Agricultural Research, Development, and Education
![Wheat field [Photo courtesy of USDA/NRCS]](/images/cattle-NRCSCA00047.jpg)
We are advancing agriculture worldwide with our knowledge of environmental sciences, pollution control technologies and practices, food security, food safety and risk assessment, agricultural economics, and biofuels and microbial technology development.
Our multidisciplinary approach to problem solving and innovation uses skills such as multimedia modeling and geographic information systems to assess and plan site-specific, regional, and national strategies that promote and enhance both sustainable agriculture and sustainable environments. Our outreach programs communicate effective environmental management practices to the agricultural community.
Focus Areas and Capabilities
- Livestock nutrient management planning and environmental assessment of agricultural operations (including manure management)
- Climate change (emissions inventorying, impacts analysis, sequestration) and vulnerability analyses (including flooding, water and food supply, disease)
- Agriculture economics, including feasibility studies and ecosystem valuation
- Local and regional governance of predominantly agricultural regions
- Food security and food safety risk and economic analyses
- Tools, methods, and protocol development (nutrient, carbon, and air pollution credit trading, impact assessment) to leverage agriculture value
- Agriculture educational capacity building
- Biofuels research, development, and outreach for farm-level implementation
- Outreach and risk communication to agricultural communities
- Microbial research
Example Projects
- Comprehensive Environmental Assessment and Nutrient Management Plans for Livestock Operations [http://livestock.rti.org]
- Developing and Refining Ecosystem Services Approaches Relevant to Restoring the Chesapeake Bay
- Development of a Nationwide Geospatial Database of Poultry Farms for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study Project
- Full Economic Feasibility Assessment of the Smithfield Foods Agreement
- Technical Assistance for Project Completion Report Survey for the Agricultural Services Project
-
North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation—Farm Energy Efficiency Program (FEEP) Project
Contact us for more information
- Marion E. Deerhake
- Robert H. Beach
Helping Livestock and Poultry Operations Manage Nutrients
RTI and North Carolina State University's Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center helped livestock and poultry farmers better understand the potential for environmental impacts from their facilities and identify best management practices they can use.