Multifunctional Agriculture on DU’s Campus Prepared for: University of Denver Proposal Review Committee Prepared by: Maya X, Undergraduate Student April 13, 2017 Introduction: I have worked on at Mountain Flower Goat Dairy an urban goat farm in Boulder, Colorado for the past four years of my life. The farm focuses on sustainability and animal husbandry, but that is no easy task in a society that doesn’t encourage sustainable agricultural practices. Rotational grazing of crops and animals a process that can eliminate soil depletion and lower or abolish greenhouse gases emitted from animals. When animals are grazed on pastures, their feces become nutrients for the ground, which are no longer released as gases into the atmosphere. Therefore, plants and crops will grow more productively on the same chunk of land if they are rotationally grazed, as in the animals pasture is moved throughout the year to different sections. This eliminates the problem of over-grazing, while also fertilizing the land equally. The ecology of agriculture requires rotation, for both the animals and plants to survive sustainably. Mountain Flower Goat Dairy leases land from a century old iris garden farm. Our goats are rotationally grazed to re-enrich the soil, so that the iris plants can thrive in better quality soil. This is a practice that benefits the land, the goat farm, and the iris farm. The farm has taught me a lot about rotational grazing and the importance of that practice for the most efficient land use. We strive to teach the public and surrounding community about the importance of sustainable agriculture through our farm, and rotational grazing is a main focus. Topic Proposal: The topic I will be discussing for my research project will be multifunctional agriculture and the benefits of rotational farming practices for sustainability. Multifunctional agriculture is agriculture that produces various non commodity outputs alongside food or commodity outputs. It also recognizes that agriculture can have other functions than just to provide food. It should function to protect environment, landscape, and rural employment. The word multifunctional agriculture can also be referred to as “rotational agriculture,” “rotational grazing,” or “integrated crop and livestock use.” Specialized farming has dominated the agriculture and food industry causing a loss in biodiversity, depleting the land of vital nutrients, environmental affects, and concerns for animal welfare. According to the Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, “integrated crop/livestock agriculture could improve soil quality, increase yield, produce a diversity of foods, augment pollinator populations, aid pest management, and improve land use efficiency” (Mason 365). Integrated crop/livestock agriculture or multifunctional agriculture practices would fix many of the issues that are created by specialized agriculture. Focus: The questio.