KBS LTAR releases monthly crop photo timeline to track changes in five-crop rotation
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EmailWhat does a five-crop rotation look like as it grows? The KBS LTAR has captured monthly photos from the 2025 growing season as a resource for scientists & stakeholders.
The Kellogg Biological Station’s Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (KBS LTAR) team recently published a photo timeline that visually compares the two cropping systems in the Aspirational Cropping Systems Experiment (ACSE) throughout the 2025 growing season.
This resource comes in response to researchers and other partners asking for photos of each crop and system in the field, as they are growing. Ongoing research at the KBS LTAR quantifies soil health, insect biodiversity, soil erosion and more, and these photos add context to the visual differences seen throughout the year.
The Aspirational Cropping Systems Experiment compares a system reflecting regional prevailing practices (Business as Usual, or BAU) to a system designed to maximize ecosystem services (Aspirational, ASP). The ASP cropping system implements a diverse crop rotation, continuous no-till, cover crops, integrated pest management, precision inputs, and prairie strips, while the BAU system uses prevailing agronomic practices in a corn-soybean rotation, including conventional tillage, uniform inputs, and no cover crops.
The ACSE Photo Timeline can be a helpful tool to educate researchers and the public on how the two systems differ and help us visualize an agroecosystem. It can also help show crop growth in different seasons or be a tool for farmers to see how our research plots compare to their fields, one month at a time.
“Fields in Contrast: A Visual Journey of the KBS LTAR” is an open resource available on the KBS LTAR website for scientists and stakeholders to explore. Photos can be downloaded and used with appropriate credit to “KBS LTAR, Aerin Braunohler.” Access the timeline at this link or on our website.
In addition to this collection, the KBS LTAR continues to capture monthly images of the ACSE to compare with our collected scientific data. All KBS LTAR photos are stored on our website and available for use.
