MSU Extension Field Crops

In April 2023, Michigan State University Extension welcomed Christine Charles as one of the newest educators in the southwest region! In her role, Christine will work alongside farmers, other MSU extension educators, industry partners, researchers, and stakeholders to support and increase the adoption of regenerative practices in Michigan.

Charles has always been drawn to making science usable for farmers through accessible communication, which drew her to extension. “I decided to pursue a career in agriculture because I truly believe that the science of growing crops, seeing the farm as an ecosystem, and supporting farmers are the most important topics in the world. I wanted a career in extension because communicating, problem solving, and using applied research in a local setting is how I want to work.” During the past year, Charles has been working at MSU Extension as the cover crops and soil health program manager to support Extension Educators. Now, she is excited to enter the educator role for herself and support field crop growers in the southwest region.

Charles grew up in northern New Jersey and was first introduced to agriculture and a love of soil science through a high school composting program. However, it was her participation in the MSU MAP summer program for high school students that convinced her and her family that studying agriculture could open a world of opportunity.

She went on to pursue her bachelor’s degree in soil science from Purdue University. While there, she studied agronomy and worked in labs researching the effect of cover crops on soil physical properties in corn/soy rotations. To learn more about soil, crops, and whole farm dynamics, she got her master’s degree at Ohio State University in environmental science. During that time, she studied how an intercropping system in Senegal (located in West Africa) influenced the surrounding soil microbiology and helped crops survive drought.

As a field crops extension educator with a focus on regenerative agriculture, part of Charles’ role will be to connect farmers to the research and findings of the 30 year Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and the more recently established Long Term Agroecological Research (LTAR) program alongside outreach specialists and research teams at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) near Kalamazoo, MI, where she will be located.

When asked about her role and defining regenerative agriculture, Charles shared the following; “Though there isn’t an official definition of regenerative agriculture, when it’s brought up, people are often referring to a series of practices and outcomes that go beyond reducing the negative impact agriculture has on the environment to ensuring that agriculture has a positive environmental effect. The idea itself isn’t new. Many indigenous cultures use that foundational principle to guide their farming and when specific practices are listed out, many people may recognize that their grandparents or great grandparents farmed in this way. Some common practices that fall under regenerative agriculture include minimizing soil disturbance, maintaining a living root system, keeping the soil surface covered, integrating animals and livestock into the farm landscape, and maximizing crop diversity. All these practices work together to productively grow food within a farm’s unique environment while also improving a variety of ecosystem outcomes such as soil health, water quality, and carbon sequestration. Farmers from across the state and many people at MSU, both extension educators and researchers, have worked with these practices for a long time. I’m happy to be a part of the team and I look forward to supporting that ongoing work.”

When not working, Charles enjoys going on hikes, playing (and often losing) boardgames, testing out new recipes, and learning to bird watch from her cat. Feel free to contact Christine Charles at charl122@msu.edu.