A $750,000 grant will help the University of Nebraska-Lincoln expand organic farming research and education, enhance collaborations with growers and develop science-based information for organic food production.

A team of Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers has received a four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. The project -- Improving Organic Farming Systems across Nebraska Agroecoregions -- aims to lay the foundation for long-term organic farming efforts at UNL.

Overall goals include establishing the university's first certified organic research plots, launching focused research, incorporating organic farming concepts into UNL Extension and classroom education, and developing an ecological index of different farming methods.

"In essence, this is a grant to integrate an organic farming component into our teaching, research and extension mission at IANR," said Charles Shapiro, soil scientist at the university's Northeast Research and Extension Center and one of seven project co-leaders.

Growth in organic production in the state and nation is increasing the need for practical, science-based production information.

"This is going to allow us to provide better information to producers across the state on workable organic systems for their region," said David Baltensperger, alternative crops breeder at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center and a project co-leader. "The biggest thing it will allow us to do is long-term research on organic systems to make them work better in a given region."

Establishing 20- to 40-acre certified research plots at university farms near Concord, Mead, Clay Center and Sidney is a major component.

Scientists will use these plots to examine priority concerns for organic producers, such as weed management, crop varieties and soil fertility. Each site will focus on different aspects of organic production while the network will enable collection of statewide information.

"Establishing this land base will allow us to study organic methods under Nebraska farming conditions from east to west. I don't know of any other state in the region that has 120 acres devoted to organic research statewide," Shapiro said. "Nebraska is lucky to have a research and extension system that allows us to do this."

Organic certification takes three years and researchers will use each site's transition as a learning experience. Documenting issues that arise during the conversion to organic farming should provide information for farmers looking to make the change.

"It's one thing to say we know what it's like to farm organically, it's another to do it. We'll be doing it," Shapiro said. "We need to address the meaty everyday problems our clients face."

Collaboration with organic farmers is essential. Organic growers supported the grant, and local and state organic producer advisory committees will guide research. Scientists also will conduct studies on cooperating certified organic farms.

"We're building partnerships to work together to ensure success and make sure we are addressing the practical concerns facing organic farmers," Shapiro said.

That close working relationship between researchers and organic farmers is an exciting aspect of this project, said Stephanie Newman, executive director of the Organic Crop Improvement Association Research and Education Inc. OCIA International and OCIA Research and Education are allied international organizations with world headquarters in Lincoln. They provide organic research, education, certification and inspection to farmers, processors and brokers/traders worldwide. OCIA will work with UNL to organize farmer advisory groups and will certify university plots.

"The research will add to the body of knowledge regarding organic farming and encourage the cooperation between scientists and farmers," she said.

Integrating organic agriculture into UNL teaching, extension and research is another goal. A UNL Extension educator will be hired to coordinate the project and plan how best to share findings and organic concepts with farmers and UNL students. The team will also collaborate with the Nebraska Indian Community College's Santee site to incorporate Native American wisdom about land use.

Wildlife researchers will focus primarily on birds in extensive field studies to develop a Healthy Farm Index, a tool for landowners to measure their farm's ecological health, said wildlife biologist Ron Johnson, a project co-leader who will head this study. After identifying the birds, insects and soil factors associated with different farming scenarios, researchers will devise a preliminary index that relates different land covers to birds and biodiversity to measure farm health and sustainability.

"The index isn't intended to call a farm good or bad," he said. "We want to find a way to measure the balance so that someone can live on the land and make a living but have a sustainable farm that protects the natural resources."

Each of the project leaders has long-standing interest in sustainable agriculture. They hope their combined expertise leads to more comprehensive organic research and education efforts.

"We hope the infrastructure we are creating will spawn a whole range of other projects that could involve many others and help build organic farming as a standard component of what we do at the university," said Jim Brandle, a windbreak ecologist and project co-leader.

Other co-leaders are entomologist Bob Wright, weed scientist Stevan Knezevic and agronomist Chuck Francis.
Scientists already are working on the complex logistics of switching some acres of a research farm to organic practices. In the coming months, each site will finalize its research plans. Research leaders and general research topics for each site are:

• Agricultural Research and Development Center, Mead: Brandle, Johnson and Francis; research focus -- cropping systems, cover crops, weed management, fertility.

• Haskell Agricultural Lab, Concord: Shapiro and Knezevic; research focus -- weed management and fertility.

• High Plains Agricultural Lab, Sidney: Baltensperger; research focus -- organic crop variety development, general organic systems in a semi-arid region.

• South Central Agricultural Lab, Clay Center: Wright; research focus -- planting, stand establishment, organic soil amendments, pest control.

Research on cooperating certified organic farms will include whole farm analyses, wildlife inventory and nutrient balance.

Four years from now, the team expects to have plots certified statewide and to be sharing findings with producers. "We'll be in a transition period but we'll definitely have results of research on some issues to share with producers," Shapiro said.

This research will be conducted in cooperation with IANR's Agricultural Research Division.