Long History Behind Three New Research Projects Debra Levey Larson Communications Specialist (217)244-2880; [email protected] April 23, 2002 URBANA- You might say that three research projects recently awarded by the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois have been 169 years in the making. The reason being that the funding for these projects and many more in the future, comes through a gift from a remarkable man who lived to be 100 years old, given in honor of his father, who was born 169 years ago. Both men were named Dudley Chase Smith. Smith Sr., was born in 1833. He worked on a farm and as a store clerk in Shelbyville, Illinois and became a Colonel while serving in the Civil War under General Ulysses S. Grant. During his lifetime, he accumulated farm acreage in three Illinois counties and one Indiana county. Smith Jr., studied agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1920. That same year, his father died. In 1923, he began what became a 76-year correspondence with the University of Illinois. That year, he wrote asking the College to help him find a University of Illinois graduate to manage his farm. Although Smith Jr., moved to Tryon, North Carolina in the early 1930s, making a living in the poultry industry, he continued corresponding with the University of Illinois. In the 1970s he began thinking about the future of farming and looking for a way to contribute to research that would sustain farmland and the rural community and establish his father's name in a special way. In 1986 he wrote, "...if all Land Grant Colleges and all farm oriented individuals would think constructively of the problems facing agriculture, furthering their research in the large and open field of biotechnology, genetic engineering, etc.-the change could be constructive and worthy to be remembered." In 1994, Dudley Smith, Jr., gave the University of Illinois 228 acres of farmland in Christian County in honor of his father. This gift was valued at almost $1 million in farmland and assets and has been used to conduct research projects, many of which relate to Dudley Smith Jr.'s interests in sustainable agriculture. Then in 1996, Dudley Chase Smith, Jr., died at the age of 100. During his lifetime and through his estate, he provided more than $5 million to the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. In keeping with the dreams and ideals expressed by Dudley Smith Jr., The Dudley Smith Initiative was created to inspire innovative research and outreach projects. Funding from his gift in honor of his father would be awarded to a small number of extraordinary research or outreach projects that would benefit the citizens of Christian County and the State of Illinois. The largest of the first three research projects funded by the Dudley Smith Initiative will be conducted on the farmland in Christian County that Smith donated to the College in 1994. The project will look at alternative crop rotations that would involve pasture and livestock integrated into the cropping system. "Farmers in Illinois, and other parts of the corn belt, need alternatives to short-term crop rotations," said Ben Tracy, assistant professor of agroecology at the University of Illinois. "The short-term rotations have been profitable but have had negative consequences, too, like reducing soil organic matter and increasing soil erosion and the need for more external fertilizer and pesticide." Tracy said that an extended rotation may be a good alternative for farmers. It would involve 10 to 12 years with fields planted in grass-legume pastures for the first four to six years and then followed by cash grain crops. "In the study, this integrated system will be compared with a conventional, short-term corn-soybean rotation, including agroecology variables as well as the costs and revenues of the different systems," said Tracy. Conducting a long-term study like this one, Tracy said, using a realistic size farm, will better facilitate transferring scientific information that farmers can use. He said that the results from studies like these are more believable to practicing farmers. Two smaller research projects were also among the first to receive funding through the Dudley Smith Initiative. One will build a team that will look at the influences cropping systems have on carbon sequestration and commercializing of carbon credits. Another project will focus on finding out what people think about possible health risks in agriculture and how their perceptions affect their behavior as consumers at the grocery store. All three of these newly-funded projects have the potential for helping farmers and citizens in Illinois and throughout the United States-from the farmer, to fuel producers, to well-informed shoppers. And, as these first three Dudley Smith Initiative research projects gather data and seek answers to questions about how we can make agriculture more sustainable, the dream that began 169 years ago is being realized. For more information visit: www.aces.uiuc.edu/DSI/ on the Web or contact Steve Pueppke at: (217) 333-0240; [email protected] -30- Source: Steve Pueppke (217) 333-0240; [email protected] and Ben Tracy (217) 265 5313; b ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ For information about items reported on this website, please contact: [email protected] ______________ Is the first Dudley Chase Smith, the son of Laura Chase Smith,the one who wrote the Life of Bishop Philnader, who was her granfather? _____ wondering, Harriet Chase