
The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at UW-Madison is an integral SHARE collaborator, providing inter-disciplinary research in soil health and sustainable farming practices. Active research projects address managed grazing, diversified crops, organic farming and integrated pest management. Within the Center, the Soil Health Agroecological Learning Laboratory (SHALL) also conducts interdisciplinary, social science research and outreach focused on opportunities, obstacles, and solutions regarding engagement in soil-health-promoting practices. Here are summaries of CIAS’ recent SHARE-funded projects.

A cereal rye cover crop emerges in standing corn. Photo: Gregg Sanford/UW-Madison
Project #1: Supporting the adoption of small grains in corn-bean rotations as a strategy to improve soil health
Identifying barriers to growing small grains in corn and soybean systems can help support the expansion of farm-diversification efforts and lead to more resilient and profitable farming systems in the Upper Midwest. This project, led by Lauren Asprooth, research scientist in the UW-Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, aims to understand these barriers as well as factors that have led to successful small grain production in the region. In doing so, this project works to inform effective policies; enhance farmer education and outreach strategies for small grain production; and stimulate stakeholders for more collaborative efforts in agricultural diversification.
Project #2: Microbe matters: cultivating soil health for sustainable farming
This project is led by Jessica Hite in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the UW-School of Veterinary Medicine. She and her team are developing an integrative framework designed for farmers to explore the critical connections between manure management, soil health, and the diverse microbial communities that influence crop productivity and the surrounding environment. Their mission is to empower farmers with knowledge about how soil management practices impact both beneficial and problematic microbes to foster sustainable farming practices that enhance soil vitality. The researchers also are developing training sessions and resources that promote healthier ecosystems and more resilient agricultural operations.
Project # 3: On-farm research for soil health
On-farm research networks are often instrumental in facilitating research and the understanding of the impacts and outcomes of soil health practices. Led by Erin Silva, professor, and Francois Anglade, researcher, in the UW-Department of Plant Pathology, this project fostered a community of soil health-minded farmers, facilitating peer-to-peer learning and farmer adoption. Participating farmers interseeded cover crops into corn and bale grazing. The major goals for the project were to bring together farmers who have already implemented sustainable farming practices (soil health-driven profiles); study the impacts of a common practice amongst these farmers (i.e. interseeding cover-crop into corn); and support farmers by showing the relevance of their work through data and discussions. Farmers were able to participate in the research and expressed interest in potentially continuing to do research on their farms. The study provided participants curated and personal data, sometimes confirming the farmer’s hypothesis and sometimes refuting it. This project produced impactful soil health and nutrient management data related to the practice of bale grazing, where data-driven recommendations had been lacking.
Project # 4: Developing soil health metrics for Wisconsin
Matt Ruark, professor and Extension soil scientist in the UW-Department of Soil Science, has led one of the first efforts to create soil health metrics and practice recommendations for the state of Wisconsin. These metrics and recommendations are based on the research group’s cover crop trials, which were conducted to better understand management impacts on soil health. The group replicated research to understand nitrogen contributions from cover crops to cash crops, and created a soil health database, which will lead to soil health benchmarks. Project findings and outputs have and continue to be disseminated through conference presentations, farmer-learning events, and field days.
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Project #5: Spatial and temporal variability in soil health across cropping systems typical of the upper Midwest
The goal of this research is to increase understanding of soil health over time and space in cropping systems. Gregg Sanford, UW-Department of Soil & Environmental Sciences; and Randy Jackson, UW-Department of Plant & Agroecosystem Sciences, lead the project. They are working with the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST) and the Soil Organic Carbon network (SOCnet) to estimate soil health parameters in a range of cropping systems over time and in a range of environmental contexts (e.g., climate, soil texture, slope, aspect, management). They are making progress on a database that will contain long-term data on the productivity, profitability, and ecological functions of Midwestern agroecosystems.
Project # 6: Soil Health Agroecological Learning Laboratory (SHALL)
SHALL examines social dynamics that contribute to food sovereignty, soil health, justice standards for farm labor, and the arts and rural place-making related to soil-health-promoting practices. It is conducting research and outreach focused on opportunities, obstacles, and solutions regarding engagement in soil-health-promoting practices. It has researched the roles of trust, knowledge cultivation, and politics in influencing decision-making regarding soil health practices. The research team conducted a survey with feedback from more than 940 farmers who addressed the relationships between wellbeing, environmental beliefs, and soil-health-enhancing farm practices. Led by Michael Bell, Rachel Gurney and Valerie Stull in the UW-Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, SHALL welcomes interested parties to learn more about the data it collected.
Project #7: Assessment of soil biology related to cropping systems approaches to build soil health
The impact of land management on the composition of microbial and fungal communities is the focus of this project led by Violeta Matus-Acuna, Richard Lankau, and Erin Silva in the UW-Department of Plant Pathology. The researchers will study six different cropping systems and four independent conservational prairie sites in the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial to evaluate how changes across trophic levels influence bacterial and fungal communities at a molecular level and how alterations at various trophic levels impact the carbon cycle and the potential to accumulate soil organic matter. The researchers have isolated nematodes, protozoans, microarthropods, enchytraeids, earthworms, and larger fauna. The project will include experiments using molecular tools.
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Visit https://cias.wisc.edu for more information.

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​The Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial is yielding years of data that will help farmers better understand the productivity, profitability, and ecological functions of Midwestern agro-
ecosystems.