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Lisa Schulte Moore, an ecologist from Iowa State University, was the featured afternoon speaker at the Iowa Environmental Council's annual conference, "Finding Iowa's Way: Economic Solutions for a Healthier Environment," held October 4, 2012, in Des Moines.
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Tweak, Adapt, Transform: How to Build a Resilient Future for Agriculture in the U.S. Corn Belt
Lisa Schulte MooreIowa State University
October 4, 2012
Supported by:THE MCKNIGHT
FOUNDATION
Big Question: How do we foster social & economic
vitality without destroying our environment?
Image source: IonE
Image source: IonE
Image source: IonE
Outline for Talk• Envisioning the Future
• Fostering Change:Tweaks, Adaptations & Transformations
• Scaling it Up
• What Can You Do?
Envisioning the Future
Image source: IonE
The Process1) Interviews with farmers
2) Focus group with regional change agents
3) Development of alternative future scenarios; visualization
4) Interviews with farmers and regional change agents
Strategic integration-disproportionatebenefits
Points of Consensus• Vision: Multiobjective management
• Strategy: Landscape planning & cross-boundary partnerships
• Tactics: Improved in-field management &targeted perennial conservation practices
2%
All visualizations by Drake Larsen
2%4%8%16%32%64%
2%4%8%16%32%64%
≤4%“This looks like what Iowa has now.”
“These two [scenarios] offer very little beyond production value. And in fact, it is so far skewed towards production that the production benefits are likely compromised…at least they will be in the long-term.”
≤4%
>75% of participants ranked this scenario as providing the greatest number of benefits.
“This is where I’d put my house...”
64%
20% of participants ranked this scenario as providing the ~fewest number of benefits.
“Definitely last. There’s nothing for me here.”
64%
“Targeting practices to the critical areas will accumulatebenefits better. When you are using natural systems you arecreating a diversity…a balance of approaches and benefits.”
16%
Adapt –85% annual:
15% perennial
Transform –>50% annual:
<50% perennial
Tweak –95% annual: 5% perennial
Image source: IonE
Fostering Tweaks:Public-Private Partnerships
in the Boone
Photo credit: ISA
Photo credit: ISA
Photo credit: ISA
Fostering Adaptation:Prairie STRIPs
Image source: IonE
Photo credit: Sarah Hirsch
100% crops 90% crops : 10% prairie 100% prairie
Pho
to c
redi
t: D
ave
Will
iam
s
Photo credit: Anna MacDonald
Pho
to c
redi
t: M
arlin
Ric
e
Photo credit: Anna MacDonald
Photo credit: Tatum Watkins, Age 8
Image source: IonE
Fostering Transformation:Landscape Biomass Project
Current Bioenergy Crops
Photo credit: Tom Schultz
Photo credit: Todd Ontl
Photo credit: Todd Ontl
Photo credit: Todd Ontl
Photo credit: Dan Claessen
Photo credit: Drake Larsen
Photo credit: George McCrory, University of Iowa
Scaling it UP
Image source: IonE
Fostering Improvements: Field/Individual Scale
Photo credit: Sharon Schulte
Fostering Improvements: Landscape/Community Scale
Photo credit: Carol Williams
Fostering Improvements: Regional/Institutional Scale
What can YOU do?
Image source: IonE
Be AWARE.
Image source: IonE
Visit the COUNTRYSIDE.
Image source: IonE
Foster innovative PARTNERSHIPS.
Image source: IonE
Acknowledgements• Interviewees & focus group participants
• STRIPs Project Collaboratorswww.nrem.iastate.edu/research/STRIPs
• Landscape Biomass Project Collaboratorswww.nrem.iastate.edu/landscape/projects/ls_biomass/ls_biomass.htm
• Partners: Iowa Soybean Association, USDA ARS, USFS, USFWS, The Nature Conservancy, University of Iowa, & many, many more
• Funders: IDALS, ISU, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, NSF, NSF Iowa EPSCOR, USDA, US Forest Service
For More Information• Atwell, R. C. et al. 2011. Tweak, adapt, or transform: policy scenarios in response to emerging bioenergy markets in the U.S. Corn Belt. Ecology and Society 16: 10.
• Atwell, R.C. et al. 2010. How to build multifunctional agricultural landscapes in the U.S. Corn Belt: add perennials and partnerships. Land Use Policy 27:1082‐1090.
• Atwell, R.C. et al. 2009. Landscape, community, and countryside: linking bio‐physical and social scales in U.S. Corn Belt conservation initiatives. Landscape Ecology 24:791–806.
• Atwell, R.C. et al. 2009. Linking resilience and diffusions of innovations to restore perennial cover in the U.S. Corn Belt. Ecology and Society 14:30.
• Larsen, GL D. 2011. Farming for ecosystem services: a case study of multifunctional agriculture in Iowa, USA. M.S. Thesis. Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
• Liebman, M.Z., M.J. Helmers, L.A. Schulte, and C. Chase. In press. Using biodiversity to link agricultural productivity with environmental quality: results from three field experiments in Iowa. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.
• Rickenbach, M.G. et al. 2011. Cross‐boundary cooperation: a mechanism for sustaining ecosystem services from private lands. J. Soil & Water Conservation.
• Schulte, L.A. et al. 2008. Targeted conservation approaches for improving environmental quality: multiple benefits for expanded opportunities. PMR 1002. Iowa State University Extension, Ames, IA.
• Schulte, L.A. et al. 2006. Agroecosystem restoration through strategic integration of perennials. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 61:164A‐169A.
• Zhou, X., Helmers, M.J., Asbjornsen, H., Kolka, R., Tomer, M.D. 2010. Perennial filter strips reduce nitrate levels in soil and shallow groundwater after grassland‐to‐cropland conversion. Journal of Environmental Quality 39:2006‐2015.
