Nebraska Corn Board Call for Proposals

Rick Koelsch, Nebraska Extension

Nebraska Corn Board is now accepting proposals through January 30, 2015 for 2015 projects. Although listed as a "research" program, the projects funded by the Corn Board include Extension and applied research programs targeting crop production, environmental management, youth development and nutrition/health issues.

The 2015 Request for Proposals states that the research priorities are:

• Increase the demand and usage of corn and /or corn products;
• Research into the various aspects of life cycle analysis that affect corn and or corn ethanol, keeping in mind a systems approach,
• Examples (but not limited to) such as nitrous oxide emissions, irrigation efficiency and fuel use, model elasticity variables;
• Research that optimizes the environmental stewardship practices of present and future corn production systems,
• Livestock production systems vs. crop production systems;
• Research of federal policy that effect corn, livestock, trade and/or ethanol.

One need expressed by members of the Corn Board suggests projects that place the results of funded projects in the hands of Nebraska producers would be valued.  Proposals that build upon current research projects or partner with new proposals to expand the reach of the research presents an opportunity for Extension professionals to consider for submitting a proposal. Below is a listing of currently funded that may serve as a possible starting point for a future partnership or as an idea of the types of projects the Corn Board is funding:

Benchmarking productivity and efficiencies of irrigation water and nitrogen in corn-based cropping systems is led by Patricio Grassini.   The objective  is to analyze NRD producer-reported data to provide proof-of-concept for measuring irrigated corn systems efficiencies.

Corn-derived Resistant Starches to Improve Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome is led by Amanda Ramer-Tait & Jens Walter. Resistant starches (RS) derived from corn offer tremendous potential to support the health of our population, including improved insulin sensitivity, reduced weight gain, etc. Our research will provide important knowledge of how a corn-based ingredient can improve health.

Decide NOW is a project led by Robert Tigner, Jessica Johnson and Cory Walters to increase implementation of marketing strategies. Decide NOW will allow producers to step away from the classroom with the tools needed to implement and modify grain marketing plans. The main component of Decide NOW will be customizable electronic post‐harvest marketing plan with a built in reminder system.

Determining the Feeding Value of Distillers Grains in Cattle Diets (Matt Luebbe, Jim MacDonald, and Galen Erickson).  The majority of ethanol plants in Nebraska started removing a portion of the corn oil from the thin stillage stream resulting in a lower fat distillers grains (DGS) byproduct. With the support of the Corn Board, this project will evaluate deoiled distillers after they became available to producers.

Foliar Analysis in Nutrient Management for High Yield Corn is led by Charles Shapiro and our Extension soils specialists.  Corn has a high rate of nutrient uptake during the V4 to VT stage and demand may exceed the supply. Our hypothesis is that nutrient responsive fields or areas in fields can be identified and remediated through a combination of soil and plant analysis.

Innovative Youth Corn Challenge by Brandy VanDeWalle, Aaron Nygren & Amy Timmerman
The Annual Innovative Youth Corn Challenge will continue for 4-H and FFA members working in teams. Youth are challenged to produce the most economical, highest yielding corn in comparison to their typical production system. 

Managing Corn Stover Removal with Cover Crops to Optimize the Environmental Stewardship Practices of Corn Production (Humberto Blanco).  Harvesting or grazing corn stover addresses a major forage supply need in Nebraska but creates the potential for soil erosion and degradation of soil productivity. Cover crops may reduce adverse effects. This onfarm and research plot project is assessing the interactive effects of corn stover removal and cover crops on soil characteristics, erosion, and crop yields.

Nebraska On-Farm Research Network (Keith Glewen & Gary Zoubek).  Corn growers typically ask the question “does this new production practice or a specific input work to improve the corn yield on my farm and does it provide an economic payback”? On-farm research can help a grower answer those important questions.

Promoting Adoption of In-Season Canopy Sensor-Based Nitrogen Fertilization of Corn Through the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network (Richard Ferguson, Joe Luck & Keith Glewen).  The project will promote the adoption of in-season nitrogen fertilization for corn for increasing N use efficiency and reducing environmental impact on groundwater quality. It will also  increase grower’s familiarity with the use of crop canopy sensors to generate an economic optimum in-season nitrogen rate.

Sustainable Corn and Soybean Production (Roger Elmore & Humberto Blanco).  We propose exploring sustainable corn-soybean production systems that incorporate cover crops. Our objectives are to determine the feasibility of utilizing cover crops, in corn and soybean cropping systems. The field activities will be conducted in research plots at four Nebraska sites – both irrigated and rainfed.

Does National Science Foundation Fund Extension Ideas?

Rick Koelsch, Associate Dean for UNL Extension

The North Central Agriculture and Natural Resource Program Leaders recently met with NSF program directors from Biological Science and Education and Human Resources to learn about opportunities for Extension faculty within NSF.  Our question to our NSF hosts was “Is there a fit for Extension within NSF funding priorities?”  Our NSF hosts responded “NSF supports all fields of science, except biomedical areas…Agriculture is science.” and “NSF supports science education and research…Extension is science education.”  Those comments provided a good starting point in understanding how that might occur.

NSF uses two fundamental criteria to guide grant application development and review processes:

Intellectual Merit or the potential to advance knowledge; and

Broader Impacts or the potential to benefit society.

Intellectual Merit is generally weighted more heavily than Broader Impact by most NSF review panels and program directors. However, substantial variability exists in quality of proposals for contributing to Broader Impacts. An NSF proposal with a well-planned approach for achieving Broader Impact and faculty with skills in implementing Broader Impact can lend extra value to proposals with strong Intellectual Merit, often separating out those that are funded. Review panels are advised to ask five questions relative to the review of a proposal based upon the Broader Impacts criteria:

1.       How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning?

2.       How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, geographic, etc.)?

3.       To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships?

4.       Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding?

5.       What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?

These five questions provide faculty a framework in which to design a "Broader Impacts" program that may be viewed favorably by NSF review panels.  Notes from our NSF hosts and from NSF website information on Broader Impacts suggest some examples that may fit the NSF vision of Broader Impacts are summarized in the Table below.

 

A few take home messages from our visit with NSF:

• Science education of K-12 and undergraduates is central to the NSF mission.
• Scientific Merit still drives NSF’s interest in a proposal.  Partner with research faculty actively pursuing NSF funding opportunities.
• "Broader Impacts"  science focus should be closely connected to the scientific focus of the research proposed by the NSF proposal. 
• Projects that propose innovative methods of producing Broader Impact are good. Projects that invest is helping others replicate those innovative methods are even better.
• Projects that apply innovative methods for producing Broader Impact are considered.  Projects that evaluate and publish the impact of those innovative methods rise to the top.
• Present your ideas using the NSF vernacular and avoid our own Extension vernacular (e.g. “Broader Impacts” vs. “Extension Engagement”).

Article developed based upon conversations on May 1, 2013 with Steve Ellis and David Campbell, National Science Foundation program leaders, and several web resources addressing Broader Impact from the NSF web site (http://www.nsf.gov/) including Empowering the Nation Through Discovery and Innovation – NSF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years FY 2011-2016 (http://www.nsf.gov/news/strategicplan/nsfstrategicplan_2011_2016.pdf).

Notes from NSF on Broader Impacts Approaches

Ideas for Extension Application

Training and mentoring undergraduate students to be future professionals.   Offering national or international summer research or outreach programs for middle and high school students, high school teachers, or undergraduate students including many from underrepresented groups.   Research and education activities targeting students from underrepresented groups.

Summer internships for undergraduates with practical field experiences or on-farm research.   Target high school students (including under-represented students) in demonstration or on-farm research projects addressing locally grown food production.  I Design STEM education curriculum related to scientific focus of  an NSF proposal and pilot this emerging science in youth programs.  Is this STEM curriculum unique? Improve clarity of understanding of the emerging science among youth?

Seminars, workshops and symposia targeting society’s knowledge of emerging or controversial applications of science.	Community workshops on local foods, modern agricultural technologies, pre-harvest food safety, animal care, or other science focused topics. Producer workshops on science behind critical agricultural issues such as weed and insect resistance to seed traits or human health implications for anti-biotic use in food animals.
Establishing research and education collaborations with faculty from minority-serving institutions, community colleges, undergraduate institutions.	Partner with community college for Hispanic worker training on latest science in food safety, animal health care, other topics for improving employee on-the-job application of science.
Writing articles, creating websites enhanced by engaging animations and video, or working with science centers on new exhibits on emerging research or science application for non-technical audiences	Partner UNL Extension’s Beef Mobile Science Lab  with animal or veterinary science researchers demonstrating applications of their research Science Center display on the challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People Sustainably.
Assisting journalists with their stories on technical topics	Partner with a Omaha World Herald reporter or Nebraska Farmer editor to present scientific issues such as genetically modified crops, weed and insect resistance to crop protection technologies, or impacts of agricultural water use on aquifers.
Forming start-up companies for disseminating new technologies	Economic development or entrepreneurship faculty partner with researchers as new technologies are introduced into a business.
Developing new art forms or delivery approaches for communicating science to wider audiences.	Art forms?  I need help here. Delivery approaches?  ·   Use of Twitter and mobile apps to reach farmers and the rest of society in real time. ·     On-line agricultural science courses for farm employee continuing education or lay audience understanding of agricultural science issues. ·   Leading/mentoring a group of researchers in a successful social media conversation on emerging science issues. ·   Use our local networks (e.g. Master Gardeners, Corn Grower’s Association) to build a network of citizen scientists for field data collection around scientific questions.