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The project will create a living lab that fulfills the land
grant mission of U of I’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and
Environmental Studies, Dr. Andrew Margenot, a soil scientist,
said.
“We need to understand long-term effects of farming at a long
timescale,” Margenot said. “The hope is that when I am long
gone, and my son’s grandkids will be alive, this will be
yielding insights.”
Margenot credits Dean German Bollero for his vision in
advocating for the extensive project. U of I’s investment in the
Alma Mater Plots will produce data to address the practical
needs of Illinois farmers for years to come, Bollero said.
U of I has been a pioneer in ag research for 150 years, Margenot
said. Forward-thinking investments by U of I in the 1800s have
led to U.S. domination in agricultural production and research,
he said.
“I don’t think that people fully grasp that the fundamentals of
soil science, fertility of soil crop production, breeding
hybrids that exploded yields and helped stave off world famine.
That was all done here,” Margenot said.
When the predecessor of the Morrow Plots was established 148
years ago, Illinois farmers were getting yields of 20 to 40
bushels of corn per acre. Today, Illinois farmers get yields of
200 bushels per acre or more.
Farming today is complex and high-tech, Margenot said. Data
collected at the Alma Mater Plots will help farmers navigate
best practices for generations to come.
To make the research as meaningful and practical for farmers as
possible, Margenot is seeking input from farmers and
stakeholders on what will be studied.
“This isn’t a project for a bunch of professors in offices,”
Margenot said.
He invites people to contact him at margenot@illinois.edu with
suggestions for subjects to study and for tours, he said.
The Alma Mater Plots will comprise 64 test plots with 16
treatments and four replicates. Each plot will be center-tiled
and have a buffer tile running through the border of the plots.
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