SCOTLAND: STUDY ABROAD, SUMMER 2010

Natural Resources and Agricultural Sustainability in the UK

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE

Trip Goals:

1. Experiential Learning2. Technology Transfer

partially funded by a travel grant from the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture

Who was Norman Borlaug?

An agronomist.

• He won the Nobel Peace Prize• Congressional Gold Medal Winner• 50 honorary Doctorate Degrees• His work on high-yield, disease

resistant grains helped save billions of lives from starvation in: Mexico, Asia, Afria, India, and Pakistan

“Reach for the stars. Although you will never touch them, you may get a little stardust on your hands.”

- Norman Borlaug (1914 – 2009)- Agronomist & unsung hero

- Father of the Green Revolution

Inspired by: The Man Who Fed the World

MISSION

Scotland will serve as a comparative case study of U.S. and Scottish natural resources, land use, agricultural production, and management practices.

Students will observe how … geography, culture, history, and economics help define sustainable solutions.

Topics to be covered are:

• Conservation• Energy production• Farming• Fisheries• Forestry• Manufacturing• Sustainable land use• Tourism• and Soil Sampling

TEAM SCOTLANDInter Disciplinary

• 3 Grad Students

• 4 Undergrads• 2 Professors

Andrew Gayley

Jason McMillan

Brittany Bates

John Baddeley/SAC

Laura Bradt

Robin Walker/SAC

Rachel Brooks

Rachel Brauner

Ben Meritt

TRIP LEADERSLed by Co-Facilitators from the:

Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Dr. Jacqueline Aitkenhead-Peterson

Assistant Professor ofUrban Nutrient and Water ManagementDepartment of Soil and Crop Sciences

Dr. Cristine L. Morgan

Assistant Professor of Soil ScienceDepartment of Soil and Crop Sciences

Miss Orie Varner (not pictured)

Trip AdvisorStudy Abroad Programs Office (SAPO)

TRAVEL ROUTEHouston - London – Aberdeen

• Distance: > 5,000 mi• Time: 23 hrs? w/ layovers, ash, taxis

TRAVEL ROUTE1,400 mi Road Trip

• Two Cars• Figure 8 (Aberdeen to Aberdeen)• All geographic regions

ACADEMICS & RESEARCHOverview:

Crash-course in the organization of Scottish technical higher education

Interacted with:

20 Administrators, Instructors, and Researchers from …

4 Academic and Research Institutes, and also visited …

8 Active Field Research Stations

Observed all geographic regions

NE GRAMPIAN REGIONMacaulay Land-Use Research

Institute• Soil, environmental studies, and

land-use• DOC in peatlands and upland

watersheds

SAC Craibstone Estate, Research Farms

• Long-term crop hill and woodland plots

• Intercropping; nutrient budgets (N, P, K); weed/pest/disease control; energy budgets; GHGs; biodiversity; economics

• Also: herbs, oil seeds, pharms, vet srvcs

WESTERN ISLANDS

WESTERN ISLANDSIsles of Mull, Staffa, Iona• Crofting, sheep, fishing,

tourism• Threatened Corncrake habitat

SAMS, Dunstaffnage• Salmon farms and benthic

ecology• International consultation

Ben Cruachan Reserve Power Scheme

• 440 MW 22hr Max (12hr Rsv), 28s

• H2O pumped 360m from Loch Awe

• Turbines are below sea level

LOTHIANS REGIONSAC, Bush Estates, CEH

• Cereal trials• Observe N levels, pest, & disease

reaction to fertilizer / till treatments• DNA and molecular chemistry lab

capabilities• EGENES: statistical pedigree

recordkeeping & services for cattle, sheep, poultry, and fish

EDINBURGH – CAPITAL CITYEdinburgh’s Royal Mile

• Upper: Edinburgh Castle (c. 1093)

Scottish Parliament (since 1999)

• ‘Holyrood’ completed in 2004

St. Giles Cathedral

• High Kirk of Edinburgh

Palace of Holyroodhouse

• Queen’s Residence while in Scotland

BORDERS REGIONWhim Moss Peat Bog Experiment Station• Effects of different forms of N on:

lichen, sphagnum moss, peat moss, heather

• Ammonia, ammonium, nitrate, etc.• Simulates fertilizers & poultry

influence

Auchencorth Moss Carbon Attachment• EU Air Quality Monitoring ‘Supersite’• PM10, radiation, temp, rainfall,

deposition flux: of ammonia, NOX, SO2, O3, base ions

• Analyzers / modems in skid-mount bldgs

DUMFRIES & GALLOWAYSAC, Crighton Estate @ Dumfries

• SAC Dairy Research Station (UofE)

• Research focused on bovine health, dairy (milk) production, animal temperament, and food security

• Experiments: forage, silage, loafing, furniture, slurry application

DUMFRIES & GALLOWAYSAC, Crighton Estate

• Support EGENES with X-ray and CT Scan services available to top sheep breeders

• Interesting history and architecture

• Emphasis on food security

ARGYLL & BUTENew Lanark – World Heritage Site

• Largest cotton mill in Great Britain on the Clyde Falls

• Est. by Robert Owens (1800’s): industrial & social reformer

• Peregrine Falcon Nesting/Birding Site

WESTERN HIGHLANDSSAC Kirkton, Upland Sheep Research Station• Demonstration farm, providing:

ecological, economic, ultrasound services

• Climate stats & micro-renewables

Loch Region (the Highland Lakes)• Lochs Etvie, Laggan, Lorn, Awe,

Lomond, Clatteringshaw, and Tay• Drove through Trossachs National Park

WESTERN HIGHLANDSOld Tyndrum Lead Mines - near Crianlarich

• On the West Highland Way• Operational: 18th to early 20th century• Historic depiction: tools, life, hazards,

diet, and compensation for a typical lead miner

• Soil sampling: upstream, tailing and leachfield nearcrusher, smelter, downstream floodplain

CENTRAL AND TAYSIDEStirling / Falkirk – on River Forth

• Falkirk Wheel: 13m elevation• Forth and Clyde Canal: tunnel,

lock system• Old Stirling Bridge

NORTH SEA & ABERDEENSHIREChaleton Fruit Farms• Production Farm: tabletop, drip irrigation• Climate: hoop houses, biodegradable plastic

row cover

Cairngorms National Park• Ecology, mature forests, stream

geomorphology, land management, and DOC in streams

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

OVERARCHING THEMES

Land Management:• Scotland: 1/9 size of Texas• Population: 1/5 Texas• 75% in less favored areas• Crop rotation and stewardship

Water Quality:• 3X rainfall of Texas• Peat bog leachate, fertilizer

runoff, manure impacts, erosion, lochs

Air Quality:• Agriculture is significant

contributor• NO2 has 300X warming potential

of CO2

• 80% reduction mandated by Kyoto

THE SYNTHESISTriple Point:

• Stewardship – Water Quality – Air Quality

• Falls within a range dictated by: - Market Price

- System Health - Waste Minimization

- Energy Conservation - Aesthetics of the land• The moving target is: Balance

The ‘balance’ seemed to be confounded by another intangible factor:

• Heightened nationwide Social Conscious• Regarding food production and

consumption• Noticed ‘Fairtrade’ labels in almost every

store

What is Fairtrade?

THE SYNTHESISBetween 2004 to 2007:

Scotland and Wales strove to become the world’s first Fairtrade Nations

Mission:

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.

Buy local – otherwise buy fair.

THE MESSAGEParting Thought:

• Old Mediterranean proverb:“a triple braided rope is not easily broken”

• In our case, those braids might be: Fair Trade - Stewardship – EducationFinally:

• Thanks to Dr. Peterson, Dr. Morgan, and Orie

• They breathed life into an old quote by the German educator, Kurt Hahn: “Tell me, and I may forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I'll understand”

The group definitely has a better understanding of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sustainability in Scotland.

THE END

Big Thanks –

it was brilliant!

ODE TO A HAGGIS BY RABBIE BURNS

Excerpts from Original

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!Aboon them a' ye tak your place,Painch, tripe, or thairm:Weel are ye wordy o' a graceAs lang's my arm.

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,The trembling earth resounds his tread.Clap in his walie nieve a blade,He'll mak it whissle;An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,And dish them out their bill o' fare,Auld Scotland wants nae skinking wareThat jaups in luggies;But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,Gie her a haggis!

Translation

Fair is your honest happy faceGreat chieftain of the pudding raceAbove them all you take your placeStomach, tripe or gutsWell are you worthy of a graceAs long as my arm

But take note of the strong haggis fed ScotThe trembling earth resounds his treadClasped in his large fist a bladeHe'll make it whistleAnd legs and arms and heads he will cut offLike the tops of thistles

You powers who make mankind your careAnd dish them out their mealsOld Scotland wants no watery foodThat splashes in dishesBut if you wish her grateful prayerGive her a haggis!