Vision Statement

In the year 2000, the Crop Science Department at North Carolina State University will, because of its strong faculty and supporting staff, be recognized as the leading source of crop production expertise in the United States. Internationally prominent programs will be complemented by new competencies in sustainable agriculture and agro-ecology. The Department, via strong cooperation among teaching, research and extension faculty, will offer unique, challenging learning experiences to graduate and undergraduate students. The skill-based focus of those learning experiences will bring national recognition to Crop Science teaching. Electronic communications, and other media, will be used routinely in instructional and extension activities. In the year 2000, the Department will also be using creative communication methods to acquire clientele input and measure the impact of its programs. Outreach and professional development activities will be priorities for all faculty. The result will be innovative, well-funded research, teaching and extension activities that enhance society's quality of life.

The External Environment

Both the U.S. and North Carolina agricultural economies are undergoing massive change. Factors that will influence Crop Science Department activities include the following:

An Aging, Diverse Populace

North Carolina's population is aging; the median age of farm operators is over 50. Farm and farmer numbers are declining. The college age (18-24) population is also decreasing. The implication is that college enrollment in agricultural institutions will drop. Negative attitudes toward production agriculture, a need for specialized agricultural training, and huge capital requirements are barriers preventing the entry of young people into agricultural enterprises and, ultimately, agricultural colleges. The ethnic composition of North Carolina's agricultural population is also changing rapidly. Already, programs in the Department of Horticulture have been influenced by new dietary demands in North Carolina's rural communities.

Increasing Urbanization

Increased urbanization will give many growers new direct marketing opportunities. The variety of crops and crop products sold directly to consumers will increase. The number of forage-animal systems will rise in the mountains and piedmont; many will cater to niche markets. The potential for expansion of horse racing in the state could greatly increase forage production in the piedmont region. Urbanization, with its emphases upon recreation and lawn care, will challenge the turfgrass industry.

A Changing Political Climate

The political climate surrounding university activities is changing. Deficit reduction and the elimination of governmental "fat" are national priorities. It will be difficult for university departments with static programs to find adequate resources. Only dynamic university departments that respond to public priorities will prosper. Greater dependence upon multidisciplinary, competitive grants and increased accountability will be products of the changing political scene.

Global, Restructuring Agricultural Economies

The U.S. and world economies are in transition. Trade, international investment, global technology transfer and improved communication networks are restructuring the world's agricultural economies. The demise of trade barriers over the next decade will have significant impacts upon North Carolina agriculture. Increased opportunities for the export of value-added products will be accompanied by increased international competition in some commodity areas. Competition and the necessity for increased worker productivity will force industries to continue reducing employee numbers.

An Information-Based Social Order

Information-based jobs will be more important as services become the fastest growing segment of the U.S. economy. In fact, a knowledge-based social order is evolving in which homes, offices, schools and communities are interwoven into a web of communication services and information. To remain viable, organizations must allocate the resources required to develop and maintain expertise in electronic communications even though information technology advances may cause purchased equipment to become obsolete quickly.

Quality of Life and Citizen Activism

Concerns about personal and environmental health are at the top of national and state agenda. Food safety, the environmental impacts of farming operations, non-point pollution, and waste management are public priorities that fall within the Crop Science Department's sphere of influence and demand a departmental response.

Public confidence in the ability of scientists to solve problems has declined. Accordingly, the future will witness more citizen activism in the areas of food safety and environmental health. In an arena where controversial issues are addressed in public issue forums, Crop Science graduates will need leadership skills that include a knowledge of group dynamics, strategic planning, conflict management and negotiation. Future Crop Science graduates will: 

1. increasingly manage their own work, 
2. need advanced technical skills 
3. do more complex work, 
4. be more generalist than specialist,
5. need better "soft" skills like writing and interpersonal communication,
6. stay on the same job longer, and
7. be rewarded based on the value they generate for their employer.

A Changing Farm Scene

Since 1973, prices received by growers for corn, soybean, cotton, and wheat have remained flat or have decreased slightly. Nominal prices received for tobacco and peanuts have risen about 70% and 85%, respectively. Yields for tobacco, corn and soybeans have increased about 10% over the past twenty years while cotton and wheat yields have increased about 40%. Peanut yields are unchanged. Corn and soybean acreages have declined in favor of cotton.

"Real" profitability, based on 1977 dollars, has declined in the past twenty years for all crops. Most farm input costs tracked or exceeded the inflation rate over the same period. For example, farm equipment costs have increased three- to fivefold and labor has increased threefold since 1973. Producers of most agronomic crops have remained in business by increasing the size of their operations to obtain economies of scale. In doing so, growers buying land and/or crop allotments have increased their debt loads and financial exposure. This shift toward larger farms has, for most commodities, reduced the number of growers. The majority of crop producing families now have off-farm income that stabilizes their financial situation and, in many cases, crop production has become a part-time business.

A future without government programs may witness the movement of significant peanut acreage outside North Carolina. Much like the poultry industry, tobacco production will probably become vertically integrated into the operations of large companies. Grain production will probably shift to the coastal plain where an increasing percentage of the acreage will be irrigated. Much of the reduced corn acreage will be coupled with swine operations. As in the past 10 years, forage crop, turfgrass, and non-crop acreages should continue to increase.

The Expectations of Stakeholders

Traditional Clientele

The Crop Science Department is expected to train students, i.e., agriculture's future leaders and experts, while generating and packaging information that enables farmers, citizens, regulators and agribusiness personnel to manage profitable agricultural enterprises in an environmentally sound manner. The department has a reputation for delivering cutting-edge technologies to farmers. In the future, it will be expected to maintain this close contact with growers while enhancing its interaction with students. Especially challenging will be the necessity to service new, non-traditional clientele.

New Clientele

North Carolina's restructuring agricultural industry will demand that the Crop Science Department provide new services to different clientele groups (Table 1). Future programs will place more emphasis upon the needs of crop advisors and farm production managers because more complex on-site expertise will be needed as farms become larger and as additional responses will be required to governmental programs for environmental quality. More rapid dissemination of integrated information will be required for all clientele. Information will be exchanged across state lines; economics will dictate more multi-state sharing of expertise and resources. Future environmental debates will require the participation of agricultural scientists. It follows that the future will demand more interaction between crop scientists and citizen groups.

Crop Science Capabilities and Limitations

A 1991 CSRS Review panel concluded that the Crop Science Department was, "...an excellent department with an enthusiastic, dedicated faculty that is highly respected within the state, regionally, nationally and internationally." Since 1991, departmental leadership has changed, budget pressures have increased, numerous faculty retirements have occurred or are pending, and a new complement of agricultural and organizational issues confronts the Crop Science Faculty.

Research Activities

The Crop Science Department fields a formidable research effort divided almost evenly between basic and applied activities. That effort involves 20.1 FTE (54%) in applied and 17.1 FTE (46%) in basic research. Much of the applied research is in plant genetics and breeding, crop management, weed science, and plant physiology (Table 2). The majority of basic research is in genetics and breeding, biochemistry, and physiology. The department is strengthened by a large contingent of 16 USDA-ARS faculty. Over one-half of the department's basic research is contributed by USDA-ARS scientists. Fifty-four percent of Crop Science faculty have split appointments.

The Department's research effort is focused upon soybeans and tobacco (52%); the addition of corn and peanuts accounts for 73% of departmental research time (Table 3). In contrast, cotton and turf receive a small portion of total research FTE compared to their value to North Carolina agriculture. The department's research FTE are balanced between basic and applied efforts but unevenly distributed among commodities (Table 4). For example, corn research involves twice as much basic as applied activity, while there is almost three times as much applied tobacco research as basic.

Extension Activities

Leadership for commodity activities usually is held by extension faculty. In addition to providing education programs for extension agents and growers and conducting applied research, extension faculty maintain close relationships with crop producers, agribusiness, and stakeholders for their assigned commodities. Sixteen faculty members have extension responsibilities; 5 of the 16 are participants in the Department's teaching program,

Teaching Activities

The Crop Science Department has responsibilities for instruction and advising in two concentrations in the two-year Agricultural Institute Program, for instruction and advising in five concentrations in the undergraduate Agronomy curriculum, and offers training leading to the M.Ag., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in disciplines represented by the faculty. Twenty-seven faculty have split appointments that include academic responsibilities. Of these, xxx are greater than 20%.

Crop Science Strategy

The Crop Science Department is a matrix organization with responsibilities based both on discipline and commodity. In several instances, commodity focus and discipline areas merge based on unique features of commodity utilization. Current discipline areas include extension; teaching; crop management, with specialized organization based on forage utilization and turfgrass science; plant breeding and genetics; plant physiology; and weed science. As the Department pursues its mission, its salient strategy will be (1) to maintain and enhance excellence in discipline areas, (2) to provide outstanding leadership in commodity areas, (3) to continue development of research and education programs that examine the role of crop production practices on environmental quality, (4) to exploit departmental expertise in enhancing its exceptional teaching program, and (5) to administer these strategies with efficiency.

Sustaining Current Competencies

Currently, about 35% of departmental research FTEs are found in genetics and breeding, molecular genetics, and molecular biology. While many other land-grant institutions have eliminated programs in cultivar development, the Crop Science Department has maintained a strong commitment to programs that lead to the release of improved germplasm. It has complemented that expertise by building a competency in molecular genetics that interacts with the cultivar development programs.

Weed science and extension stand out as other strong discipline areas. Weed Science combines excellence in applied and basic research with communication of that knowledge in effective extension and teaching programs. Extension is charged with providing direction to the department's commodity focus. As providers of agronomic information to the state, extension is the most visible component of the Crop Science Department. Its support of our clientele and, in turn, the support from clientele to our department, are critical to the continued success of both groups.

Building New Strengths

It is the department's intent to sustain its core competencies in extension, plant breeding and genetics, and weed science while elevating other programs to a comparable stature. Turfgrass science and forage utilization could quickly become areas of excellence. North Carolina's turf industry continues to expand and a strong relationship exists between the turf industry and the departmental program. Forages appear destined to play a crucial role in swine and poultry waste management as well as sustainable agricultural systems. Expertise in crop physiology is a critical component of both commodity and discipline areas. The department has significant skills relative to the role of production systems on environmental quality, and further coordination of these skills will be critical to the future of agriculture in North Carolina.

An Emphasis Upon Teaching

The importance of teaching cannot be overstated. Quality of departmental teaching programs is of the highest priority. The Department is committed to increasing faculty participation in its teaching program, providing instruction of value to future members of the agricultural community, upgrading its classroom facilities, and bringing innovation to Crop Science classrooms.

Issues and Recommendations

The Department has identified five major issues that will affect implementation of its strategy for attaining excellence in research areas and commodity leadership while transferring that expertise and experience to students and other clientele. For each of these issues, goals have been set, and strategies for meeting those goals are presented.

Issue 1. How to Strengthen Crop Science Programs in Discipline and Commodity Areas

Excellence In Discipline Areas

To pursue a strategy of achieving excellence in discipline areas and providing outstanding leadership in commodity assignments, the Department must ensure that it employs highly-qualified, productive faculty. Faculty productivity is strongly influenced by facilities, funding levels, and demands upon one's time. The Department's ability to attract new funding and bright graduate students is dependent upon the reputation of its discipline groups outside the North Carolina State University. The reputation of discipline groups is, in turn, determined by individual and collective efforts manifested in publications, professional presentations, contributions to professional societies, and the hosting of workshops and symposia. The Department must increase its efforts in all of the aforementioned areas.

Flexible Faculty

Future agricultural systems will be characterized by rapid technological change. Accordingly, the Crop Science Department must develop mechanisms that enable it to respond in timely fashion to changing rotational systems and cropping patterns. If the Department is to meet clientele demands, faculty assignments must be made more flexible without sacrificing disciplinary strengths. One means of gaining flexibility while responding to tomorrow's dynamic agriculture involves creation of research/extension teams that focus on cropping systems. For example, teams might be formed that address grain crops, the cotton/peanut rotation, or forage/animal systems. Teams could be composed of faculty from several disciplines and departments; their principal advantage would be the ability to assimilate and distribute holistic information to growers. The "systems team" approach will improve clientele service and enhance internal communication while ensuring optimum use of personnel and resources.

Professional Development

Flexible assignments and redirection dictate that faculty and staff obtain new skills. Outside of the occasional sabbatical, there are few professional development activities for staff members. True sabbaticals, while attractive, are impractical for many faculty. Furthermore, staff are not eligible for sabbaticals. Faculty, as well as staff, should be encouraged to pursue professional development activities. When there is interest and need, the Department should organize, sponsor and sanction activities like team-building exercises and time-management seminars.

Recommendations

1. The Department should be structured to facilitate response to clientele and maintenance of quality.

   1. The Department should strive to mold its discipline groups into "centers of excellence." Professional presence through publications, society activities, and hosting of symposia should be encouraged. Critical masses of faculty should be maintained in those discipline groups recognized as departmental strengths, i.e., plant breeding and genetics, weed science, and extension.
   2. The Department should encourage members of its discipline groups to meet regularly, identify weaknesses, solve problems, plan strategies, and find ways to enhance the professional stature of the group and its members.
   3. The Department should develop the flexibility needed to respond to a changing agriculture by forming multi-commodity, research/extension teams that deliver holistic information to clientele.
   4. The Department should strive to provide productive professional development activities for faculty, staff, and graduate students.
   5. The Department should seek more balance in its commodity endeavors while increasing its activity in commodities that offer producers the most profitable future.

2. The Department should direct positions when they become available to meet future needs of North Carolina agriculture.

   1. The Department needs a position dedicated to cotton breeding. It should assign full-time cotton breeding duties to the current breeder; the breeder's variety testing responsibilities should be transferred to a research associate.
   2. The Department must fill the vacant turfgrass teaching/physiology position to meet critical teaching and research needs for the exploding North Carolina turf industry.
   3. The Department needs a turfgrass breeder who can address turf needs and problems arising from North Carolina's location in the climatic transition zone between North and South. Such a position could build on strengths in turf science, plant breeding, molecular genetics, and extension.
   4. The Department needs a faculty position in forage/animal systems. This position would examine forage management, forage-based animal production systems, waste management, and other environmental issues and would contribute important expertise to the teaching program.
   5. A vacant extension position should be small-grain based, with the individual examining the role of small grain production practices in farming systems.
   6. When appropriate, the Department should broaden its extension position that has been dedicated to peanuts; the new direction would provide leadership to a team approach for peanut/cotton production systems based on the cropping patterns used by peanut growers in the state. Additional assistance to peanut growers could come about through redirection of existing extension activities, perhaps in seeds. 
   7. The Department needs to ensure that its activities can continue in normal fashion when its Reedy Creek facilities are transferred to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Issue 2. How to Develop and Implement a Departmental Thrust in Agro-Ecology

The Crop Science Department has considerable expertise in pesticide behavior in the environment and analytical chemistry. The Department has strength in weed science, an established IPM program and emerging prowess in sustainable agriculture. These attributes suggest that the Department has all the necessary talent and resources to develop a dominant research program examining the role of farming practices and systems on environmental quality. We have chosen to define this program with the term "agro-ecology." A visible program in agro-ecology will enable the Crop Science Department to generate the information needed to resolve complex debates that will arise as the landscape is used simultaneously for agriculture, recreation, and economic development. A strong presence in agro-ecology will make the Department more competitive for multidisciplinary water quality and waste management funding in the future. Strong support facilities, like the pesticide residue laboratory and the new Center for Environmental Farming Systems (Cherry Hospital) are already in place and others, such as the proposed Golf Course on the Centennial Campus, represent opportunities.

An informal examination of agro-ecology programs at other institutions suggests that our department would have a competitive advantage over existing agro-ecology initiatives based on our strong programs in production agriculture. An agro-ecology emphasis will enable the department to address public concern about potentially adverse impacts of agriculture on natural resources and food safety, and also provide the knowledge base for successful continuation of agriculture in the state. It should not be overlooked that strong agricultural programs given an ecological focus will attract students from outside our traditional student base. Employment for agro-ecology graduates is available in industry and regulatory agencies. The integration of ecology-oriented students into our programs will give our department and our future graduates greater insight into the environmental problems facing agriculture regardless of their vocation.

Recommendations

1. The Department should identify a core group of project leaders and ask them to make agro-ecology a discipline area in the department.
2. The Department should redirect some existing chemistry expertise into the environmental chemistry arena. 
3. The Department should establish an undergraduate curriculum in agro-ecology.
4. The Department should incorporate an agro-ecology focus both in appropriate existing programs and in responsibilities of new faculty.

Issue 3. How to Improve Academic Instruction, Attract Adequate Numbers of Talented Undergraduate and Graduate Students, and Catalyze Innovation in Crop Science Classrooms

Future work environments, on and off the farm, will demand that Crop Science graduates have more sophisticated skills. In addition to agronomic knowledge, they must exhibit improved computer, writing and interpersonal skills. The Crop Science Department has, for too long, depended upon a few individuals to carry the teaching load. The Department should build upon its tradition of showing genuine concern for students by challenging them with new experiences and opportunities. An international experience for students is desirable as is a supervised farm experience for those who lack a farm background. The Department must make classroom innovation and use of electronic media by students and instructors a priority. Most importantly, it must, as a whole, move quickly to show a commitment to teaching that equals its commitment to research and extension. A part of that commitment should involve development of a peer evaluation process for teaching that ensures faculty will be rewarded for excellence in teaching.

Recommendations

1. The Department should ensure efficient management of teaching activities by separating the administration of its academic programs into graduate and undergraduate entities.
2. The Department should spread the Crop Science teaching load to more faculty members.
3. The Department should involve more faculty members in the advising of advising of undergraduate students and seek more efficient methods for meeting the advising needs of turf students.
4. The department should develop a protocol for peer evaluation of teaching that includes peer observation.
5. The Department should focus its agronomic educational efforts upon the attainment of skills that include problem solving, team-building, writing and computer use.
6. The Department should use faculty teams for regular review of course curricula; course curricula should be easily accessible to students.
7. The Department should improve its classroom facilities and develop laboratory facilities that are dedicated to teaching.
8. The Department should incorporate state-of-the art electronic media into Crop Science classrooms.
9. The Department should convert the undergraduate, senior seminar course into a leadership course that culminates in an opportunity for international experience; structured leadership development opportunities for graduate students also should exist.
10. The Department should incorporate an internship program into its student activities wherein a valuable work experience is approved and reviewed by the Department.

Issue 4. How to Improve Information Delivery to Clientele

Assessing Clientele Needs

Departmental decisions are often based upon information "filtered" through traditional channels. Although events like CALS commodity reviews are conducted for the purpose of collecting clientele input, those sessions are too structured to provide adequate interaction between Crop Science faculty and their clientele. It follows that the Department would benefit from two-way communication with selected clientele audiences because face-to-face meetings can generate new ideas and give direction to departmental efforts. Clientele involvement in departmental decision-making also provides a critical base of support when new programs are launched. Such meetings might include: 

1. a group of successful alumni gathered to discuss undergraduate teaching,
2. a contingent of industry representatives gathered to discuss skills needed by Crop Science graduates and 
3. a group of high school science teachers gathered to discuss how the Crop Science Department can contribute more to science education,
4. a group of environmentalists gathered to discuss agricultural impacts on natural resources, or
5. a contingent of extension agents gathered to discuss how Crop Science can work with them to improve communication and effectiveness.

Non-Traditional Communication

The Crop Science Department is also obligated to address public concerns and misconceptions about science and scientists. Middle and high school teachers should be targeted in efforts to improve society's understanding of scientific principles. The Department must communicate its accomplishments to farm and non-farm clientele via traditional and non-traditional avenues. The electronic "Information Highway" will offer many opportunities to interact with diverse clientele.

Recommendations

1. The Department should regularly engage selected clientele groups in discussions aimed at improving departmental programs.
2. The Department should meet periodically with current and former graduate and undergraduate students to obtain feedback concerning its academic programs.
3. The Department should plan and implement a formal "outreach" program wherein it strives to improve the credibility of scientists in public schools and the local community.
4. The Department should strengthen its linkages with campus communication entities (e.g., Agricultural Communications, University Advancement).
5. The Department should increase its accessibility to and exposure on the "Information Highway."

Issue 5. How to Improve Administrative Effectiveness in the Crop Science Department

In this era of scare resources, the Crop Science Department must operate in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The department must design and implement administrative procedures that improve individual project as well as departmental management. Clear communication, sound decision-making and widespread faculty involvement in program development is vital.

Recommendations

1. Academic and extension administrators should be named Assistant Department Heads. Upon absence of the Head, these individuals would assume administrative duties and would be perceived by clientele as representing the entire department.
2. The Extension Leader should have sufficient time to maintain a strong field program as well as administrative duties.
3. The Department should use its advisory committees to develop departmental policies and procedures.
4. The Department should continuously strive to excise from its operations any "bureaucratic" activities that do not contribute to staff productivity.
5. The Department should facilitate efficient delivery of administrative information through implementation of a viable electronic mail system.

(revised 1994)