The Farm Tour is a one-mile tour of selected agricultural research and demonstration projects at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). This tour will introduce you to some of the challenges that are facing agronomic researchers today.

Use the map below or the menu at the right to click on a site you would like to visit.

For more information contact:

Greg Parker
Farming Systems Center
Kellogg Biological Station
9702 North 40th Street
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
(269) 671-2515

Insect Dispersal Between Agricultural and Non-agricultural Habitats

Dr. Stuart H. Gage, Entomology

Traditional Michigan field crops (corn, soybeans, alfalfa) are a source of food for insects and other pests. Normally, scientists study the insects within the boundaries of the field then suggest management procedures aimed at decreasing the insect or pest damage in that field.

In this experiment, students are tracking the movement of the pests in the cropped field to and from the areas bordering the fields. They are working toward understanding how pests and their natural enemies migrate from site to site.

In particular, ladybugs are being watched as they move into cropped fields from adjacent areas to feed on agricultural pests. If there is a way to increase the numbers of beneficial insects, like ladybugs, this information can be used to suggest natural methods of pest control leading to reduced dependence on chemical pest control.

Long Term Ecological Research in the United States

The National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Biotic Systems and Resources (BSR), has undertaken the support of research on Long-term ecological phenomena at a national network of sites. An initial objective in establishing these site-specific projects was to provide the environmental biology research community with the opportunity to utilize the sites for research projects. Projects are both short- and long-term and focus on phenomena manifest at the sites.

The LTER programs offers investigators the opportunity to interact with other scientists performing related research, ready access to field sites with long-term availability, and well-documented and accessible records of background and corroborative data.

Six sites were funded in 1979 with the current network being composed of 18 sites (Antarctic sited added in 1991). The sites represent a very broad array of ecosystems and research emphases ranging from Alaska to Antarctica, Oregon to Massachusetts. They do, however, share a common commitment to long-term research and inclusion of 5 core research topics within their overall programs:

1) Pattern and control of primary production;

2) Spatial and temporal distribution of populations selected to represent trophic structure;

3) Pattern and control of organic matter accumulation in surface layers and sediments;

4) Patterns of inorganic inputs and movements of nutrients through soils, groundwater and surface waters; and

5) Patterns and frequency of site disturbances.

Interactions in Agricultural Ecosystems: Long Term Ecological Research

Dr. G. Philip Robertson, KBS/Crop and Soil Sciences

Modern agriculture demands a basic understanding of the ecology of crop production. In 1988, researchers at the Kellogg Biological Station began a major, multi disciplinary effort to understand how different components of the agricultural ecosystem interact to control crop yield and the environment quality of the agricultural landscape. Major parts of the project focus on crop pests, plant competition, nutrient availability, soil organic matter turnover, and how different ecological interactions vary.

This 160-acre project includes four core areas of study across a variety of agricultural cropping systems: 1) nutrient availability and losses, and the microbial processes that influence them; 2) competition between crops and weeds for light, water and nutrient, and how plants allocate carbon and nitrogen to grain, roots, and shoots; 3) insect and disease patterns; and 4) mathematical modeling of the processes that determine crop system behavior. The long-range goal of the LTER is to develop cropping systems that will allow farmers to rely less on chemical and fertilizer inputs.

Experimental treatments include a variety of tillage, rotation, fertilizer and pesticide regimes. The treatments range from conventional high-input management to low-input management. The main crops will be corn and soybeans. Additionally, poplar trees are grown and harvested every four to five years for the production of wood chips for alcohol and pulp production.

Located north of B Avenue, the main experimental site is east of the lane. To the west of the lane, low-input rotation sequences are being evaluated for later incorporation in the main site.  

Evaluation of Potato Leafhopper Resistant Alfalfa

Drs. Richard Leep and Christine DiFonzo, Crop and Soil Sciences and Entomology

The potato leafhopper (PLH) is the most significant insect pest limiting alfalfa production in Michigan. The PLH causes damage to alfalfa by sucking juices from the leaves and injecting a toxin which damages plant cells and causes interference with normal transport of fluid in the leaves. Visible symptoms of this damage are plant stunting, yellowing, and leaf tip burn, also known as hopperburn. PLH damage results in stand thinning to new seedings, reduced yield of established stands, lower forage quality, and reduced stand persistence.

Recently, varieties with improved resistance to PLH have been developed. PLH resistant alfalfa varieties represent a potentially remarkable breakthrough in alfalfa breeding. The new PLH resistant varieties have glandular hairs on leaf surfaces that are tipped with a sticky resin. The hairs cause a PLH barrier to the insect and may have additional antibiotic properties. The germplasm exhibits resistance through reduced survival of PLH adults and nymphs feeding on the foliage, and by a reduction in egg-laying and feeding preference of adults.

This experiment evaluates a PLH resistant alfalfa variety compared to a non-resistant alfalfa variety. The varieties are planted in two large blocks with a third block of non-resistant PLH alfalfa surrounded with a 25 foot border of resistant PLH alfalfa. We are determining how the PLH resistant alfalfa compares with non-resistant PLH alfalfa in terms of crop yield, crop quality, stand establishment, and leafhopper populations and injury symptoms. In addition, we are evaluating whether planting a border with PLH resistant alfalfa can prevent PLH from feeding on non-resistant PLH alfalfa.

If PLH resistant alfalfa can prevent significant injury from PLH, then there is a potential for reducing the use of insecticides for controlling the insect as well as improved crop quality.

The Intercropped Apple Orchard

Dr. Stuart H. Gage, Entomology

The apple orchard was planted in 1982 and continues to be the site of many research projects for the Department of Entomology. We hope to develop ecological strategies to decrease insect pests on apples using beneficial insect species and intercropped vegetables. From the data, we plan to develop computer models that will help reduce overall pesticide use in orchards.

Before the apple trees began producing, marketable vegetable crops (string beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and asparagus) were grown between the trees. This interplanting of vegetables was watched to see if it influenced apple pest population and their natural enemies. This past year, natural predators and parasites were studied on weeds in the orchard to determine the importance of flowering weeds in the pest control process.

Other years, chickens were raised in the tree rows at the east end of the orchard. Using the birds to reduce vegetation around the trees eliminated the need to use herbicides or labor. The eggs and offspring were a bonus. Japanese beetle traps were placed within the tree rows to attract beetles as supplementary food for chickens. The chickens waited by the traps and picked the beetles off as they were attracted by the floral scent.

Codling moth management without chemicals has been studied by using a disruption lure to confuse the male insects of this major apple pest. Small packets containing a man made scent specific to the female codling moth was placed on trees. Male moths can not tell the difference between the packets and female moths so the males wore themselves out searching for a mate.

Population Dynamics of the Apple Maggot

Dr. Stuart H. Gage, Entomology

The apple maggot fly is recognized as an important pest to Michigan agriculture. At KBS, students have monitored the movement of the flies between managed and abandoned apple orchards to learn more about the causes and manner of their dispersal. Red (fruit) and yellow (foliage) sticky traps are used to capture flies as they search for sites to feed and lay eggs. A better understanding of the movement of flies into a managed orchard will help in developing more efficient management strategies, with the possible reduction of pesticide use.

Wheat Improvement Research Wheat Nursery

Dr. Richard Ward, Crop and Soil Sciences

Michigan State University's winter wheat breeding project uses KBS as one of its eight testing sites in Michigan. Small scale equipment is used to plant and harvest micro-plots that are each five by eleven feet. Five hundred to one thousand breeding lines and varieties are evaluated for farm-relevant performance characteristics such as winter survival, flowering date, resistance to disease, resistance to lodging, and grain yield. Data from these plots are used to identify new varieties generated by the MSU breeding effort. The data are also used to construct the annual State Wheat Variety test report that enables multi-year comparisons among available varieties. This research field is most interesting to view in the month of June, when the wheat heads are fully emerged and the full array of diverse plant types is most evident.

Agroecosystems Study

Dr. G. Philip Robertson, KBS/Crop and Soil Sciences

At this site, a team of researchers with a broad background in ecology and agronomy is developing a picture of how processes in the soil affect the amount of nitrogen and other nutrients available for alfalfa crops. They are examining the interactions of microbes, plants, soil chemicals, and physical processes. Several methods of alfalfa management are being studied.

Various studies are:

1) the importance of the relationship between nutrient release and root uptake to nutrient loss from soil

2) competition for nutrients like nitrogen among the crops and weeds

3) seasonal changes in soil structure and how this affects biological processes

4) how nutrient cycling changes with soil depth

5) factors that regulate root carbon turnover.

Rainshelter

In 1984, a state of the art rainshelter was constructed to help in the study of water (drought) stress on crop, evaluate plant responses to water, and to pinpoint irrigation requirements. Under one of the world's largest automated rainshelters (60 feet by 250 feet - approximately one-third acre), researchers have measured plant growth and soil moisture parameters during drought with the goal of improving the efficiency of irrigation and developing drought resistant varieties. Before construction, the natural soil of one-third of the area was replaced with soil from another location in southwest Michigan.

There are similar facilities around the world, but this was one of the largest and most advanced even in 1996 - the last year of its use as a rain shelter. It would take 20 or more years of conventional field research to simulate the drought stresses that were achieved in one year with this facility. Experiments were repeated on each of the soil types, thus simulating research at more than one location.

The two buildings are a basic, free-span, lightweight steel frame construction. Steel V-grooved wheels are mounted to the buildings' carrier beams at eight feet intervals. The V-grooved wheels sit atop I-beam rails that have inverted angle iron welded on top. This construction helps keep rolling friction to a minimum. Each building is 60 feet wide by 124 feet long, with an eave height of 12 feet. The structure was planned so that 48 research plots, each 14 feet x 20 feet, could be used. The rainshelter sits in a north-south direction so plants were not shaded by the buildings when the sun was low.

This shelter was automated and closed when as little as 1/100th of an inch of rainfall was detected. The buildings were driven by a motor that could move the two halves together in about three minutes. A technician was telephoned automatically if there was a problem. Water was regulated and supplied by a pinpoint irrigation system within the structure. 

Various crops have been studied including corn, potatoes, dry beans, soybeans, pickling cucumbers, grapes, apples, cherries, and strawberries. For more information on the research conducted during the first ten years of operations, please contact Dr. Joe Ritchie, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI.>

Research on Virgin Soil - Woodlot to Grassy Habitat

This area is part of the original land deeded to Michigan State University by W. K. Kellogg in the 1920's. The site was a woodlot until the 1950's then clear cut. After cutting, the area was grazed by sheep and several wildlife studies were conducted. During this period (1920's to now) this land has never been planted or plowed, providing a virgin soil profile for comparative research with farmed land. Since the 1960's, the land has been maintained as a grassy habitat.

Lysimeter - What is it?

A lysimeter is basically a flower pot on a scale. It allows researchers to accurately determine water use by a crop by measuring the weight changes of the block of soil on the scale. One lysimeter has an intact block of soil weighing approximately 40,000 pounds. A data-logging system continually collects the weight of the block and by knowing how much water is added through irrigation or rainfall, crop water use can be calculated.

The water draining out of the bottom of the block is analyzed for nitrates to determine the amount of nutrient movement (leaching) occurring through the soil block (profile).

Lysimeters in Manure Management

Dr. Ted Loudon, Agricultural Engineering

The lysimeters used in this study were created by carefully installing a large steel cylinder around an intact block of soil and welding a floor onto the cylinder. All of the water that leaches through the soil profile can be collected.

At this site a series of eight lysimeters have been built to determine the impact of manure and compost management on the nitrate content of water leaching (moving down) beyond the reach of plant roots.

These lysimeters are nine feet deep and will be used to compare applications of raw manure, composted manure using today's best management practices and common inorganic fertilizers along with a treatment where no nutrients are added. Half of the lysimeters will have corn grown on them for three years and the other half will have alfalfa. Scientists will measure the nitrate and ammonia content of the leachate from each lysimeter.

The results are used to validate computer simulation models which have been developed to improve manure and fertilizer applications.

Cover Crops Research

Dr. Dale Mutch, KBS/MSU-Extension

Comparing a low input (pesticide and fertilizer) no-till system with a conventional high input system helps to define the basic needs for adequate plant growth. The low input system uses two-thirds less herbicide than the conventional system. The low input system will use cultivation for weed control rather than herbicides. Cover crops (clover and grasses) are grown in between corn rows to reduce the need for fertilizers in the low input system.

On separate projects, trials have been initiated using two sweet corn hybrids to evaluate the effectiveness of cover crops in sweet corn. Additional trials have been established to evaluate mowing as a means for reducing herbicides on perennial ryegrass.

Tillage Rotation in a Corn-Soybean Rotation

Dr. Fran Pierce, Crop and Soil Sciences

Most tillage studies have compared the performance of well-defined tillage systems over time (continuous use) rather than combinations of tillage methods or tillage itself as a tactical tool for management. At this time, there is little data upon which to base management guidelines for rotating tillage methods from year to year.

This Corn Marketing Program of Michigan funded study compares six tillage systems for the production of corn and soybeans grown in rotation including: fall moldboard plowing or chisel plowing, spring chisel plowing, no-tillage, and rotation of spring chisel plowing with no-tillage alternating years.

Farmers who rotate tillage may or may not realize increased yield but any yield increases must offset the diverse equipment investment needed to utilize multiple tillage systems. This study will quantify the potential benefits of tillage rotation or of maintaining continuous tillage systems over a period of years.

Performance of Roundup Ready Soybeans Under Long-term and Rotational Tillage Management

A new technology has emerged that may significantly change soybean production in Michigan - roundup ready soybeans. How technologies like roundup ready soybeans will affect the performance of continuous and variable tillage systems should be of interest to soybean growers in Michigan given their dramatic shifts in the 1990's to no-tillage and other conservation tillage systems. In some years, the NT treatments in the long-term studies have experienced weed control problems associated with the emergence of grasses and some perennial broadleaf weeds later in the season that can be difficult to control and reduce yields when unchecked. Roundup ready soybeans may improve performance in NT more than conventional tillage with regard to late emerging weeds.

This Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee study will compare the agronomics and economics of roundup ready soybean production to conventional soybean production under long-term conventional and conservation tillage systems and tillage rotations. The soybean tillage plots were split, with one-half receiving a standard post-emergence herbicide program at the 1 to 2 trifoliate soybean growth stage and the other the currently recommended roundup treatment. 

Michigan soybean farmers will increasing find biotechnological solutions to soybean production, particularly in pest and disease management problems. Tillage will continue to play an important management role in the production of soybeans, as evidenced by the dramatic shifts in tillage management in the 1990's. Information gathered in this study should lead to improved recommendations for soybean production in MI.

Site-Specific Tillage and Starter Fertilizer Management for Soybeans

Site-specific management (SSM) is an emerging set of technologies that involves the management of soils and crops by localized conditions within a field. In essence, SSM is about doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, and in the right way. Therefore, SSM is intuitively appealing and represents a means of improving the economic and environmental performance of cropping systems. 

This study examines soybean yield response to starter fertilizer under conventional and no-tillage management as affected by location within this area of the field. There are 24 replications of this comparison repeated across the two strips containing this experiment. In the previous two years, corn did not respond to starter fertilizer but yields were higher in 1995 under conventional tillage and higher in 1996 under no-tillage management. 

The lack of response to SSM starter fertilizers is consistent with other studies underway in Michigan to evaluate SSM. This year's study will determine if soybean responds differently than corn to these management variables.