Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Agronomic: corn, oats, rye, soybeans, grass (misc. perennial), hay
Practices
- Animal Production: feed/forage
- Crop Production: conservation tillage
- Pest Management: chemical control, cultural control, eradication, flame, mulches - living, physical control, prevention, weed ecology
- Soil Management: green manures, organic matter, soil analysis, nutrient mineralization, soil quality/health
Abstract:
The objective of this project was to systematically collect, select and compile the early literature on farming systems for sustainable agriculture, for easy access by farmers, extension specialists, and scientists, both in paper copy and electronically, in a search-able database. Paper copies of all extension bulletins published by KSU, beginning in the year 1888, were collected and cataloged. The 2,324 titles were reviewed by 10 subject matter specialists, consisting of five farmers, and five KSU agronomists. Reviewers were asked to identify publications that (1) pertained to sustainable ag, and (2) contained information that could be used in modern farming. About 177 seemed to pertain to sustainable ag, and 68 of these were particularly relevant to today’s farming practices. These were then reviewed, and summarized in four publications, and made available on the KSU library’s information services website; www.ksu.edu/issa/sare. The summary publications contain hotlinks to scanned copies of the actual historic bulletins, which can be read in their entirety. Paper copies are available by contacting the library. Additional documents, not necessarily pertaining to sustainable ag, can be found at www.oznet.ksu.edu/historicpublications.
Project objectives:
The objective of this project was “to systematically collect, select and compile the early literature on farming systems for sustainable agriculture, for easy access by farmers, extension specialists, and scientists, both in paper copy and electronically, in a searchable database.” Additional goals of this project were to identify research gaps that could be addressed in the future by the scientific community, and to describe this process for others who might want to review the historic literature in their state or region.