The Whole-Farm Nutrient Management course provides a key experience for future leaders in agriculture, because environmental management in agriculture will continue to play an increasingly important role in farm sustainability. Many of the basic concepts of agricultural nutrient cycling that are applied in ANSC4120 can be found in other courses, but no other course at Cornell challenges students to integrate and apply the fundamentals to solve farm problems according to contemporary environmental policies and nutrient management strategies.
These past five years, students who took the course responded very positively to the approach. In 2006 to 2011, 175 students took the course. Currently 24 students are enrolled in the course (2012). Students surveyed one to two years after graduation responded that they felt that the course had been useful in their careers, and that they would recommend it to undergraduates with career interests in production agriculture.
impact statement issue
During the last decade, agricultural operations have been increasingly linked to reduced water and air quality and are being scrutinized by the public through increased monitoring, litigation, and regulation. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency released a strategy to require that concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) operate according to comprehensive nutrient management plans (CNMP). The strategy was refined into regulations with the release of the CAFO Final Rule in 2002. A CNMP must meet guidelines designed to reduce soil and nutrient losses to water resources and to increase on-farm nutrient recycling. Thus, managing environmental impacts of farming and operating according to regulations have become required responsibilities of those working in agricultural production.
impact statement response
To address the CNMP requirement, faculty of the Department of Animal Science partnered and revised ANSC4120 into a four-credit, integrated capstone course entitled Whole-Farm Nutrient Management. In this course, students learn about and discuss agricultural environmental policy, the basics of soil and crop nutrient management, and the development of a nutrient management plan for an actual dairy farm. These activities are followed by discussions and exercises that focus on managing nutrients more efficiently in feeding the dairy herd to reduce excess nutrients on the farm. Thus, students learn to integrate agronomy and herd management for optimization of farming systems.
impact statement summary
Whole-Farm Nutrient Management is an upper-level, undergraduate course offered through the Department of Animal Science and designed for students interested in agricultural careers. The course aims to help students develop a working knowledge of agricultural environmental management.
