Resilient Agroecosystems

What have we talked about in class thus far?

• What is Agroecology?: Agroecology is a science, a movement, and a set of practices open to everyone involved in food - farmers, consumers, academics, advocates, eaters, etc. This area of inquiry called Agroecology is comprised of research, education, action, and change that brings sustainability to all parts of the food system: economic, ecological, and social. Agroecological approaches are independent of scale and can be practiced from the smallest garden to thousand acre fields. Agroecology is transdisciplinary, participatory, and action-oriented! The three main principles we are focusing on are CYLES, DIVERSITY, and PARTICIPATION.

• Diversity of Farming Systems:

  1. 1. Monoculture Annual ---- also think about animals vs. no animals

     2. Monoculture Perennial ---- also think about animals vs. no animals

     3. Polyculture Annual ---- also think about animals vs. no animals

     4. Polyculture Perennial ---- also think about animals vs. no animals

What is food system resilience?

Resilience is the ability to prepare for, withstand, and recover from a crisis or disruption.

A resilient food system is able to withstand and recover from disruptions in a way that ensures a sufficient supply of acceptable and accessible food for all.

Example from the Meat Packing Industry:

• Large Meat Plants: During COVID many meat packing plants were running at diminished capacity or shutting down all together. Animals already existed that needed to be processed but there was nowhere for them to go. As a result animals were (i) sold for extremely low prices (below cost of production) in order to recoup the losses or were (ii) mass culled and buried to avoid crashing the market. Mass culling created welfare issues across the food supply chain which has led to calls for large scale reform (better health insurance for workers, stop gap measures, etc.). The problem of killing millions of animals also led to inhumane culling methods. In addition other shocks to the system such as the ransomware attack of the multinational JBS meatpacking corporation demonstrate continuing vulnerabilities in large scale meat processing. Assembly line meat processing is very fast and efficient as we saw at Miller Poultry - but it is also extremely fragile and not very nimble in the face of shocks to the system. This can be ameliorated by regulations (i.e. slowing down the line speed and providing worker protections) - but much of this fragility still remains.

• Small to Medium Processors: During COVID medium processors like Miller were able to slow down their lines and still process. Smaller processors like Gunthorps were able to run their line the entire time but had to pivot because of the loss of almost all of their restaurant accounts overnight (Clay Bottom did something similar with veggies). Small direct-to-consumer businesses like Seven Sons and Hawkins Family Farm actually saw an uptick in business and folks were turning to local or regional sources of food. Meanwhile local processors who continued to work throughout the pandemic saw a huge surge in business (Krider's Meat Processing, Integrity Meats, Roland's Processing); this has lead to long waiting times (10+ months!) to get an appointment. Indiana allows for state-inspected meat to be sold within Indiana which has helped with the availability of local processors - but the dearth of options for local processing continues to be a weak link.

• The Solution?: Currently with meat consumption as it is in the USA it is crucial to maintain both large high-throughput processors to meet demand while also cultivating and growing medium and small processors to provide resilience to our system. This would require an overhaul of regulations and incentives and would result in increased local and regional participation in the food system

What Types of Shocks Might We Expect to Hit our Farming Systems?

• Climate Change Impacts for Agriculture:

  • • • Heat (animal stress, corn/soya stress, etc.)

      • Intensified Water Cycle and/or Novel Timing of Precipitation (water availability, recharge; soil erosion; type of precip - rain on frozen ground)

      • Novel Pest Cycles (insects, parasites, weeds) and Pathogen Life Cycles

      • Increased Opportunities for Invasive Species

      • Change to Pollinator Live Cycles

      • Decomposition of Residues and Labile Soil Carbon

Maps Found Here

Resilience Design in Smallholder Farming Systems:

Non-Profit Advice

A couple Examples:

Conservation Farming Unit - Zambia

Mercy Corps

• Climate Fragility

Resilience Design in Larger Scale Farming Systems:

USDA advice

1. DEFINE management goals and objectives

2. ASSESS site-specific climate change impacts and vulnerabilities

3. EVALUATE management objectives given projected impacts and vulnerabilities

4. IDENTIFY adaptation approaches and tactics for implementation

5. MONITOR and evaluate effectiveness of implemented actions.

• Climate Change Adaptations in Agriculture

  • • • Reduce existing stressors of crops and livestock

        • • Reduce the impacts of pests and pathogens on crops

            • • Enhanced use of integrated pest management

              • Improved rapid response plans and regional monitoring efforts to allow for targeted control of new pests before they become established

              • Use of varieties and species resistant to pests and diseases

              • Altering crop rotations

              • Longer cropping systems (greater diversity and longer rotations)

          • Reduce competition from weedy and invasive species

            • • Increased use of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies (prevention, avoidance, monitoring, and suppression) to prevent economic crop damage from weeds, minimize resistance in weeds, and prevent or mitigate unnecessary risks to natural resources and humans

          • Maintain livestock health and performance.

      • Reduce risks from warmer and drier conditions

        • • Adjust the timing or location of on-farm activities

            • • Adjust timing of planting, such as earlier planting dates to take account of longer growing season

              • Adjust timing or sequencing of cropping operations, such as altering amount of timing of irrigation or fertilizer application

              • Plant two successive crops to take advantage of a single growing season (double-cropping) and increase annual production

              • Adjust the timing of grazing and pasture use to forage availability for livestock

          • Manage crops to cope with warmer and drier conditions

            • • Select longer growing-season, heat-resistant, or drought-resistant varieties of crops

              • Adjust timing of planting, such as earlier planting dates, to avoid heat stress during critical periods of plant development

              • Alter plant population density to reduce crop demands for water or nutrients

              • Increase soil cover (mulch, cover crop) to conserve soil moisture and reduce soil temperatures

          • Manage livestock to cope with warmer and drier conditions.

            • • Increase available shade for pastured animals

              • Alter grazing management practices or rotations to match stock rates to forage production, such as by moving cattle to fresh pasture at night

              • Use grass or fodder banks (resting of pastures for >1 year) to provide forage during dry periods

      • Reduce the risk and long-term impacts of extreme weather

        • • Reduce peak flow, runoff velocity, and soil erosion

            • • Convert in-field areas at high risk of flow erosion and pollution transport to perennial crops (grass, shrub, or tree crops); pasture/grazing lands, forest cover, or conservation buffers suitable to conveying water.

              • Use wetlands, buffer strips, swales, and other landscape features to buffer against hydrologic variability and increase infiltration after extreme precipitation events

          • Reduce severity or extent of water-saturated soil and flood damage

            • • Shift production zones away from flood-prone areas

          • Reduce severity or extent of wind damage to soils and crops.

            • • Maintain crop residues to reduce exposure of young sensitive crops to damaging winds

              • Cover the soil with crop residues or cover crops to protect it from erosive winds

              • Install windbreaks, hedgerows, or vegetative wind barriers to reduce wind exposure for sensitive crops

      • Manage farms and fields as part of a larger landscape

        • • Maintain or restore natural ecosystems

            • • Maintain or restore riparian areas, wetlands, bottomlands, and floodplains

          • Promote biological diversity across the landscape

            • • Maintain or create refugia

              • Create habitat for pollinators or other beneficial organisms

          • Enhance landscape connectivity.

            • • Use landscape-scale planning and partnerships to reduce fragmentation and enhance connectivity

              • Maintain and create naturalized habitat corridors

      • Alter management to accommodate expected future conditions

        • • Diversify crop or livestock species, varieties or breeds, or products

            • • Add additional farming activities or new commodities to diversify farm products and revenue

              • Diversify varieties or breeds for different tolerances of cold hardiness, drought and heat tolerance, or other attributes

          • Diversify existing systems with new combinations of varieties or breeds

            • • Plant multi-species cover crop mixtures including species currently adapted to warmer or drier climates

              • Integrate livestock into cropping enterprises to utilize aftermath grazing on crop residues and cover crop grazing

              • Plant multi-species pasture mixtures including species currently adapted to warmer or drier climates

          • Switch to commodities expected to be better suited to future conditions.

            • • Preserve genetic resources by relocating at-risk varieties to locations that are expected to provide future habitat or reserving seed for future use

              • Use new cultivars and new species that seem to match a changing climate

              • Switch to alternative livestock breeds, class, or species, especially those with a higher heat, drought, and parasite tolerance

      • Alter agricultural systems or lands to new climate conditions

        • • Minimize potential impacts following disturbance

            • • Seed short-term cover crops to protect and stabilize soils

          • Realign severely altered systems toward future conditions

            • • Shift agricultural production spatially, matching commodities to areas with better climate conditions or water availability

          • Alter lands in agricultural production.

            • • Convert agricultural lands to new commodities based upon altered climatic conditions, such as converting row crops to perennial forage where water availability decreases

              • Remove lands from agricultural production

      • Alter infrastructure to match new and expected conditions

        • • Expand or improve water systems to match water demand and supply

            • • Construct ponds and swales

              • Increase irrigation capacity or land under irrigation, particularly for high-value crops

              • Dig deeper wells and install more cisterns, farm ponds, and more efficient irrigation to accommodate hydrologic change

          • Use structures to increase environmental control for plant crops

            • • Move crops into a controlled environment, such as hoop and high tunnel houses or greenhouses

              • Use technologies to protect orchards from frost, such as sprinklers, heaters, and wind machines, to allow for more cold-sensitive varieties to be grown

          • Improve or develop structures to reduce animal heat stress

            • • Design and implement new housing for animal agriculture with consideration for extreme weather events and future climate

          • Match infrastructure and equipment to new and expected conditions.

            • • Consider precision nutrient and pesticide application systems

      • Sustain fundamental functions of soil and water

        • • Protect water quality

            • • Reassess nutrient applications and ensure that use of organic materials, fertilizers, amendments, and all sources of nutrients is matched to changing climate conditions

              • Manage water to prevent ponding, running, erosion, and nutrient leaching where rainfall increases. Typical water management practices include diversions, terraces, waterways, grade stabilization structures, etc.

          • Match practices to water supply and demand

            • • Where soils have adequate infiltration rates and evaporation rates are minimized, increase irrigation capacity, particularly for high-value crops

              • Improve irrigation efficiency for water conveyance and application with latest technology such as micro or drip irrigation

              • “Water-bank” by using less irrigation in nondrought years, saving water for use in drought years, and creating markets to lease conserved water to municipalities to balance agricultural and municipal water needs

              • Wider use of technologies to ‘‘harvest’’ water, conserve soil moisture (e.g., crop residue retention)

              • Use new technology for subsurface irrigation, and irrigate with gray or reclaimed water to reduce water use

          • Maintain and improve soil health

            • • Minimize soil disturbance by avoiding or reducing tillage for planting, weed control, or other purposes

              • Keep living roots in the soil

              • Provide nearly year-round ground cover of residue or plants to reduce soil exposure to erosive forces of water and wind

              • Increase soil organic matter to improve soil water-holding capacity, soil structure, and water infiltration, and to reduce erosion (use cover crops and mixes, crop or livestock residues, compost, mulch, biochar, or other organic amendments)

              • Diversify crop rotations to include plant species of different functional groups for improving below-ground conditions for soil life and address threats from disease, weed, and insect pests

              • Consider windbreaks where soil erosion by wind is a concern

              • Reduced use of synthetic chemical inputs????????????????????????

              • Incorporate animals to mimic natural ecosystems (grazing and coexistence with wild animals - land sharing)

Which image(s) embodies "resilience" to you?