spring Semester

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, July/August 1998

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Centers Propose Education on Conservation Buffers: The Rural/Urban Interface

Highlights of Upcoming Book: Under The Blade (Part 2)

Using Ecological Footprints to Define Sustainability

Integrated Farm Update: Accumulation of Residual Nitrate Beneath Corral Areas

CSAS Fall Seminar Series Schedule: Small Farming Systems for the Midwest

NOVA University: Regional Education Focus

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, May/June 1998

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

A Snapshot of CSAS Activity in Research, Education and Training

Vollmar to Be Interim CSAS Director

Highlights of Upcoming New Book: Under the Blade (Part 1)

CSAS Publishes Two More "Green Volumes"

USDA to Change Proposed Organic Standards

$31 Million Awarded in Fund for Rural America Grants

Sustainable Ag Seminar Series to Focus on Alternative Farming Systems and Foodsheds

Call for 1999 NCR SARE Preproposals

Newsletter Mailing List Clarification

Linking People, Purpose, And Place: An Ecological Approach To Agriculture, Heidi Carter, Richard Olson, Charles A. Francis

CARI Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture

Linking Ecology and Agriculture

Whole Farm Planning

Soil Quality

Agroforestry

Grazing Systems

Weed and Insect Management

Farmer Groups

Farmland Conversion

Resources and Information Sources

Facing A Watershed: Managing Profitable And Sustainable Landscapes In The 21st Century, Heidi Carter, Richard Olson, Charles A. Francis

CARI Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture

Overview of Freshwater Use, Introduction to Watershed Management, and a Watershed Management Plan

Group Dynamics in Designing and Implementing a Watershed Management Plan

Information Sources for Watershed Management

Conservation Buffers and Riparian Management

Farmland Protection, Green Corridors, and Suburban Sprawl

Information Sources for Sustainable Agriculture and Sustainable Agriculture Education

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, January/February 1998

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

National Organic Program Proposed Rule

National Strategy to Assist Small Farms

North Central Region SARE Offers Producer Grants

Educators Invited to Attend SARE Celebration

Integrated Farm Update: Small Grain Cover Crops in Crop/Livestock Systems

Future Food Systems: Implications for Nebraska

Symposium: Preserving Farmland, Policies and Practices

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, November/December 1997

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

CSAS Publishes Book That Reviews Sustainable Ag Literature

NCR SARE Solicits PDP Proposals

Integrated Farm Update: Impact of Spring-grazing Crop Residues

Education in Scandinavia: from Farming to Food Systems

NSAS 1998 Annual Meetings

Ecosystems Provide Valuable "Services" Worth $33 Trillion

USDA Creates New Office of Pest Management

Sanet-mg Archives: A Valuable Resource

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, September/October 1997

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Linking Ecology and Agriculture to Increase Sustainability

California Salad and Australian Emu in Nebraska?

The State of Rural America: We Can Choose Our Future

Seeking K-16 Curriculum Volunteers

Impact Project Deadlines

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, July/August 1997

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Economic, Environmental and Sociological Effects of Whole-farm Production Systems in Eastern Nebraska: Alternative Production Systems and Quality of Life

SARE Announces Two Grant Opportunities

A Woman's Place on the Farm

Nebraska Resources Ideal for Aquaculture

Glickman Announces National Commission on Small Farms

Diverse Strategies for Diverse Crops

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, May/June 1997

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Economic, Environmental and Sociological Effects of Whole-farm Production Systems in Eastern Nebraska: Environmental-Economic

Specialty Crop Field Days August 9 and 16

Farmers' Markets Foster Sense of Community

Why Bother to Rotate Vegetable Crops?

OCIA Relocates to Lincoln

Agroforestry Satellite Broadcast Available on Video

EPA's "319" Program Can Help Launch Agroforestry Projects

Minigrants: a Proven Technique for Learning about Sustainable Agriculture

Future Horizons: Recent Literature In Sustainable Agriculture, Gabriel Hegyes, Charles A. Francis

CARI Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture

Here is one building block in the foundation for a future agriculture. Increasing trainer literacy in sustainable agriculture can be defined on several levels. At its most literal, it is an anthology of reviews familiarizing the reader with some of the authors, topics, and titles that have composed the sustainable agriculture literature over the last decade or more. It also serves as an annotated bibliography where the dry abstracts of many such works are replaced with insightful essays. Most importantly, this primer is a language text, exposing the user to the semantics, symbols, and syntax of sustainable agriculture. This collection …

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, January/February 1997

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Economic, Environmental and Sociological Effects of Whole-farm Production Systems in Eastern Nebraska: Classifying Producers/Production Systems

SARE Producer Grants Due May 1

RR Soybeans: Delaying the Inevitable?

New Sustainable Agriculture Information Retrieval Service on the Internet

Integrated Farm Update: Windbreaks Increase Pepper Yields

Southern Region Meets to Discuss Sustainable Agriculture Education

Study Associates Nitrate in Drinking Water with Greater Cancer Risk

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, November/December 1996

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Nebraska IMPACT Project Update

North Central Region Evaluates Sustainable Agriculture Training

Annual Meetings in Nebraska to Showcase Innovative Strategies for Successful Farming

Integrated Farm Update: To Graze or Not to Graze?

USDA Announces Policy Directive Committing Agency to Sustainable Ag

Transformation of Land Grant Universities

Food Circles: A Bioregional Approach

Fund for Rural America

Ag Production and Nutrition Conference

Richard Olson Named Presidential Fellow

Review Of Planting The Future: Developing An Agriculture That Sustains Land And Community Edited By Elizabeth A. R. Bird, Gordon L. Bultena, And John C. Gardner, Charles A. Francis

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Why should you care about agriculture? Planting the Future provides an eloquent description of the current state of this' most basic human endeavor so critical to survival. Based on a series of surveys and on-farm studies in the North Central and Western states, the book recognizes the bounty of our conventional agricultural industry. More importantly for the future, it details a series of critical problems in the environment, the distribution of economic benefits, and the social dislocation resulting from the consolidation of lands and heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Today's productivity and cheap food in the market have hidden expenses …