Lisa Schulte Moore, an ecologist from Iowa State University, was the featured afternoon speaker at the Iowa Environmental Council's annual conference, "Finding Iowa's Way: Economic Solutions for a Healthier Environment," held October 4, 2012, in Des Moines.
Lisa Schulte Moore at the Iowa Environmental Council's annual conference
1. Tweak, Adapt, Transform:
How to Build a Resilient Future for
Agriculture in the U.S. Corn Belt
Lisa Schulte Moore
Iowa State University
October 4, 2012
Supported by:
THE MCKNIGHT
FOUNDATION
2. Big Question:
How do we foster social & economic
vitality without destroying
our environment?
Image source: IonE
5. Outline for Talk
• Envisioning the Future
• Fostering Change:
Tweaks, Adaptations & Transformations
• Scaling it Up
• What Can You Do?
Image source: IonE
8. The Process
1) Interviews with farmers
2) Focus group with regional change agents
3) Development of alternative future
scenarios; visualization
4) Interviews with farmers and regional
change agents
14. ≤4%
“These two [scenarios] offer very little beyond production
value. And in fact, it is so far skewed towards production that
the production benefits are likely compromised…at least they
will be in the long-term.”
15. 64%
>75% of participants ranked this scenario as providing the
greatest number of benefits.
“This is where I’d put my house...”
16. 64%
20% of participants ranked this scenario as providing the
~fewest number of benefits.
“Definitely last. There’s nothing for me here.”
17. 16%
“Targeting practices to the critical areas will accumulate
benefits better. When you are using natural systems you are
creating a diversity…a balance of approaches and benefits.”
48. Acknowledgements
• Interviewees & focus group participants
• STRIPs Project Collaborators
www.nrem.iastate.edu/research/STRIPs
• Landscape Biomass Project Collaborators
www.nrem.iastate.edu/landscape/projects/
ls_biomass/ls_biomass.htm
• Partners: Iowa Soybean Association, USDA ARS, USFS,
USFWS, The Nature Conservancy, University of Iowa, &
many, many more
• Funders: IDALS, ISU, Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture, NSF, NSF Iowa EPSCOR, USDA, US Forest Service
49. For More Information
• Atwell, R. C. et al. 2011. Tweak, adapt, or transform: policy scenarios in response to emerging bioenergy
markets in the U.S. Corn Belt. Ecology and Society 16: 10.
• Atwell, R.C. et al. 2010. How to build multifunctional agricultural landscapes in the U.S. Corn Belt: add
perennials and partnerships. Land Use Policy 27:1082‐1090.
• Atwell, R.C. et al. 2009. Landscape, community, and countryside: linking bio‐physical and social scales in
U.S. Corn Belt conservation initiatives. Landscape Ecology 24:791–806.
• Atwell, R.C. et al. 2009. Linking resilience and diffusions of innovations to restore perennial cover in the
U.S. Corn Belt. Ecology and Society 14:30.
• Larsen, GL D. 2011. Farming for ecosystem services: a case study of multifunctional agriculture in Iowa,
USA. M.S. Thesis. Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
• Liebman, M.Z., M.J. Helmers, L.A. Schulte, and C. Chase. In press. Using biodiversity to link agricultural
productivity with environmental quality: results from three field experiments in Iowa. Renewable
Agriculture and Food Systems.
• Rickenbach, M.G. et al. 2011. Cross‐boundary cooperation: a mechanism for sustaining ecosystem
services from private lands. J. Soil & Water Conservation.
• Schulte, L.A. et al. 2008. Targeted conservation approaches for improving environmental quality:
multiple benefits for expanded opportunities. PMR 1002. Iowa State University Extension, Ames, IA.
• Schulte, L.A. et al. 2006. Agroecosystem restoration through strategic integration
of perennials. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 61:164A‐169A.
• Zhou, X., Helmers, M.J., Asbjornsen, H., Kolka, R., Tomer, M.D. 2010. Perennial filter strips reduce nitrate
levels in soil and shallow groundwater after grassland‐to‐cropland conversion. Journal of Environmental
Quality 39:2006‐2015.
