Know your community: Animal agriculture and the environment

By Luis A. Villalobos V

February 26, 2020

The members of the Animal Agriculture and the Environment Community are carrying out exciting projects in a broad range of fields, filling gaps of knowledge using different resources and expertise. We would like to share some of them: (a) Melissa Wilson (University of Minnesota) evaluates sidedressing to apply manure in cornfields; (b) Sharon Clay (South Dakota State University) has evaluated mob grazing through trampling assessment; (c) Mahdav Dhakal (USDA-ARS) is currently working on how alfalfa-grass mixtures can reduce soil water consumption; (d) Shabtai Bittman and Derek Hunt have been investigating systems to reduce the emissions from slurry applications; (e) Philip Moore (USDA) has developed a grazing study comparing different grazing management strategies in riparian areas; (f) Heidi Waldrip is evaluating cattle manure management in both dairy and beef operations; and (g) Luis Villalobos (University of Costa Rica) has been evaluating the nutrient and microbiologic content of slurries applied to tropical perennial pastures.

The Animal Agriculture and the Environment (AAE) Community of ASA (Environmental Quality Section) brings together members of different backgrounds to understand how livestock operations have the potential to reduce their environmental impact using a holistic approach. Agricultural systems typically apply cutting-edge technologies to thrive in an increasingly food-demanding world. Integration of agricultural systems with the different components of the food chain supply creates opportunities to enhance resiliency and sustainability in the long term.

Working together to achieve environmental goals in agricultural settings can be both challenging and extremely satisfying. The satisfaction comes from being part a sector that is capable of creating both social and economic prosperity. One of the challenges is the never-ending expectation of producing more food with the less impact on the environment. The AAE Community provides a forum for integrating diverse disciplines to address emerging markets and alternative production systems along with current issues such as sustainability, soil health, feed efficiency, and animal welfare.

2020 Annual Meeting Programming

Programming from the AAE Community at the 2020 Annual Meeting includes a two-part series on “Sustainable Animal–Soil–Plant–Society Ecosystems,” one focused on smallholder and organic operations and the other on forage and grazing lands, and sessions on “Managing Emissions and Nutrients from Confined Animal Operations,” “Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance in Animal-Impacted Soil and Crop Systems,” and “Manure as an Agronomic Resource: Technology and Implementation.” There will also be a general AAE poster session, including a student poster competition, which allows graduate students to present results of research projects involving animals and their environmental impact.

New this year is the AAE Multilingual Scholar Student Poster Competition, co-hosted by the Organic Management Systems Community of ASA, the Global Agronomy Section of ASA, and Soil Biology and Biochemistry Division of SSSA. We would like especially to encourage graduate students whose first language is not English to submit their AAE-related abstracts to this session. The AAE Community recognizes that English fluency is a primary requirement within the scientific community and wishes to foster an inclusive and supportive forum for multi-lingual scholars where they are able to share their scientific findings.

For questions related to AAE programming, please contact the 2020 AAE Community Chair Lisa Durso at Send Message.

Connecting Members through Discussion Boards

The ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Discussion Boards are a gathering place for ASA communities, CSSA and SSSA divisions, and specialty groups. All members have full access to post and comment on the boards they are a member of, allowing for networking and one place to find all Society information. Members can filter and search posts and customize notifications for the emailed Discussion Board Digest. Recently launched are the Society-wide boards where you will find announcements and news for all members.

To help better understand how to use the platform, we created a video tutorial that you will find at the top of the landing page for each board. Each community and division discussion page also has links to a member list, donation page, and leadership information for questions on Annual Meeting planning and other group activities. As we move away from list serves for communication, the Discussion Boards will be where members connect, allowing for more interaction than the list serves provide.

We are excited to have members check out the boards and join the conversation. You will find links to the Discussion Board platform on the homepage of each Society in the Membership navigation.

Visit today and connect!

agronomy.org/discussion-boards

crops.org/discussion-boards

soils.org/discussion-boards

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