Welcome to
Natural Systems Agriculture
Greetings! My name is Martin Entz. I am a professor of agriculture at the University of Manitoba. I work on sustainable agricultural systems together with fellow researchers, students, technicians, farmers, and interested citizens.
The main goals of our website are:
- To share technical information from our research
- To celebrate the achievements of farmers - as they attempt to improve sustainability on their farms.
This website explores cropping systems based on processes found in nature - specifically the natural grassland ecosystem of prairie Canada. Our efforts on natural systems agriculture have really only begun; however this website allows others to learn about our work and provide feedback. The website includes agronomic information, results from scientific studies and farm examples that will interest students, farmers and others.
Topics in Natural Systems Agriculture
Within each of the following topics, you will find articles based on research carried out by the University of Manitoba and our collaborators, as well as stories of Manitoba farmers who have adopted Natural Systems Agriculture practices. For a complete alphabetical list of all articles and farmer profiles, please see the Site Map.
What is Natural Systems Agriculture?
Natural Systems Agriculture is an approach to agriculture that has its foundation in the processes found in natural ecosystems. While the notion of "Farming in Nature's Image" has been around for thousands of years, natural systems agriculture remains a goal rather than a reality in prairie Canada and most parts of the world.
Critical elements of an agricultural system based on natural processes are perenniality and diversity. Both the tallgrass prairie and mixed prairie systems contain a great diversity of mostly perennial plants. Therefore, agricultural systems that attempt to mimic natural systems should also include a high degree of perenniality and vast diversity.
This page created October 2005.
Last updated June 2008.