Erin Silva
Director
Department of Plant Pathology1630 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706
Dr. Erin Silva is an Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist in Organic and Sustainable Cropping Systems in the Department of Plant Pathology as well as the Director for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. After completion of a PhD in Horticulture at Washington State University, Dr. Silva obtained a faculty position at New Mexico State University. During her tenure at NMSU, Dr. Silva taught courses on organic vegetable production, an experiential learning course integrating the working student organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm on campus. Dr. Silva initiated several organic research projects at NMSU, including work on cover crop-based reduced tillage for organic vegetable crops and breeding vegetables for organic production systems.
These research themes continued as Dr. Silva moved into the first organic-focused research position at the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in 2006. Through her work at UW-Madison, she has developed an internationally recognized program that improves the management of organic production systems and increases the profitability and sustainability for organic producers and rural communities. Her research program provides regional, national, and international leadership on the biological aspects of organic agricultural management, employing an agroecological approach that considers socio-economic factors impacting production decisions. She applies the knowledge generated through her research towards the development of innovative organic production strategies that benefit the farmer, the environment, and the consumer. Her research influences the strong organic sector that contributes to Wisconsin’s agricultural economy, with Wisconsin second only to California as the state with the greatest number of organic farms. In continued support of these farms and the organic sector within the state, nation, and globally, her research and scholarly contributions continue to be directed in the broad area of the biology and agroecology of organic crop management, with emphases on cover crops, soil health, and genotype/ environment interactions.
Brockmueller, B., N. Tautges, L. Vereecke and E.M. Silva. 202X. Reducing Tillage in Organic Soybeans by Spring Seeding a Winter Rye Living Mulch. Submitted to Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
Richardson, G., M. Ruark, T. Radatz, A. Radatz, E. Cooley, E. Silva, J. Zhu, and C. Zegler. 202X. The influence of inherent soil factors and agricultural management on soil organic matter. Submitted to Ecosphere.
Wu, K., E.M. Silva, and A. Gevens. 2022. Exploring grower strategies and needs for enhancing organic disease management of tomato late blight. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Firstview.
Potter, T., L. Vereecke, R.A. Lankau, G.R. Sanford, E.M. Silva, and M.D. Ruark. 2022. Long-term management drives divergence in soil microbial biomass, richness, and composition among upper Midwest, USA cropping systems. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment. 325: 107718.
Keller-Pearson, M., A. Peterson, K. Pederson, L. Willems, J.M. Ané, and E.M. Silva. 2020. Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi has a more significant positive impact on the growth of open-pollinated heirloom varieties of carrots than on hybrid cultivars under organic management conditions. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment. 289.
Ivancic, K.A., M.D. Ruark, F.J. Arriaga, and E.M. Silva. 2019. Spring-seeded green manures continue to demonstrate variable benefits on sandy soil. HortScience. 54:2031-2038. doi: 10.21273/HORTSCI14262-19
Vincent-Caboud, L., Casagrande, M., David, C., Ryan, M.R., Silva, E.M., and Peigné, J. 2019. Using mulch from cover crops to facilitate organic no-till soybean and maize production – a review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 39(5) DOI: 10.1007/s13593-019-0590-2
Carr, P.M., M.A. Cavigelli, H. Darby, K. Delate, J. Eberly, G.G. Gramig, J.R. Heckman, E.B. Mallory, J.R. Reeve, E.M. Silva, D.H. Suchoff, and A.L. Woodley. 2019. Nutrient cycling in organic field crops in Canada and the United States. Agronomy Journal. 111:2769-2785. doi:10.2134/agronj2019.04.0275
Carr, P.M., M.A. Cavigelli, H. Darby, K. Delate, J. Eberly, H.K. Fryer, G.G. Gramig, J.R. Heckman, E.B. Mallory, J.R. Reeve, E.M. Silva, D.H. Suchoff, and A.L. Woodley. 2019. Green manure and animal manure use in organic field crop systems. Agronomy Journal. 112:648-674. 10.1002/agj2.20082
Diederich, K. M.D. Ruark, K. Krishnan, F. Arriaga, and E.M. Silva. 2019. Increasing labile soil C and N fractions require a change in system, rather than practice. Soil Science Society of America Journal. DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2018.11.0458
Vincent-Caboud, L., L. Vereecke, E.M. Silva, and J. Peigné. 2019. Cover crop effectiveness varies in cover crop-based rotational tillage organic soybean systems depending on species and environment. Agronomy. DOI: 10.3390/agronomy9060319
Silva, E.M. and L. Vereecke. 2019. Optimizing organic cover crop-based rotational tillage systems for early soybean growth. Organic Agriculture. Firstview 1-11.
Lyon, A.H., W.F. Tracy, J. Zystro, and E.M. Silva. 2019. Using adaptability analysis in a participatory variety trial of organic vegetable crops. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Firstview DOI: 10.1017/S1742170518000583
Silva, E.M., J. Klink, E. McKinney, J. Price, P. Deming, H. Rivedal, and J. Colquhoun. 2019. Attitudes of university campus dining customers towards sustainability-related food values. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Firstview DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170519000036
Silva, E. M. and M. Tchamitchian. 2018. Long-term systems experiments and long-term agricultural research sites as tools in agroecological research and design. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. 42:620-628.
Weil, R., E.M. Silva, J. Hendrickson, and P.D. Mitchell. 2017. Time and technique studies for assessing labor productivity on diversified organic vegetable farms. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 7:129-148.
Silva, E.M. and K. Delate. 2017. A decade of progress in organic cover crop-based reduced tillage practices in the Upper Midwestern USA. Agriculture. 7:44.
Vincent-Caboud, L., J. Peigné, M. Casagrande, and E.M. Silva. 2017. Overview of organic cover crop – based no tillage technique in Europe: Farmers’ practices and research challenges. Agriculture. 7:42
Liang, D., F. Sun, M. Wattiaux, V. Cabrera, J. Hedtcke, and E.M. Silva. 2017. Effect of feeding strategies and cropping systems on greenhouse gases emission from Wisconsin certified organic dairy farms. Journal of Dairy Science. 7:5957-5973.
Silva, E.M. and V.M. Moore. 2017. Cover Crops as an Agroecological Practice on Organic Vegetable Farms in Wisconsin, USA. Sustainability. 9:55-70.
Silva, E.M., J. Hendrickson, P.D. Mitchell, and E. Bietila. 2017. A participatory approach to assess labor inputs on organic diversified vegetable farms in the Upper Midwestern United States. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Firstview 1-6.
Plant Pathology 367 – Organic Production, Policy, and Markets
- Clif Bar Endowed Chair in Organic Grain Agriculture and Outreach
- American Society of Agronomy Organic Management Systems Achievement Award
- Louise Hemstead Leadership Award
- Pound Extension Award
- Toepfer Faculty Fellow Award