Forage and Grazinglands: An ASA and CSSA Leadership Perspective

Forage and Grazinglands: An ASA and CSSA Leadership Perspective

P. Stephen Baenziger, President, Crop Science Society of America, and Robert G. Hoeft, President, American Society of Agronomy, 677 South Segoe Road, Madison, WI 53711

The electronic journal, Forage and Grazinglands, is the most recent addition to our two societies’ publication portfolio and continues our commitment to the rapid dissemination of important scientific findings that impact how we live in our global environment. This journal was developed to meet the need for a peer-reviewed journal for those interested in the understanding and application of science-based knowledge and technology in the areas of forage, range, grazing, and their use in conservation management. It is our hope that Forage and Grazinglands will become the hub for information exchange in these increasingly important aspects of our food systems and ecosystems. By being an electronic journal, it will allow color photographs, images, and graphs, as well as other formats (such as links to citations) that are not available or extremely expensive in traditional print journals. It will also be readily available worldwide in real time. CSSA and ASA encourage prospective authors to submit manuscripts for publication in Forage and Grazinglands to help get the journal off to a strong start.

Forage and Grazinglands will serve as an outlet for industry, government, and university researchers to publish timely results in a rapid fashion. In addition to its research articles, it will contain reviews, perspectives, letters, guides, and briefs. There will also be sections for variety trials and news. The breadth and uniqueness of this journal will make it attractive to both authors and readers. To increase its accessibility, there will be no page charges and members and nonmembers of our societies can publish in the journal. Members of our societies, as one of their membership benefits, can subscribe at a reduced cost.

Forage and Grazinglands will be part of the Plant Management Network and published by the American Phytopathological Society (APS). The editorial responsibilities for Forage and Grazinglands will reside solely with the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA). Other journals in the Plant Management Network include Plant Health Progress, which reports on applied plant health management practices and Crop Management, which reports on applied crop management practices. Our continued collaboration with APS allows our societies to access their expertise in publishing electronic journals while providing our members more diverse membership services.

This journal would not have been created without the dedicated efforts of Dr. Michael D. Casler of the US Dairy Forage Research Center of USDA-ARS, who is the first Editor for the journal, and Miles Wimer, Director of Internet Publishing for the Plant Management Network. After the need for the journal was identified, Dr. Casler was asked to develop a plan for the journal. After he developed the plan, he worked with Mr. Wimer to bring the journal on-line. The success of their efforts is clearly visible in this new journal and we gratefully acknowledge their work. We would also like to thank the members of the editorial board and, in advance, the authors and readers of this journal. It is our sincere hope that Forage and Grazinglands will become the forum for publishing useful research and perspectives on how to use that research from diverse sources that will meet the information needs of forage and grazing land management practitioners, professionals, and those interested in these areas.