Hewitt: Why is it useful to demonstrate cropping systems and their outcomes to the public?

Reflections from students of an Agroecology course at North Carolina State University

Apr 30, 2025

This post is by Jaleel Hewitt, who introduces himself as follows: I'm Jaleel, a senior majoring in Agroecology with a passion for sustainable farming and community-based food systems. I grew up in Jamaica, where working on my dad’s farm really got me connected with agriculture. Outside of straight academics, I enjoy growing vegetables and herbs in my backyard during the spring and summer. I’m also an avid fisherman, so even when fishing, I find myself thinking about ecosystems, water quality, and how agroecology ties land and water together in creating healthier environments that enable fisheries to thrive.

Note: This series of student posts are only lightly edited to maintain the students’ voices.

As part of our group’s agroecosystem design project at the NC State Agroecology Education Farm, we created a ten-year crop rotation plan on a one-acre plot, using sweet potatoes and winter wheat as our primary cash crops, and rotating them with a variety of cover crops including sorghum-sudangrass, hairy vetch, Austrian winter pea, sunn hemp, cowpea, and sunflower. Our system follows a substitutive paradigm, which aims to maintain or even increase yields while reducing environmental harm. The goal is to create a farm design that supports ecosystem services such as improved soil health, nutrient cycling, and pollinator habitat, without relying solely on synthetic inputs.

It’s important to remember that sustainability doesn’t mean excluding conventional practices—it means rethinking how they can be used in more thoughtful, balanced ways.

Our demonstration is part of a broader effort at the Agroecology Education Farm to explore sustainable farming practices across different scales and types of agriculture. The farm already features a wide variety of examples including a pollinator garden, a contoured food forest, a rotational grazing plot for cattle, and a one-acre organic vegetable field.

However, until recently, it lacked an example of how agroecological methods could be applied to conventional commodity crops—something that’s essential for gaining the trust of current and future farmers. Seeing is believing. If we want young people and established growers to take these methods seriously, they need to see systems that actually work in the field—not just in theory, but in practice.

This is especially important in a state like North Carolina. NC has been the top sweet potato producer in the United States since 1971 and continues to dominate the market. In 2021, North Carolina produced 1.8 billion pounds of sweet potatoes—about 64% of the total U.S. output (USDA ERS). With such a major stake in the sweet potato industry, it only makes sense to lead the way in demonstrating how to grow this crop more sustainably. As the North Carolina Organic Commodities Production Guide explains, sustainable sweet potato systems are possible, but they require careful management of cover crops, rotation strategies, and pest control (NC State Extension). That’s where our plot comes in. By demonstrating a real-world rotation that includes wheat, cover crops, and sweet potatoes, we hope to spark conversations about the possibilities of farming that doesn’t sacrifice the environment or profitability.

Sweet Potatoes in North Carolina | Muzzarelli Farms

We chose wheat as our second cash crop not just for its agronomic value, but for its educational and community potential. Wheat, being a deep-rooted crop, works well in rotation with sweet potatoes, which have shallow roots. This pairing helps ensure balanced nutrient uptake and soil health improvement over time (Xiao et al.). Beyond that, wheat offers opportunities for value-added products that can engage the broader NC State community. We imagined wheat being milled into flour then being donated to NC State Dining or student organizations like the NC State’s Baking Club to create loaves. Even if flour production isn't feasible right away, the wheat could be harvested early for silage and donated to the beef unit, creating a direct link between crop and livestock production, a powerful learning opportunity in itself.

Post-harvest products and markets are a major part of why public demonstrations like ours are so valuable. Most of the Agroecology Farm’s produce is already sent from the farm to NC State dining halls, where they support local food systems and student nutrition—sweet potatoes should be no different. In the future, we could also imagine sweet potatoes being used by clubs like the Food Science Club or Agroecology Club to make sweet potato pies, chips, fries, or muffins. These kinds of value-added ventures make sustainability feel real and tangible.

They also get people excited—suddenly, farming isn’t just about growing things in rows, it’s about creating food, culture, and community. And that’s really the heart of why these kinds of demonstrations matter. Farming is not just a technical profession—it’s a cultural one.

When students, high schoolers, or volunteers come to the farm and see sustainable practices in action, they start to understand what’s possible. They get their hands in the soil, ask questions, and make connections. Some are inspired to study agriculture. Others just walk away with a better appreciation of how their food is grown. Either way, the impact is real.

Even the cover crops we use—like sorghum-sudangrass, hairy vetch, sunn hemp, and cowpea—are more than just tools for soil health. They’re conversation starters. We can talk about how sorghum-sudangrass helps manage soil moisture, or how hairy vetch fixes nitrogen and reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers. These stories give meaning to what might otherwise be seen as “just grass.” And by rotating these species strategically, we can build soil organic matter, suppress weeds, and support pollinators—all of which strengthens the resilience of the whole system.

Being on an education farm gives us the unique chance to experiment while also educating others. That dual purpose is powerful. The market here is not just about dollars—it’s about ideas, exposure, and experience. We get to label crops, show their journey from seed to harvest to plate, and involve people from different departments like Food Science, Horticulture, Hospitality, and Agricultural Business. By doing this, we not only boost the impact of our work but build community around it. A “Grown at NC State” brand or pop-up market would give students a real-world outlet to share their produce and their stories.

In the end, projects like ours are about more than just yields. They’re about what farming can look like when people work together with the land, not against it. By designing a cropping system that considers biodiversity, resource use, and the well-being of the surrounding community, we’re helping build a model of what a redesigned, resilient farm could be. We’re not claiming to have all the answers—but we’re putting something on the ground that others can see, ask about, and maybe even be inspired by. That’s the power of demonstration. That’s how change starts.

Hewitt: Why is it useful to demonstrate cropping systems and their outcomes to the public?

Reflections from students of an Agroecology course at North Carolina State University

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