MSU Researcher Contributes to Internationally Awarded Study on Benefits of Farm Diversification

By Justin Whitmore

A team of researchers, including Michigan State University Assistant Professor Olivia Smith, earned international recognition for a 2024 published study finding that agricultural diversification results in positive outcomes for growers and the environment around the world.

The paper, published in Science and titled “Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture,” analyzed data from 24 studies in 11 countries and found that implementing livestock diversification or soil conservation tended to create beneficial social and environmental outcomes.

The project and findings earned the team one of 19 U.S. national champion recognitions for the Frontiers Planet Prize, as well as one of three international champion awards. The international champions are each awarded $1 million to support continued scientific breakthroughs.

The study was massive in scope, bringing together more than 55 researchers to consolidate regional data from more than 2,600 farms around the world.

Smith, who was hired to the Department of Horticulture in August 2024, focused her study – one of the 24 studies underlying the Science paper – on the benefits of integrating livestock into crop production on farms on the West Coast of the United States.