Division: Special Sessions

Title: Symposium--Solutions to New Challenges Facing Traditional Conservation Practices

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Format: Oral Symposium
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Session Description: The 15^th Annual SWCS-SSSA Joint Symposium is being held at the 2014 SWCS and SSSA annual meetings. Past joint symposia have been very successful. The title of this year’s symposium is, “Solutions to New Challenges Facing Traditional Conservation Practices”. This topic is of great importance and interest to both societies, especially during these times when a new farm bill is in development and there are budget constraints. There are new challenges facing traditional soil and water conservation practices. For example, there are challenges related to food safety. There are also challenges related to water, from water quality challenges in the Great Lakes, to challenges related to water use/conservation in the Great Plains and the Southwest, which can potentially be addressed with conservation practices. Maintaining sustainability with the growth of biomass energy agriculture and the conversion of CRP lands to crop production, also presents conservation challenges.  Additionally, there is the question of how to increase the effectiveness of conservation practices, and the advancement of new precision conservation techniques may provide an answer. Policies that consider and/or incorporate the use of conservation practices to address these challenges will be important for maintaining sustainable agricultural production and good water and air quality in the USA. This joint symposium will continue the tradition of cooperation between the two societies and will help create opportunities to disseminate cutting-edge information to members of both societies. It will also help “jumpstart” a conversation about new challenges facing traditional soil and water conservation practices. The SWCS and SSSA have always been at the forefront of conservation and soil science, and the topic of this symposium connects with the theme of this year’s ASA/CSSA/SSSA meeting: Grand Challenges—Great Solutions.

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