Research highlights need for grassland conservation, agriculture support

For farmers struggling against economic forces and doing everything they can to keep afloat, grassland biodiversity may be the last thing they want to worry about.

But expanding crops into grasslands to increase production could further jeopardize their operations’ profitability due to diminished yields, according to University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers. And these areas, while generally not well suited for growing crops, are important to the native biodiversity of the Midwest.