Farming Systems Research Unit

About the Farming Systems Research Unit (FSRU)

The FSRU based at CEFS Field Research, Education, and Outreach Facility at Cherry Research Farm in Goldsboro, NC is comprised of 81 hectares (200+ acres) that house a long-term, large-scale interdisciplinary study of five different systems: 1) conventional cash cropping using best management practices with no tillage and cover crops (BMP-NT) or with occasional tillage and no cover crops (BMP-CT); 2) integrated crop-livestock system using pasture-crop rotation (PCR); 3) organic cash cropping using either legume nitrogen inputs (ORG-legume) or livestock grazing and manure (ORG-livestock); 4) silvopasture grazing (SPG); and 5) agricultural abandonment with successional plant development (SUC). The study was initiated in 1999 and has been continuously managed since then.

The FSRU initially underwent an intense soil survey to identify soil variability and to define diagnostic soil units for subsequent soil measurements. Each system is replicated three times and three of the five systems contain subplots. Although this is a long-term study, it is large enough to accommodate nesting of short-term experiments within the context of the overall experiment. The experiment has evolved over the years with the choice of crops in rotation and how pastures were established. In 2021, a series of issues led to the revision of the experiment with (a) a 4-year crop rotation that is similar among all cropping systems, (b) combining some sub-plots resulting in fewer plots (42 plots originally and now only 27 plots), and (c) converting plantation forestry plots into silvopasture grazing.

Systems and Subplots Under Comparison Since 1999

Conventional Cropping (CON)

The CON system acts as a control treatment against which alternative systems are compared. It is intended to be representative of farming systems in North Carolina and other southern states: annual crops, short rotations, and absence of animals. The conventional till plots are full tillage with winter annual weeds and no planted cover crop, while the no-till plots use a full conservation approach with multi-species winter cover crops and planting green in the spring. Crops are monitored for pests using integrated pest management practices and pesticides are only used when economically justified. This treatment was slightly modified in 2021 from previous management that had single-species cover crops in both conventional and no tillage.

Integrated Crop-Livestock System with Pasture-Crop Rotation (PCR)

The PCR system is a 12-year rotation that will have a 4-year crop rotation sequence rotated with 8 years of native warm-season grass pasture. Three phases of the 12-year rotation will allow cropping to appear each year. The crop rotation will consist of corn – soybean – cotton – soybean managed with no tillage and multi-species winter cover cropping. The native warm-season grass is a mixture of switchgrass, big bluestem, indiangrass, and eastern gamagrass. Pastures are rotationally stocked with dairy steers. We are strategically establishing tree shade along paddock edges.

Organic Cash Cropping (ORG)

The organic cropping system employs certified organic approaches to nutrient availability, pest control, weed control, and soil management. These approaches are profoundly different from conventional agricultural production techniques. Although organic production represents one of the fastest-growing segments in agriculture, there is a scarcity of information with respect to the long-term effects on production and environmental outcomes of organic systems.

Starting in fall of 2021, two treatments are managed with organic techniques: ORG-legume using leguminous plants as sources of nitrogen fertility (i.e. grain legume of soybean and cover crop legumes of hairy vetch and crimson clover) and ORG-livestock using grazing by cattle to consume forages in the rotation and application of poultry manure. The crop rotation in the ORG-legume system is corn – soybean – corn – hay with multi-species cover crops in the winter and in the ORG-livestock system is corn – wheat/summer cover crop – corn – hay. Stocker steers are allowed to graze cover crops and hayland at key points in the sequence to accelerate nutrient cycling.

Silvopasture Grazing (SPG)

Forest species are an important component of the southeastern US landscape. Forestry is not only a thriving commercial enterprise but it also is represented on many farms. A growing interest is occurring by agricultural producers to incorporate woodlands into their agricultural operations, particularly with ruminant grazing of understory forage. We transitioned the plantation forest species of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), black walnut (Juglans nigra), and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) into silvopasture grazing by fencing these areas, planting understory forages, and stocking with cattle. This transition started in 2021 and we hope to complete the operation by the 2023 grazing season.

Agricultural Abandonment with Successional Plant Development (SUC)

This represents an important negative control for the comparison of environmental impacts among farming systems. The opportunity to study in detail the processes and biological dynamics that take place when land is returned to nature may be of great importance in beginning to understand the complex interactions involved in agricultural sustainability. Areas selected for this treatment have been allowed to succeed naturally, influenced only by natural processes. Three 1000 m2 sampling modules have been located within each replication of the successional ecosystem where intensive measurements of vegetation composition and structure are taking place.