from the President Engage! ngage—my simple chal- Providing the world of 2050 with ample safe and nutri- lenge to you this year is to tious food under the ever-increasing pressures of climate make a mark where you change, water limitations, and population growth will be a E are. ASABE is comprised monumental challenge that requires engagement of ASABE of outstanding engineers and scien- members with their colleagues and thought leaders from tists who are helping the world with around the world. Inside this issue, you will find perspectives their work. Whether you are design- on the topic by contributors ranging from farmers to futurists. ing a part to make precision agri- The challenges of food security are daunting, but I can think culture more effective, evaluating of no other profession that’s better equipped or better quali- the kinetics of cell growth to better fied to tackle them. I hope you are as inspired as I am by understand a biological process, these articles. exploring ways to extend knowl- As I close, I would like to thank Donna Hull, ASABE’s edge on grain storage to partners recently retired Director of Publications. For 34 years, around the world, or working in another of the many areas that Donna worked to enhance our publications, from Resource ASABE represents on equally important tasks, you are making to our refereed journals. These publications are a key part of an impact. As an ASABE member, you also have an opportu- our communication to the world, and their quality reflects nity to help make your Society as strong as it can be. the efforts of our members and Donna’s vision to share our I would like you to consider how to engage ASABE in stories and research. In particular, her efforts to digitize our a variety of ways. It could include striving to make your Technical Library were invaluable. Join me in wishing her Section more relevant and attractive to fellow members. It all the best in retirement. could include reaching out to partner societies to identify I am energized and excited to serve as your 2014-2015 ways to share our influence. It could be as small as inviting President. I look forward to seeing you at Society functions, an old classmate or two to renew their membership if you and I welcome any ideas you have to make this a great year haven’t seen them in a while. Whatever it is, be intentional for ASABE. about making ASABE better this year. Terry Howell Jr. [email protected] events calendar ASABE CONFERENCES AND INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS ASABE ENDORSED EVENTS To receive more information about ASABE conferences and meetings, 2014 call ASABE at (800) 371-2723 or e-mail [email protected]. Nov. 1-7 2014 21st Century Watershed Technology 2015 Conference and Workshop. University of Waikato, Feb. 9-11 Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference. Hamilton, New Zealand. Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Nov. 2-7 2014 World Engineering Conference on May 3-5 ASABE 1st Climate Change Symposium — Sustainable Infrastructure. Abuja, Nigeria. Adaptation and Mitigation. Chicago, Illinois, USA. 2015 July 26-29 ASABE Annual International Meeting. May 31- 2015 18th International Soil Conservation New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. June 5 Organization (ISCO). El Paso, Texas, USA. Nov. 10-12 Irrigation Symposium. July 5-8 CSBE Conference & Annual General Meeting. Long Beach, California, USA. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 2016 July 17-20 ASABE Annual International Meeting. Orlando, Florida, USA. 2 November/December 2014 RESOURCE engineering and technology for a sustainable world November/December 2014 FEATURES November/December 2014 4 First Word Vol. 21 No. 6 Greatest Challenge Ever Faced ... Feed the World in 2050 Tony Grift and Martin Bohn, guest editors Magazine staff: Darrin Drollinger, Publisher (interim), [email protected]; Sue Mitrovich, 6 When I Think about Poverty Managing Editor, [email protected]; Glenn Robert S. Zeigler Laing, Technical Editor, [email protected]; Melissa Miller, Professional Opportunities 8 A Futurist’s View and Production Editor, [email protected]; 4 Richard Worzel Consultants Listings, Sandy Rutter, [email protected]. 9 A Glimpse of Our Future Food System Freija van Duijne Editorial Board: Chair Tony Grift, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Past Chair, 10 Toward Food Security in 2050 Brian Steward, Iowa State University; Board Judith D. Schwartz Members Thomas Brumm, Iowa State University; Victor Duraj, University of 11 A Long Way to Go California, Davis; Israel Dunmde, Mount Royal John Schueller University, Calgary; Timothy Mains, University of Tennessee; and Shane WIlliams, Kuhn 12 The Importance of Chemical Inputs North America. 8 Paul Miller Resource: Engineering & Technology for a 13 Playing Politics with the Future Sustainable World (ISSN 1076-3333) (USPS 009-560) is pub- Charles Merfield lished six times per year—January/February, 14 Combatting the Pollinator Crisis with Genomic Biology March/April, May/June, July/August, Claudia C. Lutz, Christina M. Grozinger, Gene E. Robinson September/October, November/December— by the American Society of Agricultural and 15 Adapting Industrialized Farming to Ecosystem Realities Biological Engineers (ASABE), 2950 Niles James Lowe Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA. Photosynthesis: The Final Frontier POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 16 Resource, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI Stephen Long and Xin-Guang Zhu 49085-9659, USA. Periodical postage is paid Small Changes Have Big Effects at St. Joseph, MI, USA, and additional post 16 17 offices. Nicholas Kiggundu SUBSCRIPTIONS: Contact ASABE order 18 Re-Imagining Agriculture department, 269-932-7004. Mark Kibblewhite COPYRIGHT 2014 by American Society of 19 A Menu of Solutions Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Craig Hanson Permission to reprint articles available on request. Reprints can be ordered in large 20 Fish: A Must for Global Food Security quantities for a fee. Contact Sandy Rutter, Stephen Hall 269-932-7004. Statements in this publication represent individual opinions. 21 The Social Science Perspective Resource: Engineering & Technology for a 24 Stephen Gasteyer and Craig Harris Sustainable World and ASABE assume no 22 The Soil-Carbon Opportunity responsibility for statements and opinions expressed by contributors. Views advanced in Diana Donlon the editorials are those of the contributors and 23 A Truly Wicked Problem do not necessarily represent the official posi- tion of ASABE. Otto Doering 24 Sustainability at the Landscape Scale ON THE COVER Marita Dieling and Dyno Keatinge Multifunctional landscape in Myanmar, courtesy of INBAR. 25 Sobering Numbers Bruce Dale 28 DEPARTMENTS 26 New Roots for Ecological Intensification 2 President’s Message American Society of Timothy Crews, Thomas Cox, Events Calendar Agricultural and Lee DeHaan, Sivaramakrishna Biological Engineers 29 Professional Listings 2950 Niles Road Damaraju, Wes Jackson, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA Pheonah Nabukalu, David Van Tassel, Last Word 269.429.0300, fax 269.429.3852 30 [email protected], www.asabe.org and Shuwen Wang A Tribute to Norman 27 Genetic Engineering Will Drive Borlaug Food Security Kenneth Quinn Mary-Dell Chilton 28 Feeding the World Sustainably Michael Chaplinsky first word Greatest Challenge Ever Faced ... Meanwhile, bioenergy cur- n 2011, Resource published a special issue on the “Farm of the rently makes up 4.5% of the U.S. Future.” That issue gave us the opportunity to ponder what agriculture energy budget, which is negligi- would look like in the future—it was all optimism and fun. The cur- ble, especially considering the rent issue, titled “Feed the World in 2050,” has a more pressing pur- increasing demand for energy in Ipose and a more serious tone. the future. Feeding the predicted global population of nine billion in 2050 and The problem is a matter of beyond will be the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced, dwarfing scale: humanity consumes 86 mil- both the Manhattan Project and Project Apollo. Here’s why: so far, lion barrels of oil per day (mbpd), humanity has solved virtually all its problems by throwing more resources or about 1,000 barrels each sec- at them—a good example is the Green Revolution—but the era of mas- ond. The U.S. alone, with just 5% sive resources and simple solutions is coming to an end. of the world’s population, uses Most readers of Resource are well aware that the main problems we 20 mbpd. Try replacing that with face are climate change, water wars, nutrient depletion, and soil degrada- an equivalent amount of any alter- tion. I agree that these are tenacious problems, but we could, as Stephen native. And most of the oil is con- Colbert suggested, keep moving north until we are plowing the Arctic tained in the Middle East—not Circle. In my view, the biggest threat to our survival is energy. It doesn’t exactly the friendliest of environ- take a PhD in macroeconomics to predict that finite resources are, well, ments. finite. And yet we have no plan for what to do when the energy runs out. We count on politicians to We have developed the technology to look back in time to the beginning Tony Grift make the major decisions, but ASABE Member of the universe, but when it comes to looking a century ahead, we’re rather they never look beyond the next Associate Professor uninterested. Or maybe we don’t like what we see. election cycle. And any politician Department of Agricultural At the birth of the United States in 1776, the main source of energy and Biological Engineering who implements strategies that was wood. That continued until 1885, when coal surpassed wood. The University of Illinois at hurt people in the short term will Coal Age lasted until 1950, when coal was overtaken by oil, which con- Urbana-Champaign, not be re-elected. So, although the [email protected] tinues to be our main source of energy.