The Area IV Soil Conservation Districts Cooperative Research Farm: Thirty years of collaborative research to improve cropping system sustainability in the Northern Plains

Excerpt

Dryland cropping in the northern Great Plains of North America has long been viewed a risky endeavor (Sarvis and Thysell 1936). The region's unpredictable climate—characterized by short, erratic growing conditions and limited rainfall—has challenged farmers since the arrival of European settlers over 140 years ago (Padbury et al. 2002). Following the breaking of native prairie, cropping systems in the region have evolved considerably, from tillage-intensive wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–fallow systems to dynamic cropping practices under no-till management (Tanaka et al. 2005). Yet, yield stability over time has been elusive and is frequently coupled with widely fluctuating environmental impacts (Hanson et al. 2007; Chen et al. 2004). Such climate-driven variability in agronomic and environmental outcomes is perhaps the most notable characteristic of dryland cropping systems in the northern Great Plains. This attribute also makes determining the sustainability of dryland cropping systems in the region challenging.

Long-term cropping system studies serve as important “listening places,” where investigators document treatment responses through the measurement of key metrics consistently over time (Janzen 2009). Findings and interpretations generated from these measurements serve to inform the status and trajectory of ecosystem services (Robinson et al. 2011), while concurrently providing opportunities for further inquiry focused on basic…