See Blue, Go Green

Do you notice anything different about this issue of the Ag Magazine. Unless you are a professional printer, you probably do not see or feel the difference, but we made some big changes:

• The magazine can now be completely recycled because we’ve gone to a UV-coated cover.

• The inside pages now use 30 percent recycled content (up from 10 percent).

• Our printer is a now a certified vendor through the Forestry Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forest Initiative, which means the paper we use originates in sustainably managed forests.

And the biggest surprise for me? We save a little on printing costs.

Environmental issues have once again come to the front of the national and global stage, led by concerns about energy and climate change.

These topics and others related to natural resources are not only dominating the media, they are reshaping our work in the College—from biofuels research, to restoration of mined lands, to stewardship for cropland and forest landscapes, to recyclable magazines.

For decades, research and education at the nation’s colleges of agriculture has brought about extraordinary innovation in management of natural resources. Our scientists worked primarily in agricultural production, but they helped to vastly expand our understanding of soil, air, and water systems plus the living things that depend upon them.

Now, that knowledge and creative capacity is being unleashed on global challenges.      

Technological innovation is not likely to answer all of our environmental and energy problems. Wise policy choices and even changes in our concepts of stewardship and sustainability will be critical.

But land-grant research and education should be expected to offer a host of new products, practices, and ideas to protect the environment that are sustainable and sometimes even more affordable. Rest assured, your College of Agriculture expects to be part of the solution.

M. Scott Smith
Dean and Director, College of Agriculture

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