DiverseCornBelt: Resilient Intensification through Diversity in Midwestern Agriculture

ABSTRACT DiverseCornBelt: Resilient Intensification through Diversity in Midwestern Agriculture For decades, the corn/soybean rotation has been the dominant paradigm in Midwestern agriculture. In turn, most elements of agricultural policy, infrastructure, R&D, extension, and education have focused on improving the productivity and sustainability of this system. However, by focusing on incremental efficiency improvements, have these efforts simply propped up a fundamentally flawed system? In the absence of a clearly articulated alternative vision for Midwestern agriculture, the corn/soybean rotation is likely to continue to dominate the landscape in the coming decades despite clear signs of this system’s problems and its inherent vulnerability. Many Midwestern farmers are operating at the very margin of profitability while they face the mounting and interacting challenges posed by a variable climate, volatile markets, shifting policies, degrading environmental conditions, the global pandemic, and changing consumer demands. Indeed, an increasing number of farmers are experimenting with alternative farming systems, defined here as incorporating small grains and/or forage crops in rotations; replacing some input-intensive corn-soybean acres with perennial forage or bioenergy crops; integrating grazed livestock into systems that may include feed grains, winter cover crops, or perennial forages; and/or horticultural food crops. However, an array of structural barriers remain that inhibit a dynamic transition to a new paradigm for Midwestern agriculture.? Overall Goal: Through engagement with stakeholders across the agricultural value chain, our transdisciplinary and cross-organizational team will generate an evidence-based vision and framework for diversifying the dominant corn-soybean system and enabling a transition to a more economically, environmentally, and socially resilient and sustainable system.