------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
>From: "E. Ann Clark, Associate Professor" <ACLARK@CROP.UOGUELPH.CA>
To: "Graze List" <graze-l@cygnus.taranaki.ac.nz>
Subject: Re: grazing of wet lands and desert
Date sent: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 11:07:30 EDT
Organization: Crop Science, The Univ. of Guelph
Have been watching this interchange with some amusement, being a
Californian now working in a humid temperate environment. Would like
to pose a question, however. Read this week in one of the popular
magazines (Newsweek or such like) an article about global warming.
Seems some chaps have concluded that one of the unexpected changes
accompanying what is increasingly looking like "global warming" is
increased variability in the starting/ending of growing seasons.
Untimely startings and endings would have significant repercussions
for both grain crop (annual) and pasture/hay (perennial) systems.
I'd be interested to know if anyone has done research on "coping with
variability" - whether in annual or perennial systems. I'm not
talking now about managing for predictable seasonal problems - e.g.
midseason drought - but rather, coping with unpredictable problems -
like a season that starts a month late or ends 2 weeks early. I'd be
particularly interested in sensitivity/risk analyses, from both
biological/agronomic and profitablity perspectives. Some solutions
may be "whole farm" - as with enterprise diversification, while
others may be "in-field" - as with growing mixed barley/oat instead
of barley or oats. Ideas? Ann
ACLARK@crop.uoguelph.ca
Dr. E. Ann Clark
Associate Professor
Crop Science
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
Phone: 519-824-4120 Ext. 2508
FAX: 519 763-8933
ACLARK@crop.uoguelph.ca
Dr. E. Ann Clark
Associate Professor
Crop Science
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
Phone: 519-824-4120 Ext. 2508
FAX: 519 763-8933