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Wes Jackson

The Land Institute

Guided by the idea that the most rational agriculture for any region is the one based on the least elusive standard for sustainability:

NATURE

"People are primarily grass seed eaters, and secondarily legume seed eaters. These seeds (grains such as wheat, and soybeans) are annuals selected historically to grow best in monocultures. Farmers must till the soil yearly to plant grains, leaving it bare, vulnerable to wind and rain. Tons of topsoil wash into our river; some ends up in the sea."

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"In the Great Plains, the natural vegetation is prairie -- mixed communities of grasses, legumes, and other plant families -- that once supported large numbers of animals, and human life. Our goal is to create prairie-like grain fields, combinations we call herbaceous perennial seed-producing polycultures. We think these domestic prairies would secure the soil, cope successfully with insects and disease and utilize water in an optimum way."

"Because our standard is Nature, The Land Institute's research should apply beyond Kansas or even the prairies; the ecological principles we discover for agriculture should be relevant worldwide."

"The Land Institute is a private, non-profit organization that is devoted to sustainable agriculture and good stewardship of the earth. The goal of study and research is to help transform agriculture in order to protect the long term ability of the earth to support a variety of life and culture."

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For detailed information contact:

The Land Institute

2440 East Water Well Road

Salina, Kansas 67401

Telephone (913) 823-5376

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All Photographs And Text On This Web Site Copyright (C) 1996 Jim Bones

Unless Otherwise Indicated

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