By: Nyah Adams / News Director

St. Cloud State University is doing their part in reducing greenhouse gasses in agriculture by encouraging farmers to transition to more environmentally and climate friendly forms of farming.

St. Cloud State Sociology professor Dr. Ann Finan is looking at what the barriers are to farmers adopting perennial forage systems and how those barriers vary by social characteristics like gender, class, race, ethnicity and culture.

Finan says, “this grant gives our students an opportunity to see this applied social science research process firsthand.” “We expect our faculty and students to be involved in not only the data collection process, but also in analyzing, presenting and publishing around this project for several years into the future.”

The goals are to have an impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, encourage farmers to transition to more environmentally and climate friendly systems, and integrate the needs of a wide range of farmers, including farmers of color, women farmers and economically-disadvantaged farmers to help them benefit from the transition to more sustainable forms of farming.

The project involves a diverse, transdisciplinary team of more than 50 researchers and stakeholders from 23 universities, two USDA-Agricultural Research Service centers, as well as 12 farmer organizations, industry groups, non-governmental organizations and government agencies.

The grant that started this fall is looking to connect with farm organizations, in particular those serving Native American, Hmong, and African American and African immigrant community farmers. Farm groups interested in the project can contact Finan at asfinan@stcloudstate.edu to learn how they can get involved.