Resilient Agriculture:
Cultivating Knowledge
for a Sustainable Future
Resilient Agriculture: Cultivating Knowledge for a Sustainable Future
ACRE: Climate-Smart Knowledge Portal
The IMPACT² project has developed the ACRE knowledge portal to assist producers, educators, agricultural advisors, and Extension professionals in the Midwest with farming for extreme weather.
The ACRE portal evaluates 30 NRCS-supported practices applicable to the following Agricultural Systems: Agroforestry (AF), Corn-Soybean Rotation (CS), Extended Rotation (ER), Grazed Livestock (GL), Horticulture Crops (HC), and Perennial Crops (PC).
Users can access comprehensive information of potential benefits and limitations for soil health, water and nutrient management, agricultural production, biodiversity and wildlife, greenhouse gases emissions, economic outcomes, impact on agricultural resilience, and regional applicability. Several case studies and external resources can also be accessed to support farm management decisions.
Agricultural Systems
Below are the six Agricultural Systems compiled in the ACRE portal. Choose a system to learn more about the conservation practices that apply to it.
Practices
Below are the NRCS-supported practices evaluated in the ACRE portal. Choose a practice to learn more about it and its related agricultural systems.
ACRE Categories
Soil Health
Healthy soils support agricultural productivity, water quality, ecosystem sustainability, and resilience to climate variability. The ACRE portal assesses the benefits and limitations of each practice into soil health through its effects on soil properties, processes, and functions.
Water Management
The aspects of conservation practices on water management, water quality, and water conservation on agricultural lands are addressed in the ACRE portal.
Nutrient Management
Nutrient management is effective when it is integrated with complementary conservation practices. The ACRE portal shows benefits and limitations of this aspect in a summary table.
Agricultural Production
Integration of agricultural production and conservation practices requires active management to achieve consistent results, and this integration can bring both challenges and benefits. The ACRE portal assesses all aspects of the practices.
Biodiversity and Wildlife
Conservation practices can play a major role in improving biodiversity and wildlife habitat while maintaining agricultural production. In a summary table, this portal addresses benefits and tradeoffs of each practice that are associated with biodiversity and wildlife.
GHG Emissions
Practices to minimize atmospheric GHG emissions work in different ways: primarily by storing more carbon in soils and vegetation, and secondly by reducing or avoiding emissions from agricultural operations. For each practice, the ACRE portal assesses the GHG emission benefits and tradeoffs of practices, as well as the aspects of GHG emission reductions that are still uncertain.
Economics
The economic benefits and tradeoffs are critical when evaluating conservation practices. Although practices bring multiple non-economic benefits, farm profitability, costs, and long-term financial sustainability need to be addressed. ACRE portal brings pros, cons, case studies and external resources to help farmers take the best decision.
Acknowledgement
This project received funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). It involved collaborations with several institutions, including Purdue University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Iowa State University, the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the USDA - ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment.
