Two large-scale (25 ha) trials were initiated in 1989 in Wisconsin to compare six alternative production systems regarding productivity, profitability, and environmental impact. The project was designed and is managed by a coalition of farmers, extension agents and research personnel. Deliberations between production-oriented and ecologically oriented team members resulted in a factorial design, with two enterprise types (cash grain and forage-livestock) and three levels of biological complexity. Statistical methods have been used to identify the most efficient plot size, plot shape, and block shape, and the optimal procedures for sampling soil characteristics. A uniformity year was allowed before initiation of the trial, and the start was staggered. We defined treatments as production strategies rather than a specific set of inputs, which led to a more flexible plot management program.

Farmers' markets are important but inadequately studied contributors to local economies. They allow individual entrepreneurs and their families to contribute to the economic life of local communities by providing goods and services that are not readily available through formal, mass markets, and they bring producers and consumers together to solidify bonds of local identity and solidarity. Using data collected from 115 farmers' market vendors in three regions of New York in 1993, we examined the characteristics and operations of three categories of vendors: full-time growers, part-time growers, and non-grower artisans and craftspeople. Drawing on theories of mass production and mass markets, we show how farmers' markets represent intermediate social structures that bridge the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

We evaluated free-range domestic chickens and geese as components of a nonchemical apple orchard intercropped with potato. Chickens and geese were compatible with the system but provided different benefits and had different requirements. Chickens were omnivorous and highly active throughout the day, and dispersed throughout the available area. In contrast, geese were strictly herbivorous and less active, and usually remained close to their coop and water source. Geese substantially reduced vegetation biomass under the trees and around the potatoes without damaging either crop. Chickens reduced noncrop vegetation biomass slightly but also consumed several insect species, including Japanese beetle and Colorado potato beetle. Factors influencing the feasibility of integrating domestic chickens or geese into agroecosystems are discussed.

I interviewed 19 county agricultural extension agents about their views of alternative agriculture as it is being promoted by sustainable agriculture groups in Minnesota. They varied considerably in how much they knew about it, their openness to it, and how heavily they were involved in it County extension agents share broad economic and environmental goals with sustainable farming advocacy groups, but many believe that agriculture is already working to meet those goals and are skeptical of the feasibility of alternative agriculture. Extension agents generally did not accept as realistic a primary social goal of sustainable agriculture advocates: maintaining the number of family farms. If county extension agents and sustainable agriculture groups in Minnesota are to work together for more sustainable agriculture, open discussion is needed on the goals of agriculture and visions for its future.

In a harsh, northern climate and under restrictive animal welfare laws and a strict ban on the use of subtherapeutic antibiotics, Swedish pig farmers have developed a managementintensive system of pig production that relies on straw, the animals' natural behavior, group housing dynamics, and keen husbandry skills. The system is very efficient, with excellent pig reproduction and growth performance. The housing is simple and versatile. Called “Västgötmodellen” after the region in western Sweden where it was developed by farmers during the 1980s, the system now is successfully used on approximately 100 farms in Sweden. The system is specific to producing feeder or weanerpigs of 25 to 30 kg for feeding in more conventional European-style finishing units. Västgötmodellen may represent an agricultural system that is well adapted and economically competitive on modest-sized farms but not well suited for very large farms.

Nitrogen, a vitally important plant nutrient, is subject to various losses that affect its efficiency. We tested prilled urea (PU), urea supergranules (USG), green manures (GM) and farmyard manure (FYM) in a rice-wheat cropping system to determine which were the most efficient and economical N sources. The maximum rice growth, yield and N-uptake occurred with USG and with GM (Sesbania rostrata) plus PU. Incorporation of GM saved 60 kg N/ha. On the following wheat crop, GM (S. aculeata) plus PU and FYM plus PU had the highest residual effect on the number of tillers per m2, and straw and grain yield. An increase in N recovery efficiency occurred with combined use of PUand organic Igreen manures compared with PU alone. In areas where USG is costly or unavailable and FYM is scarce, green manures can be a cheap N source that allows small-scale farmers to get sustainable yields in a rice-wheat rotation.

Five thoughts about the role and future of weed science in agriculture are analyzed. Much about the tools, techniques, and achievements of weed science should be lauded. Its achievements in basic science and its worldwide contributions to agricultural production and productivity are incontestable. The discipline has been based primarily on chemical technology, and the weed science community has been shaped by the available technology and by the purposes of its members. New, sustainable weed management systems will rely on knowledge derived from answers to new questions about weed-crop relationships and management techniques. As weed scientists develop better management systems, they will need to find better words to describe what they do and why it is important.