ABOUT
Farm Meets Function: A Project of the Wyoming Open Spaces Initiative
Agricultural land is a major component of Wyoming’s open spaces: 93% of the privately owned land in this state is classified as agriculture (Hamerlinck et al. 2013). In addition to crop and range habitats, farmers and ranchers also manage a suite of non-crop habitats and structures for services other than food production. Although Wyoming has a strong farming and ranching culture, 69% of the population lives in incorporated cities and towns and may not be aware of the multidimensional role that agricultural land plays in our state (Hamerlinck et al. 2013). Agricultural land, with its diverse habitats and management strategies, provides many services beneficial to humans. Ecosystem services provided may vary according to farm type, location, scale, and priorities of the manager.
We evaluated the ecosystem services provided by agricultural landscapes in Wyoming through a combination of interviews with both producers and the agriculture and conservation professionals that work with them. We asked “what do producers do with their land other than produce food?” This project tells the stories of the services that agricultural ecosystems provide - providing habitat for bees, preserving history and a sense of community, supporting clean water, and so many more. All producer interviews can be accessed from the home page. The agricultural professional interviews were used to guide the overall content of this website.
This project is part of the Wyoming Open Spaces Initiative, made possible with funding from the Walton Family Foundation. This idea was developed by Dr. Randa Jabbour, a Plant Sciences faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, with help from David Keto and Rachel Mealor of the phenomenal UW Extension Communications and Technology team. We were inspired by some foundational research conducted in Vermont by Sarah Lovell, and curious to see how it translated to our beloved Wyoming. Conor Mullen, videographer extraordinaire, filmed and directed the interviews. Technician Zoe Nelson developed the website and partnered with Randa to conduct all the interviews in a short summer. Ann Tanaka, Makenzie Benander, Allison Jones, Urszula Norton, and Josh Kaffer provided advice on web design and video edits.
To learn more about Randa's teaching and research efforts, follow us on our blog, our snazzy Instagram account (@weevilwarriors), and Randa's Twitter (@randajab). Questions and comments about this project should be directed to Dr. Randa Jabbour at [email protected].
We evaluated the ecosystem services provided by agricultural landscapes in Wyoming through a combination of interviews with both producers and the agriculture and conservation professionals that work with them. We asked “what do producers do with their land other than produce food?” This project tells the stories of the services that agricultural ecosystems provide - providing habitat for bees, preserving history and a sense of community, supporting clean water, and so many more. All producer interviews can be accessed from the home page. The agricultural professional interviews were used to guide the overall content of this website.
This project is part of the Wyoming Open Spaces Initiative, made possible with funding from the Walton Family Foundation. This idea was developed by Dr. Randa Jabbour, a Plant Sciences faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, with help from David Keto and Rachel Mealor of the phenomenal UW Extension Communications and Technology team. We were inspired by some foundational research conducted in Vermont by Sarah Lovell, and curious to see how it translated to our beloved Wyoming. Conor Mullen, videographer extraordinaire, filmed and directed the interviews. Technician Zoe Nelson developed the website and partnered with Randa to conduct all the interviews in a short summer. Ann Tanaka, Makenzie Benander, Allison Jones, Urszula Norton, and Josh Kaffer provided advice on web design and video edits.
To learn more about Randa's teaching and research efforts, follow us on our blog, our snazzy Instagram account (@weevilwarriors), and Randa's Twitter (@randajab). Questions and comments about this project should be directed to Dr. Randa Jabbour at [email protected].
We interviewed farmers and ranchers in southeastern Wyoming, the Big Horn Basin, and near Sheridan. Our goal was to represent the diversity of agricultural operations in our state, including small and large-scale operations, with and without livestock, producing everything from wine grapes to wheat.
