PIs: Scott M. Swinton, Frank Lupi, G. Philip Robertson, Michigan State University
NSF-supported scientists have identified a low-input rotation of corn, soybean and wheat that offers not only good crop yields, but also environmental benefits including improvements in water quality, soil quality, climate stability and beneficial insect populations. However, this low-input crop rotation is not widely adopted by farmers. In order to find out why, researchers at the Long-Term Ecological Research Site in Agricultural Ecology will check to see if the benefits can be scaled up from experimental plots to farm fields. They will also host farmer focus groups to find out what farmers know and believe about the low-input crop rotation. Through a pair of mail surveys, researchers will explore what incentives farmers might need to adopt an environmentally beneficial crop rotation and what incentives citizens would be willing to provide to get the associated environmental benefits. This research will help guide policies to encourage farmers to provide a wider range of ecosystem services. Its collaboration between ecologists and economists will improve scientists' understanding of how human and ecological systems interact.
