Minnesota has 27 million acres of farmland, occupying nearly half the 55.6 million acres in the state. Two highly productive and profitable crops, corn (8.7 million acres planted in Minnesota in 2012) and soybean (7.1 million acres) are the foundation of our agriculture, along with other important production systems such as animal agriculture, small grains, horticultural crops and others. The proposed initiative aims to build on these strengths by adding to the productivity and profitability of our current agriculture.
Most of our current crops are ‘summer-annuals’ that are grown during the summer. By selectively adding winter-annual and perennial crops to our agricultural landscapes to create new crop production systems, we can enhance the prosperity of Minnesota agriculture, support rural communities, and provide major benefits to all Minnesotans. A strong base of evidence indicates that these new production systems will enhance yields of our summer-annual crops, enable production of new commodities, enhance our soils and wildlife, and improve our water resources. All of these benefits are possible because perennial and winter-annual crops are active during a large portion of each year, including many periods in fall, winter and spring when summer crops are absent.
For this reason, perennial and winter-annual crops—working in tandem with summer annuals—can capture solar energy, water and nutrients with very high efficiency.
Minnesota has 27 million acres of farmland, occupying nearly half the 55.6 million acres in the state. Two highly productive and profitable crops, corn (8.7 million acres planted in Minnesota in 2012) and soybean (7.1 million acres) are the foundation of our agriculture, along with other important production systems such as animal agriculture, small grains, horticultural crops and others. The proposed initiative aims to build on these strengths by adding to the productivity and profitability of our current agriculture.
Most of our current crops are ‘summer-annuals’ that are grown during the summer. By selectively adding winter-annual and perennial crops to our agricultural landscapes to create new crop production systems, we can enhance the prosperity of Minnesota agriculture, support rural communities, and provide major benefits to all Minnesotans. A strong base of evidence indicates that these new production systems will enhance yields of our summer-annual crops, enable production of new commodities, enhance our soils and wildlife, and improve our water resources. All of these benefits are possible because perennial and winter-annual crops are active during a large portion of each year, including many periods in fall, winter and spring when summer crops are absent.
For this reason, perennial and winter-annual crops—working in tandem with summer annuals—can capture solar energy, water and nutrients with very high efficiency.