Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #150741
Title: A MULTI-MODEL APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN THE US CORN BELT

Author
item VAN OUWERKERK, E N J - IA STATE UNIVERSITY
item James, David
item RICHARD, TOM - IA STATE UNIVERSITY
item LIEBMAN, MATT - IA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Burkart, Michael

Submitted to: ASAE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2003
Publication Date: 7/30/2003
Citation: VAN OUWERKERK, E., JAMES, D.E., RICHARD, T.L., LIEBMAN, M., BURKART, M.R. A MULTI-MODEL APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN THE US CORN BELT. ASAE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL MEETING. 2003. P. 387-393.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The goal of this three-year project is to identify, promote, and assist farmers in adopting integrated crop and livestock farming systems that reduce costs, minimize negative environmental impacts, increase market opportunities and increase profits for small and mid-size family farms. The project uses a holistic systems approach that evaluates six inter-related elements: economic impact, marketing opportunities, community impact, ecosystem impact, farmer adoption, and information transfer. This paper deals with ecosystem impacts of changes in land-use, crop rotations, and farm management. A number of existing simulation models for crop growth, livestock performance, soil erosion, nitrogen dynamics, tillage and manure management, and energy consumption are being used to evaluate impacts of alternative management strategies on indicators of ecosystem sustainability. Databases on soil and weather needed for these models are clustered and inter-connected by means of web-based interfaces. This paper describes the models to be integrated, initial scenarios for future land-use, our approach to defining representative farms, the current status of the web based model development, and some results.