Organic Management Systems to Enhance Ecosystem Services and Reliance On Renewable Local Resources.

Organically managed cropping systems can provide provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services.  Organic systems are managed without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, relying instead on integrating practices that harness ecological processes.  As with any agricultural system, best management practices are needed to optimize ecosystem services from organic systems.  These best management practices include nutrient management that optimizes nitrogen additions without overloading soils with phosphorus, crop rotations that incorporate diverse crop phenologies, and timely and effective weed control.  Research shows that longer, more diverse organic crop rotations generally provide more ecosystem services than shorter, simpler rotations, including greater corn grain yields, lower weed populations, greater economic stability, lower soil erosion and nutrient runoff, and reduced nitrous oxide emissions.  Nonetheless, challenges remain in organic production, including achieving consistent weed management, reducing tillage intensity and frequency, and optimizing nutrient use efficiency. On-going research addressing these topics will be discussed.