Our state and our world depend on bountiful and safe food sources. At the same time, the nation’s agriculture industry faces unprecedented pressures, from shifting markets to disease concerns for both crops and livestock. Here, Brian Buhr, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, answers questions about the ag industry and what the University of Minnesota is doing to support agriculture as our state’s only landgrant university and research powerhouse.
Q: What is the biggest challenge facing the ag industry?
Buhr: Volatility continues to be a major challenge. We have market volatility with regard to overall production and pricing. We have weather volatility coming off last year where we had very dry conditions followed by very wet conditions. We have ongoing disease pressures, thinking about the price of eggs and how that’s impacted by avian influenza, which is also moving into dairy cows as a form of influenza. The University of Minnesota helps farmers address these challenges with leading-edge research, new technology and public-private partnerships to find practical solutions to help producers stay strong and adapt quickly.
Q: How critical is technology and AI in agriculture?
Buhr: Big data is becoming an important tool for farmers as they work to increase the efficiency of their crop inputs, crop production and crop nutrients. It’s certainly becoming a part of our research, as we’re able to now identify what’s happening down to the molecular level in a crop, and the selection of genetics as we’re developing new crops and new varieties.
Not only that, but big data also helps us understand what’s happening out there in the world on the macro level. It gives us information on weather, climate, water, plant growth and more. That ability to have data on the very small level to the very big is really having a major impact on how we think about agriculture.
Q: How do Minnesota’s natural resources intersect with agriculture?
Buhr: Our work in agriculture is built on our natural resources. Minnesota’s water, soils, forests and wildlife are truly irreplaceable. Often, we think of natural areas as recreational. Of course, when we think about forests, a lot of that is ecosystem service values — the measured benefits we get from nature that show their importance, often in economic terms. With wildlife, it’s a key part of our ecosystems as well, and keeping those healthy is incredibly important, including for anglers and hunters. Some people take our natural resource base for granted. However, this base is critical to our research and to maintaining the sustainability of those natural resources. Our ability to look broadly at what’s happening in the intersection between our natural resources, our environment, our food systems and put that all together with the science and technology is really exciting.
Q: How does agricultural research impact the economy?
Buhr: Farmers have always been looking for that next new thing to improve their bottom line. Every dollar invested in public agricultural research and development returns up to $40 to Minnesota’s economy. That’s a tremendous impact and Minnesota is uniquely positioned to have this kind of return. For example, areas in the drylands have additional considerations from irrigation, to equipment, to route management. Minnesota is situated so that when we do agricultural research on the ground here, it has one of the biggest impacts in the country.
To make the most of this, state and federal funding are vital. While private sector research and partners are important, the University of Minnesota’s statewide mission is to conduct the foundational research needed for the ag industry here and beyond. For example, the University’s work with pennycress developed a new crop that keeps soil in continuous living cover, protects water quality and increases profitability. It’s incredibly challenging for any agribusiness to spend 20 years, like we did, to do this kind of work. If you cut that foundational and longterm research funding, you’re really hurting businesses and preventing them from being able to take that research to the next level so that our farmers can use those findings broadly.
Q: How is the University of Minnesota shaping the future of agriculture?
Buhr: We’re thinking about the full spectrum that is required to take something from its inception — from genetics, for example — and then get that into a usable crop or product that could be adopted by farmers or others in the industry. You can see this happening in the University’s groundbreaking Precision Agriculture Center, which helps farms become more efficient through technology and data.
The ability to actually make these contributions is critical for future generations. It sounds like a big idea, but we’ve done it before. Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug was seminal in the ‘Green Revolution,’ which increased the world’s food supplies by improving crop plants and upgrading soils and growing conditions. He had an impact on the entire world’s agricultural systems through research done here at the University of Minnesota, and I think we need a similar type of occurrence now. We need to make that investment, make those contributions to ensure we can feed people on fewer resources to provide healthier lives and do that on an ongoing basis.
Brian Buhr is the dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and director of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. He is also a professor of applied economics.
