NCCC_OLD031: Ecophysiological Aspects of Forage Management
Statement of Issues and Justification
Agriculture in the U.S. and the North Central Region is enduring a period of rapid change. Congress has been compelled in recent years to provide emergency subsidies to many of the nation's farmers. Farm commodity prices are at near-record low levels because of excessive production, financial decline in global markets, heightened competition from foreign markets, and many other reasons. Today, concerns over use of genetically modified crops and the environmental impacts of agricultural practices are commonplace in the national media.
Forage crops have important roles in US agriculture. They diversify crop production through "cash hay" marketing. Many producers are implementing new grazing-based systems for beef, dairy, and sheep production. Both cash-hay and livestock grazing have been among the most profitable systems during the 1990s. An important economic advantage to many forage species is that they are perennial, a trait that lowers production cost and conserves soil. Requirements for pesticides and other inputs are generally lower for forages than for most annual crops. Often, perennial legumes such as alfalfa are included in farming systems as an inexpensive source of nitrogen.
Forages are the nation's primary tools for broad-based environmental improvement. The primary outcomes of the Conservation Reserve Program were to stabilize landscapes with erosive soils and to enhance wildlife habitat. Use of perennial forages has accommodated both outcomes. Improved water quality, soil quality, and carbon sequestration also have resulted.
Besides serving in these contemporary roles, forages will serve as the foundation for future value-added industries. The US Department of Energy has been leading research programs to develop use of forage grasses as feedstocks for ethanol production or for use as a supplemental fuel in coal-fired electrical generation. These biomass energy industries will add further diversification to production agriculture and will bring new industries and employment opportunities to rural communities.
Forage species will continue to play an important role in addressing many of the nation's agricultural and environmental issues. Water quality, biomass energy, sustainable agriculture systems, global climate change, and implementation of biotechnology in agriculture are all major issues in the North Central region and to forage scientists. Presently in most North Central states inadequate numbers of scientists specializing in forage management and physiology remain. In some North Central states, forage research programs have been eliminated or reduced significantly by both the State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES) and the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS). This is occurring at a time when demand for discovery and dissemination of forage knowledge is at its highest and when the research questions being asked are increasing more complex. Interaction among scientists remaining in the North Central region whose research focuses on management and physiology of forage species has never been more important.
The committee serves as an important mechanism of communication among forage crop physiologists and grassland ecologists in the North Central Region. At the annual meetings of the group, detailed reports apprise each member of the most recent research developments at other SAES and USDA/ARS locations in the region. During these meetings, each member becomes personally and professionally acquainted with counterparts at other institutions. Lines of communication are established which are used frequently throughout each year. Thus, through this committee, the total forage research program of the region is coordinated and monitored. The communication among states and USDA/ARS fostered by this committee helps to bring about these cooperative research efforts and encourages the development of centers of excellence on fairly specific topics. Collectively, these efforts result in efficient, broad, rigorous, and internationally recognized programs of forage management and forage physiology research in the North Central Region.
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