Research and International Activities

Research Highlights:

Soil and Water Quality

• USDA-Integrated Water Quality Grant- An integrate approach to foster science-based management of agricultural drainage channels in the western Lake Erie basin
• United Soybean Board (USB)Grant- Development of integrated management systems for improving soybean productivity in marginal soil
• Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference-Continuous No-Till and Cover Crops Effect on Reactive Nitrogen and Phosphorus Leaching from Manure Applied Fields under Corn-Soybean Rotation
• North Central Region SARE Professional Development- Training professionals on sustainable agriculture for enhanced ecosystems services from the ground up
• Corn Marketing Program of Michigan- Developing farmer friendly tools for predicting soil organic matter in a sustainable corn-based bioenergy feedstock system

BioEnergy Materials

• DOE/NorthEast Sun Grant-Growing perennial grasses for biofuels on marginal land amended with municipal waste biosolids and flue gas desulfurization gypsum
• Guayule (Latex and Biomatterial) Experiment

Organic Agriculture

• Ceres Trust- Maximizing ecosystem services of the soil food web in organic farming systems
• USDA Organic Transition Grant- Assessing, modeling, and maximizing ecosystem services in long-term organic and transitioning farming systems

Additional Projects and Trials

• Native Warm Season Pernnial Grass BioEnergy Experiment 1999-present
• Hybrid Willow Tree Variety Trial
• Miscanthus Trials
• Giant Reed Grass (arundo donax)
• Continuous Cover Cropping & Tillage Experiment