About the Farming Systems Research Unit (FSRU)
The FSRU is comprised of approximately 81 hectares (200+ acres) involving the study of five different systems, three of which are agroecosystems: 1) Best Management Practices (BMP) in a Conventional Cash Cropping System, 2) an Integrated Crop-Animal System, 3) an Organic Cropping System, 4) a Plantation Forestry System and 5) a Successional ecosystem.
The FSRU initially underwent an intense soil survey to identify soil variability and to define “diagnostic soil units” for field measurements. Each system is replicated three times and four of the five systems contain subplots, for example the BMP system is split into till and no-till subplots, while the Forestry System has four sub-plots representing four different tree species.
Systems and sub-plots under comparison during the first five years 1999 - 2004:
Best Management Practice (BMP) Conventional Cash Cropping System:
The BMP system represents a standard for comparison by acting as a positive control. It is very representative of farming systems in North Carolina and other southern states: annual crops, short rotations, and absence of animals. The system features a three-year rotation of cotton, peanuts and corn as well as winter cover-cropping. The BMP system has two subplots where cropping areas are split into conventional tillage and conservation tillage (no-till). The crops are monitored for pests using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices, and pesticides are only used when economically justified.
Integrated Crop/Animal System (ICA):
The ICA system has involved a 15-year rotation with three subplots: a.)  pasture for 5-years, and BMP cash crops for 10-years, b.) BMP cash crops for 10-years rotation, and pasture for 5-years; and c.) BMP cash crops for 5-years, pasture for 5-years and BMP crops for 5-years. This configuration assures that one field will be in pasture and two in crops on any given year. Crops have included: cotton, peanut, corn, soybean-wheat, sweetpotato.
The warm-season native grass pastures have been stocked with dairy steers. Controlled, rotational grazing has been used in the pastures, where they are subdivided into small paddocks and the steers are given fresh grass every few days as needed. Underground water lines allow the cattle to have access to water in each paddock. Heritage breed turkeys have also been incorporated in to this system. The birds follow behind the steers, are kept in with moveable netting, and are supplied with a moveable coop.
Organic Production System:
Organic production systems employ unique approaches to nutrient availability, pest control and soil management. These approaches are profoundly different from the conventional agricultural production system. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of information with respect to the long-term effects of organic systems.
USDA National Research Initiative has funded a "nested" experiment  within this Organic Production System to evaluate six management strategies an organic grower may use in making the transition to organic systems. The three year crop rotation includes: soybean, sweetpotato, and wheat/cabbage along with winter cover crops. The treatments include withdrawing all synthetic chemicals all at once compared to other treatments where types of herbicide, insecticide, or fertilizer are withdrawn one at a time.
These transition methods are being evaluated on a wide range of production and economic factors. The goal is to provide critical information that will help growers make an easier transition to organic production. The 2006 growing season marked the end of this phase of the transition to organic production (see link)
Plantation Forestry/Woodlot:
Forestry is a thriving commercial enterprise found on many farms. Forestry systems sequester nutrients and energy in long-term perennial cycles and offer the possibility for intriguing comparisons with other farming systems.
 This treatment seeks to maintain the identity of the woodlot as an ecosystem while at the same time applying appropriate silvicultural practices. On-going comparisons and contrasts of this ecosystem with the other systems treatments will offer scientists and farmers opportunities to understand differences and similarities.
Four tree species are found in the Forestry System: Black Walnut (Juglans nigra L.), Baldcypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.], Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. lanceolata (Borkh.) Sarg.), and Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris Mill.). The inclusion of several species affords opportunity for comparisons of multiple rotation lengths and silvicultural systems.
Successional Ecosystem (old field succession):
The Sucessional Ecosystem (“old field succession”) represents one of the important controls for the comparison of the environmental impacts among farming systems. The opportunity to study in detail the processes and biological dynamics that take place when land is released from agriculture 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 since 1998, influenced only by natural processes. The Successional Ecosystem is monitored using the vegetation survey developed by Peet, Wentworth, and White (1998).
Changes in the rotations:
Currently the rotations of the three agroecosysytems are undergoing changes. These changes have come about due to changes taking place in commodity programs, markets and due to the need to manage noxious weed invasion. The systems have been designed to be flexible yet sufficiently robust to maintain their inherent differences.
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