Jonathan Omar Cole Kubesch, an associate editor and contributor to The Ladyslipper, graduated with his PhD in Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences from Virginia Tech on December 15, 2023.
Jonathan has been an advocate for native plants and ecosystems in unconventional spaces throughout the Midwest and Upper South. His doctoral work was part of a National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant regarding bee-friendly beef. Jonathan’s work focused on the establishment of complex native grass and wildflower mixtures in grazing systems to enhance livestock productivity and welfare as well as provide resources to native pollinators.
Jonathan’s dissertation abstract is presented below:
“Tall fescue grasslands are the dominant form of grasslands in the North American transition zone, however, warm-season forages provide necessary forage for livestock in the summer. Pollinators require steady forage availability in the same fashion as cattle. Native warm-season grasses (NWSG) and wildflowers (WF) could be incorporated into tall fescue (TF) grasslands to improve pollinator resources within agricultural landscapes without sacrificing livestock production. This balance of ecosystem services can be considered bee-friendly beef. Previous establishment experiments suggest that bee-friendly beef is a possibility, although establishment and persistence of NWSG-WF stands warrants additional research. Three small plot experiments were conducted to evaluate different planting methods designed to optimize establishment of NWSG-WF stands. Additionally, a grazing study examined whether NWSG-WF pasture enhancement could improve animal performance in TF grazing systems. The small plot experiments experienced extreme weed competition in the establishment year, although plots with higher NWSG content had fewer weeds over time. Floral production was comparable across treatment, which suggests lower WF seeding rates can generate comparable pollinator resources. Major findings from these experiments suggested that spatial or temporal separation of NWSGWF was unnecessary to generate successful establishment, varying the ratio of NWSG-WF in seed mixtures produced similar establishment outcomes, and that adding companion crops to NWSG-WF mixtures did not improve establishment success appreciably. In the grazing experiment, animal performance was improved in the biodiverse grazing systems when heifers 3 had access to the NWSG. Biodiverse and shaded grazing systems modified animal behavior and reduced body temperature relative to control grazing systems, although only biodiverse grazing systems improved animal performance. Native WF species failed to establish within the biodiverse grazing system, but white clover provided all subsequent floral production. Establishing WF in pastures is challenging and warrants additional study on more effective weed control strategies and systems to ensure establishment success. Selecting WF for agronomic performance or breeding such plant material will be necessary to improve emergence and establishment dynamics. Ideally trait data can identify the optimal WF species for specific grazing systems. Biodiverse NWSG-WF can be highly effective at improving summer weight gain in beef cattle. Future studies should focus on finding a more optimal balance of NWSG, WF, and TF that can benefit beef cattle production, pollinator services, and ecosystem services regarding soil and water quality, as well as pasture resiliency to dynamic conditions.”