Recipient Organization
UNIV OF MINNESOTA
(N/A)
ST PAUL,MN 55108
Performing Department
AGRONOMY & PLANT GENETICS
Non Technical Summary
The overall objective of Green Lands, Blue Waters is to create economically viable enterprises using perennial and cover crop systems on working lands throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin. This includes the supporting infrastructure from field to processing to market to consumption. The multi-state project develops educational materials and uses the established methodology of learning and enterprise groups to work and network with stakeholders in several states to develop, demonstrate, and support the most appropriate place-based perennial and cover crop systems. The GLBW Consortium Coordination Project will provide administrative, management, and materials development to focus and coordinate the overall Green Lands, Blue Waters initiative, the program leader and the Consortium board.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
1. Optimize agricultural production on specific landscapes by developing new levels of collaboration to engage and leverage public and private resources and demonstrate models for integrating landscape use and agricultural production. 2. Support research and demonstration that facilitates use of ecological buffers and water retention areas. 3. Support diversification of Midwest agricultural markets and land use for bio-based and energy crops. 4. Provide evaluation and feedback of effectiveness of targeted interventions, case-specific research, and the Midwest states collaborative efforts.
Project Methods
Agroecosystem research: Evaluate grass-based systems. Evaluate cost-effectiveness of grass-based systems and overall profitability. Communication of science-based knowledge about market and non-market benefits from grass-based systems: Develop learning groups of stakeholders in key watersheds in Minnesota and participating states. Learning groups provide a forum for learning, innovation, and integration of different types of knowledge among stakeholders. The learning groups will identify the most promising continuous living cover systems, help design and carry out research and demonstrations, identify barriers to the adoption of perennial crops, the use of cover crops in annual crop systems, and agroforestry systems and propose effective means to remove them, and evaluate related Federal farm policy. Support implementation of multi-cropping systems: Support implementation of existing and new continuous living cover systems and their corresponding practices by transferring knowledge, providing necessary contacts, and advocating on behalf of the adopters. The GLBW Consortium Coordination Project will provide administrative, management, and materials development to focus and coordinate the overall Green Lands, Blue Waters initiative, the program leader and the Consortium board. The program coordinator responsibilities include: organize and coordinate meetings, forums, seminars, and working groups including the quarterly Consortium meetings; assist in the preparation of presentations, education and communication materials, and publications (yearbook of grass chapter compilation and editing); attend quarterly Consortium meetings and prepare and distribute minutes; maintain initiative files and databases of contact information; write and distribute periodic Consortium updates and other correspondence; prepare and submit expenses, track expenditures and prepare financial reports; provide support to Consortium members and state coordinating committees as required; assist in the development and submission of funding proposals; represent the initiative at meetings, conferences and other forums as assigned; respond to requests for information and assistance from the public.