The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) is a research center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. We were created in 1989 to build UW sustainable agriculture research programs that respond to farmer and citizen needs…and involve them in setting research agendas. This means that human relationships are at the core of everything we do.

CIAS staff members work with a Citizens Advisory Council and a group of Faculty Associates to create flexible, multidisciplinary research and education/training projects.

The goal of our work at CIAS is to learn how particular integrated farming systems can contribute to environmental, economic, social, and intergenerational sustainability. Our research has shown that farmers can cut costs, increase profits, and improve their quality of life while enhancing the environment. Our outreach and training programs are helping farmers, educators, crop consultants, businesses and eaters put these research findings to work.

We aim to help farmers capture a larger share of the consumer food dollar while implementing sustainable systems. Part of our work is to develop and assess visions of alternative food systems and look at the socioeconomics of the existing food system.

Our programs are unique, in part, because of our commitment to involve citizens and academics, representing many disciplines and professions, as equal partners on our research teams.

While our work benefits small and medium size farms, many of our research projects can help any farm or food-related business, regardless of scale.

To learn more about what we do, browse through the links on this site and read our publications describing our current and past projects.