Diversity: A Key Element of Sustainable Agricultural Systems
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The Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management Conference is Iowa's premier crop production education event. No other program in Iowa brings together the diverse range of topics, slate of expert presenters and results of the latest University research.
The ICM Conference offers workshops focusing on the latest in crop production technology. Experts from Iowa and surrounding states will provide research updates and results in soil fertility, soil and water management, crop production and pest management.
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Abstract
Over the last five decades, Iowa's agricultural landscape has become markedly less diverse in both crop and non-crop vegetation. In 1950, corn and soybean were planted on 27% and 6%, respectively, of Iowa's farmland, but by 1994, corn and soybean occupied 39% and 27% of the state's farmland (Kanwar and Klonglan, 1998). During this same period the percentage of Iowa farmland planted with oat fell from 19 to 2%; hay acreage dropped from 11 to 5% (Kanwar and Klonglan, 1998). This type of reduction in crop diversity across the landscape is related to low diversity in individual fields over time. More than 90% of the >21 million acres planted with corn and soybean in Iowa in 1991 contained only those two crops in 1989 and 1990 (USDA-ERS, 1992). Intensification of crop production in Iowa through drainage and field enlargement has resulted in a reduction of wetland vegetation and tree cover along streams and former field borders (Schultz et a!., 1997).