Triad Symposium
Team members from three Penn State sustainable agriculture systems research projects held the first annual Triad Symposium on February 25, 2011 to discuss the experiments and develop research and outreach collaborations. The symposium featured overview presentations by the team coordinators, poster presentations by graduate students, small group discussions, and informal networking. Below you will find information related to each project, including overview handouts and presentations, graduate student posters, and project websites.
Weed Management, Environmental Quality, and Profitability in Organic Feed and Forage Production Systems
The overall goal of this integrated project is to create sustainable cropping systems to produce high value organic livestock feed and forages. Balancing weed suppression, beneficial arthropod conservation, environmental quality and profitability is central to this project. We are testing the hypothesis that adverse impacts associated with tillage for weed management can be mitigated by alternating or "rotating" soil depleting activities with soil building activities to result in acceptable crop productivity, weed population dynamics, and biological, environmental and economic indicators at various temporal scales.
Annotated overview slides presented by Meagan Schipanski
Denise Finney and Jason Kaye
Thomas Huff and Mary Barbercheck
Sustainable Cropping Systems for Dairy Farms in the Northeastern US
We are evaluating ecological strategies for an average-sized, Pennsylvania dairy farm to produce all of its forage, feed, and tractor fuel needs, and to minimize off-farm inputs. We have designed two diverse crop rotations with legumes, green manure and cover crops, no-till, manure injection and integrated pest management practices. Canola is grown for fuel for the straight vegetable oil powered tractor, and the meal is a protein source for the cows.
Annotated overview slides presented by Glenna Malcolm
Stephanie Bailey and Heather Karsten
Gustavo Camargo and Tom Richard
Emily Duncan, Pete Kleinman, Curtis Dell, Douglas Beegle, and Heather Karsten
Maggie Douglas and John Tooker
Kristin Haider and Roger Koide
Robert Meinen, Douglas Beegle and John Schmidt
Elina Snyder, Bill Curran and Heather Karsten
Improving Weed and Insect Management in Organic Rotational No-Till
This project is funded through the USDA's Organic Agriculture Research Initiative. Our overall goal is to develop sustainable reduced-tillage organic feed grain production systems that integrate pest (weed and insect) and soil management practices to overcome production constraints associated with high residue, reduced-tillage environments. We will focus on the interactions between weed-, insect- and soil-management methods for organic production of small grains, corn and soybeans. Studies will include a soil quality component. The project activities will include research-station and on-farm research and extension.
Annotated overview slides presented by Matt Ryan
Clair Keene and Bill Curran
