Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources in the U.S. Midwest: A Review and Analysis of Challenges and Future Opportunities

Al‐Kaisi, Mahdi; Elmore, Roger W.; Miller, Gerald A.; Kwaw‐Mensah, David

doi:10.4195/nse2014.10.0022

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Agricultural production in general and individual farmers in particular face mounting challenges from a variety of external forces, including market vagaries due to globalization and international conflicts, unstable commodity prices, rising input costs, low margins of return, shifts and shocks in weather due to increasing climate change expression, and loss of resilience due to declining soil health and low biodiversity of modern agricultural landscapes (Rockström et al., 2009; Lemaire et al, 2015). Many of these challenges are beyond the control of individual farmers, so the support of social networks, agricultural commodity groups, and various levels of government from county, state, and federal levels can be essential for remaining competitive (Al‐Kaisi et al., 2015; Schroeder et al., 2006). However, one challenge that could be adaptively managed by individual farmers is how crops and livestock respond to and overcome weather variations, whether that be late spring cold snaps, persistent drought, short‐duration heat extremes, persistent precipitation, high‐intensity precipitation events, and a variety of pest pressures caused by weather shifts and/or climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil health conditions under cotton production in North Carolina

Franzluebbers

2021

Agronomy Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and N fractions are considered important indicators of soil health due to their multifunctional roles in storing and supplying nutrients, enhancing soil physical properties, and feeding soil biological activity and plant nutrition. Soil health condition from 120 fields under cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivation in North Carolina was assessed from soil analyses associated with a survey of historical management. Surface residue was collected, and soil was sampled at 0-to-10-cm, 10-to-30-cm, and 30-to-60-cm depths. Soil properties varied by physiographic region of Piedmont, Coastal Plain, and Flatwoods. Conservation tillage was the dominant form of cotton cultivation, but many farms used inversion tillage for other crops in the rotation sequence. Soil-test biological activity averaged 138 and 92 mg kg −1 3 d −1 under continuous conservation tillage and frequent tillage, respectively, in the surface 10-cm depth (p < .001), and the tillage effect persisted into the 10-to-30-cm depth (44 and 37 mg kg −1 3 d −1 , p < .05). Cover cropping and animal manure had fewer and smaller effects on soil properties. History of animal manure application elevated (p < .05) soil-test P (229 vs. 179 g m −3 ), Cu (4.3 vs. 1.6 g m −3 ), and Zn (10.0 vs. 4.0 g m −3 ). Intermittent tillage in the rotation sequence was the largest impediment to sustained SOC, total soil N accumulation, and soil microbial properties. This assessment illustrated positive soil health condition from farmer adoption of conservation tillage, but further improvements will be possible only with more continuous practice of conservation approaches. Abbreviations: SOC, soil organic carbon.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil health conditions under cotton production in North Carolina

Franzluebbers

2021

Agronomy Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Due to federal and state funding reductions, LGUs have more competitors with other public and private institutions. This creates a shift from the earlier mission of LGUs as a “people’s university” towards a focus on costly research and graduate and undergraduate training [ 13 , 34 ]. This supports the observation of a respondent regarding the misalignment between the funding grant of the LGU and what the community needs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the research findings of LGUs are extended to the communities, EPs are recognized to be a credible source of science-based information to the public [11]. EPs have a strong and long history in serving the community over the past 100 years as supported by three federal laws- (1) the Morrill Act of 1862, which provided for the establishment of agriculture colleges and ensured funding and continuous promotion for agricultural education, production, and productivity [12]; (2) the Hatch Act of 1887, which provided funds for LGUs to establish agricultural stations, thereby allowing agriculture faculty to conduct field demonstrations and offer short courses for farmers; and (3) the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which created the CES, which was envisioned to share practical applications for farmers and homemakers from the research activities conducted in LGUs [13]. During the 1930s Great Depression in the US, EPs assisted farmers in organizing themselves into cooperatives so they could easily market their agricultural produce [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Role of Extension Professionals in Public Health and One Health in Kansas

Poole,

Lona,

Barroga

et al. 2024

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aims to understand the roles of selected extension professionals (EPs) in the field of public health and One Health and the challenges involved in performing these duties to their communities in the state of Kansas. To evaluate the role of EPs in public health and One Health, researchers interviewed nine (9) EPs following a set of structured questions. Emerging themes were extrapolated from the responses of the EPs. Researchers assigned codes for qualitative analysis and assigned themes related to public health, One Health, and effective delivery of services. Researchers identified the following themes related to the role of EPs in public health (youth development, physical activity, personal health care, proper nutrition, access to transportation), One Health (food safety and food security, environmental health, disease control and prevention) and effective delivery of services (community engagement, collaboration, challenges in implementation). The study provided an overview of the diverse roles that EPs play in public health and One Health, keys on how to engage the community effectively, and challenges in extending services to the community.

show abstract

Aligning science and policy of regenerative agriculture

Al‐Kaisi

Lal

2020

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scientific findings since the 1980s indicate conventional agriculture (CONVA) accounts for 8 to 12% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, or 23% of the country's total anthropogenic forcing of climate change. In contrast, according to the United Nations Environmental Programs (UNEP), regenerative agriculture (RA) practices, such as, no‐till (NT) has helped reduce emission of 241 Tg of carbon dioxide (CO2) since the 1970s. U.S. Farm Bills and other international policies have helped encourage adoption of RA practices, such as NT, but major challenges remain, if a potential climate change impact of CONVA is to be reduced. One approach would be to adopt more efficient and robust production systems such as RA. Regenerative agriculture is designed to minimize external inputs and off‐site impacts, and has globally been adopted on ∼180 M ha, with the most common U.S. practice being NT on 22.6% of the cropland. Currently, the economic benefits of RA are the most evident on smallholder farms, where higher yields and decreased labor for land preparation including weeding (9 and 19 d ha−1, respectively) have been recorded. A greater RA return to labor compared with CONVA suggests it may be an efficient low‐input farming approach that requires less energy and reduces waste while sustaining productivity and perhaps increasing profitability within a semi‐closed system. No‐till is used here to illustrate the proposed system because it reduces CO2 release into the atmosphere and increases surface‐layer SOC storage. Globally, there is significant room for RA improvement, confirming the need for additional research and technology transfer along with robust policy articulation.

show abstract

Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources in the U.S. Midwest: A Review and Analysis of Challenges and Future Opportunities

Cited by 7 publications

References 17 publications

Soil health conditions under cotton production in North Carolina

Soil health conditions under cotton production in North Carolina

Understanding the Role of Extension Professionals in Public Health and One Health in Kansas

Aligning science and policy of regenerative agriculture

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About