An ecosystem scientist at Michigan State University says the first five years of prairie strip research is finding benefits for farm profitability and management.
Research director Phil Robertson tells Brownfield some areas of crop fields can be consistently low performers.
“Those subfield areas are actually a drain on the profitability of the system because you’re putting in the same amount of inputs and not getting enough yield to cover the cost of those inputs.”
He says transitioning those patches to native vegetation can bring beneficial insects closer and allow the soil to regenerate.
“Those areas provide an opportunity to improve both soil health and perhaps even regenerate soil health in those areas so that they can become profitable in the future, but also to provide biodiversity habitat for the beneficial insects and soil organisms,” he explains.
Robertson points to ladybugs as an example.
“Ladybird beetles are voracious predators of aphids,” he shares. “By providing habitat closer to the crops for the ladybird beetles, we’re able to provide that particular biocontrol more effectively, presumably, than would we rely on a habitat that might be a kilometer or more away.”
Recent MSU research has found that field zones with yields less than half the statewide average for corn and soybeans are more profitable when planted to prairie strips.
Early research is also finding that spillover nematode communities from the strips are bringing soil health benefits to surrounding areas, and soil carbon can increase depending on coinciding crop management.
