Diversity of insects, income streams, and products benefit the farm, market, and landscape levels we discussed in our previous post on why the Diverse Corn Belt project (DCB) was started. Now, let’s take a look at what agricultural diversification means from the soil to the kitchen table.

The Diverse Corn Belt project works with more than 30 partners across Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. At the latest team meeting in Davenport, Iowa, we talked with our DCB team members about their perspectives on agricultural diversification.

Dr. Linda Prokopy, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department Head and Professor at Purdue University, is DCB’s Project Director. She says that agricultural diversity has several aspects.

“Diversity, when we think about the Corn Belt, means resilience,” Prokopy says. “It means adaptation to climate change. It means better economic health and social health for farmers and rural communities, and it also means we’re reaching a diverse set of people who are benefiting from all of those different changes.”

Insects are on the ground floor for diverse ag systems.

Diversity means “overall abundance” for Christine Elliot. She is a Ph.D. student in entomology at Purdue University and part of the in-field team, researchers who measure soil health, insects, and water on Midwestern farms.

“Specifically, within agroecosystems, the more diverse plants, the more diverse food resources, the more diverse habitats there are to support more diverse insect biodiversity,” Elliot says. “That means more ecosystem services, so that means better pollination, which is going to increase your crop yields.”

Greater diversity also can suppress pests. Insects prey on other insects, and supporting these “diverse natural enemies” can mean that pests in crop fields are better managed. That brings more abundance beyond agroecosystems.

“More insects means more food,” Elliot says. “Insects are the keystone member of food webs for all of the terrestrial food webs. It’s going to mean more birds, it’s going to mean more fish, it’s going to mean more bats. More diversity in crops means more diversity in insects, which means more diversity everywhere else. It just trickles right up.”

Those diversified income streams lead to more opportunities for selling in varied markets, according to Dr. Ariana Torres, who studies the economics of horticultural businesses at Purdue University.

“If we have a selection or a portfolio of markets, we’re going to have different income streams that farmers can acquire,” Torres says. “Therefore, they’re going to be more sustainable and profitable long-term.”

The final products created from farmers’ crops and livestock can be diversified, as well, says Randy Ackah, graduate student at Illinois State University.

“As we incorporate other crops into corn and soybeans, these crops can also have diversified output,” Ackah says. “Like oats. There is not just one product or output for oats.”

Whether oats for livestock or oats for oatmeal, Ackah asks how we can create more products from the crops that are raised for those diversified income streams that Gramig and Torres mention.

Overall, the abundance of agricultural diversity leads to better quality of life, says Elliot.

“In Indiana, our state insect is a firefly,” Elliot says. “Those can be really evocative. They have this aesthetic value, as well. Kids love insects, and it’s a really great way to get kids interested in nature and science, as well.”

From insects to the kitchen table, creating agricultural diversity has many benefits, including risk management, pest management, and higher quality of life.

Read more about DCB’s work to understand the many facets of agricultural diversification in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana in our latest publication, “The Diverse Corn Belt Project: Year 3 Highlights.”