IMPROVING THE RESILIENCE AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICE PROVISIONING OF NORTHEASTERN US CROPPING SYSTEMS

Agricultural production in the Northeast US is strained by multiple stressors, including low commodity prices, increasing costs of production, extreme weather events and the evolution of herbicide resistant weeds. At the same time as these stressors are jeopardizing farmers'production systems, public expectations for the sustainability and ecosystem service provision of agriculture are increasing. Our capacity grant will help farmers address these economic and environmental threats to their production systems and meet the increasing demands (and opportunities) from the public by developing new modeling tools to analyze multi-faceted production scenarios, developing novel cropping system management practices that are resilient in the face of biotic, abiotic, and economic stressors, and improving nutrient recommendations and conservation planning tools.To develop these tools and cropping system strategies, we will conduct field experiments at research station and on-farm sites throughout Pennsylvania to determine nutrient application rates, manure management strategies, crop rotation practices, and integrated weed management systems that are appropriate to the scale and objectives of cropping systems in the Northeast. Decision support tools, including a biophysical simulation model, an online conservation planning platform, and site-specific nutrient management recommendations will be developed by the project to assist farmers, agronomists, and conservationists with implementing practices that increase the resilience and ecosystem service provisioning of Northeastern US cropping systems.