NCR-SARE's Field Blog

Grantsmanship Workshop - Systems Research

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:28:00 +0000

In the 17th century, philosophers debated whether scientific inquiry should be based on a reductionist approach, in which complex processes and systems are viewed as the sum of their parts, or on a systems approach, in which all the components of processes and systems are studied in relation to each other.

For over 300 years, the reductionist approach dominated with remarkable results. With our current ability to manage large and complex data sets, there is renewed interest in adapting a systems science approach to modern challenges in agricultural and food science to uncover solutions at the speed of modern life.

The Sustainable Agriculture and Education program (SARE), the Integrated Organic Program (IOP) and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) within the National Institute of Food and Agriculture require that applicants use a systems approach to meet challenges faced by producers and consumers. The directors of these programs, in partnership with Cornell University, are offering a one-day, national workshop on the preparation and management of competitively awarded, systems-based grant applications.

Information for the workshop and registration information can be found at http://blogs.cce.cornell.edu/usdasystems.

Please pass this information to anyone who is interested in applying to these programs. There will be web access to the workshop so travel is not necessary. Please note that the deadline for registration is Dec 3, 2009.

Sean McGovern
Outreach Specialist, SARE Outreach

'Building Sustainable Places Publication' Now Available on ATTRA Website

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Source: ATTRA
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ATTRA is pleased to announce that a long awaited updated publication, 'Building Sustainable Places,' is now available on the ATTRA website at http://www.attra.ncat.org/guide/.

This guide is an updated version of a previous publication called 'Building Better Rural Places' and is written for anyone seeking help from federal programs to foster innovative enterprises in agriculture and forestry in the United States. Specifically, the guide addresses program resources in community development, sustainable land management, and value-added and diversified agriculture and forestry.

It is designed to help farmers, entrepreneurs, community developers, conservationists, and many other individuals, as well as private and public organizations, to locate information about relevant federal programs.

The 'Building Sustainable Places' guide is a collaborative publication of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), and several USDA agencies, and includes content based on work by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. USDA agencies and programs providing support for this publication include the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) program, U.S. Forest Service, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA, formerly Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service).

A Mid-Missouri gardener gets back to farming roots — and greens — in the cold season

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Source: Columbia Tribune
Story by Marcia Vanderlip
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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SECOND IN A TWO-PART SERIES: As consumer demand for more local produce increases, farmers are looking for ways to extend their seasons or to offer cool-season vegetables. And the future is in plastic. This week: Jennifer Grabner of Ashland talks about finding her niche — growing cool-season crops in handbuilt hoop houses.

Jennifer Grabner slogged through mud recently en route to the site of her future livelihood: more than half a dozen hoop houses behind her Ashland home. The wind was brisk, but sun warmed the greenhouse plastic covering her young lettuces, spinach, chard, carrots, beets and other cool-weather vegetables. In all, she plans to grow 20 to 25 various cool-season crops this year.

“This is fun when the sun is shining,” she said as she walked through one of her 20-foot-long tunnels. She pulled a plump golden beet from rich, composted soil. The cool weather improves the flavor and brightens the color of many of the vegetables, she explained as she plucked baby carrots and deep purple beets. She pointed to tiny potato sprouts, optimistic that she could have potatoes in January.

Although many farmers were wrapping up their CSA season last week, late October marked the beginning of Grabner’s budding winter CSA, which will extend into April. This year, Grabner already is harvesting cool-weather crops for 18 families. CSA, or community-supported agriculture, is like subscription farming. The consumer pays for a weekly allotment of a farm’s produce during the growing season. Grabner’s customers pay week to week, she said, so if she has no produce, she doesn’t get paid. “I feel more comfortable with that — for now,” she said.

This year Grabner increased her CSA shares after adding five more passive-solar hoop houses on a small portion of her family’s 5-acre plot. A year and a half ago, this area held only “a ratty shed, sheep, goats and some chickens.” After clearing out the shed and the animals last fall, she was able to provide winter produce for eight families from October to April.

“We would have gone in debt,” she said, if she hadn’t received a $5,588 two-year U.S. Department of Agriculture grant through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. The USDA gives SARE grants to farmers who do not use chemicals and who reduce harmful impact on the environment in their farming practices. The SARE grant allowed Grabner to jump-start her business without breaking the family bank. “When we talk about sustainability at our house, we also mean economic sustainability,” she said.

These same grants have helped other families live their hoop dreams — which are not always uniformly sweet.

Walker Claridge received a SARE grant three years ago to build a third hoop house at his 4-acre farm near Fulton.

“There’s a lot of work involved” with hoop houses, he said recently. “You have to baby-sit them, keep an eye on the seven-day forecast so you don’t see the winds pulling off the covers.” And even under plastic cover, some crops still require floating row covers — or plant blankets — when temperatures freeze.

Still, year-round farming is catching on in Mid-Missouri as consumers demand more local produce.

When Grabner advertised her winter CSA at the farmers markets in the spring, she was flooded with takers. “I had to turn a lot of people away.”

“A lot of farmers at the market invested in hoop houses this past year,” said Rex Roberts, a farmer and board president for the Columbia Farmers Market.

Roberts, who offered a “small winter CSA” this year to 11 families, is growing lettuce, arugula and kale in his hoop house in Marshall.

“There is a huge learning curve,” involved in hoop-house growing, he said. “My first hoop house was wiped out by a tornado.” In addition, “you get less light in the winter, so growth can be slower.”

Grabner, who is 40 and currently a stay-at-home farmer, is in the thick of that learning curve. Her husband, Keith, an ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, helped her construct the unheated hoop-style houses, and their three children, ages 5, 7 and 10, all help out in the garden. But mostly “this is a one-woman operation,” Grabner said. “I’m glad I don’t have to depend on this for my livelihood.”

This fall was so wet and cool she faced some trouble germinating seed and starting plants. She is now building a small, heated greenhouse for that purpose. Grabner hasn’t had a problem with the wind yet and speculated that it might help to set up the structures running east-west. Her newest addition — a larger hoop house from a kit — faces north-south. “We’ll see how it does this year.”

The Grabners constructed six of the eight hoop houses behind their Ashland home from welded-wire cattle panels wired together and bent into tunnels. Five panels make a greenhouse that is 20 feet long and 7 feet wide. The outer opening is lined with used garden hoses to keep the sharp metal from tearing the greenhouse plastic. Most are anchored on long baseboards, which they salvaged from the old shed. The boards are anchored with long stakes.

“You could put one of these together for about $200,” Grabner said.

Grabner, who is a trained botanist, began her plans to extend the season about five years ago after watching a presentation at the National Small Farm Trade Show in Columbia. An extension specialist explained how sunlight could heat a tank of water in a hoop house during the day, which would then emit enough heat to raise the interior temperature at night.

Then she read Eliot Coleman’s books about gardening in cold weather. Coleman, an organic farmer and researcher, is known for his cold-weather growing techniques. “He was doing this without tanks of water. I thought: If he can do it in Maine, I can do it in Missouri.”

“The key to growing in the winter is timing,” she explained, “so I have things to harvest in the dead of winter, when the days are short” and plants grow slowly. Grabner is recording what she learns about growing in Central Missouri because locals currently have no manual. As part of the grant, she will record her experiences to share with home gardeners and farmers. On Friday, Grabner passed on what she has learned about cool season growing at the 17th National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference.

“There is not a lot of information on how long it takes things to germinate in December. Or how fast a spinach plant will grow in February in Central Missouri. No one writes about that; we are figuring that out.” She has delighted in the hardiness of some vegetables. Last year, she learned that bok choy grows during the coldest and shortest days of the year. The real advantage to growing in winter is “you don’t have the bugs and disease” that plague summer growers.

“We could all do this,” she said, realizing she was building on a long tradition. “My great-grandmother had a cold frame in her garden.”

Grabner still keeps a couple of cold frames, but she also has gleaned ideas from more modern urban farmers. After attending a workshop by Will Allen, the founder of the Milwaukee-based Growing Power, which promotes inner-city gardens, she realized she didn’t need a tractor to till the soil under her hoop houses.

Allen “was building raised beds on paved, abandoned lots” because the soil beneath was contaminated. “He just covered the pavement with a 6-inch layer of wood chips and put a layer of compost and soil over it,” she said. “I realized that we don’t have to have a tractor, we can do this by hand,” she said. She tried the Allen approach when she erected her latest hoop house. “We mowed the grass, put down landscape fabric, a layer of wood chips and 8 inches of compost and soil. It worked fine, and we don’t stir up weed seed.”

She also has extended her hoop knowledge to Southern Boone Elementary School, where she helped create a school garden three years ago. The school now has a hoop house, and she will help build a second one there next week. The hoop houses will be used as part of the popular garden programs at the school.

“This is what I want to do,” she said that chilly afternoon, holding up a bouquet of freshly picked root vegetables. “I love this.”

Read the first part of this series here: http://m.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/nov/04/undercover-farming/

Jennifer Grabner looks over her greens and root vegetables in one of her eight hoop houses. - Photo by Marcia Vanderclip, Source: Columbia Tribune

Outstanding Youth/Uncommon Wisdom: Youth Renewing the Countryside

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Down a winding country road in Garnett, Kansas stands the Bauman farm, where agriculture is a family affair. Upon purchasing the farm in 2001, the family's first farm venture was to raise pastured chickens and livestock. Today, the Baumans sell about 7,000 broiler chickens each year and an average 350 dozen eggs a week.

With the help of a grant from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, the Baumans experimented with pasturing different species of animals in the same area. With the "pasture stacking" project, the family increased their broiler chickens' average weight by 50 percent.

Rosanna, the eldest of the Bauman girls, explains that the weight increase was due in part to the addition of a new water system. "The project had a positive social impact on us kids," explains Rosanna. "It has led each of us to take steps towards farming sustainably."

Rosanna is just one of dozens of young people returning to the roots of American agriculture who are featured in a new book-Youth Renewing the Countryside. Produced by Renewing the Countryside in partnership with young writers and photographers across the country and with support from SARE and the Center for Rural Strategies, Youth Renewing the Countryside shares remarkable stories of young people in each state changing the world through rural renewal.

Download Youth Renewing the Countryside at http://sare.org/publications/youth.htm for free. To order print copies ($24.95 plus $5.95 s/h) visit www.sare.org/WebStore, call 301/374-9696 or send check or money order to SARE Outreach, PO Box 753, Waldorf, Maryland 20604-0753. (Please specify title requested when ordering by mail.) Discounts are available on orders of 10 or more. Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Call 301/374-9696 for more information on bulk, rush or international shipments.

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Distributed by SARE Outreach for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) USDA. SARE's mission is to advance - to the whole of American agriculture - innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Maryland and the University of Vermont to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture. Visit www.sare.org for more information.

For FFA members, green is the new blue | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:45:00 +0000

For FFA members, green is the new blue | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

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Farmer Rancher Grant Writing Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:35:00 +0000

Source: Springfield News-Leader

Farmers and ranchers can learn how to write and submit proposals for grants to promote sustainable agriculture practices at a Nov.9 workshop at the Southwest Research Center in Mount Vernon.

The workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The cost is $15, which includes lunch and workshop materials. To register, call (417) 483-8139 by November 5.

For more information or to download a grant application, see http://sare.org/ncrsare/cfp.htm

The workshop is sponsored by the Webb City Farmers Market and open to the public.

Funding for the grants comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program.

SARE awards grants for a wide range of ideas related to sustainable agriculture. Examples of 2009 projects include use of green manure crops, reducing parasites in yellow perch production, pasture management and vegetable production.

SARE invites farmers or ranchers operating in USDA’s North Central Region, which includes Missouri, to submit proposals that test and evaluate adaptable sustainable agriculture practices for their operations. Grants up to $6,000 for individuals or up to $18,000 for groups of three or more people from separate operations are available. SARE expects to fund about 50 projects in the region.

The deadline for submitting proposals is Dec. 3.

SARE's New USDA Home

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:42:00 +0000

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has a new home at USDA, the recently launched National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NIFA, created by the 2008 farm bill, replaces the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).

NIFA's goal is to elevate the status of science in agriculture with the mission of using sound research and education to address some of the world's toughest problems through agriculture: global food security and hunger; climate change; sustainable energy; childhood obesity; food safety.

"I want USDA science to focus most of its resources on accomplishing a few, bold outcomes with great power to improve human health and protect our environment," says USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Read the NIFA launch press release or view the launch video for more information.

SARE is proud to be part of NIFA and will continue to support cutting edge research and education projects advancing sustainable innovations to the whole of American agriculture.

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Distributed by SARE Outreach for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) USDA. SARE's mission is to advance - to the whole of American agriculture - innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Maryland and the University of Vermont to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture. Visit www.sare.org for more information.

Field Days Highlight Soil Fertility on Organic Vegetable Farms

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:17:00 +0000

Source: http://www.midwestagnet.com/Global/story.asp?S=11353089

Madison, WI (CALS Release) Two field days in November will highlight organic soil fertility management for vegetables.

On Nov. 2, Michael Racette of Spring Hill Community Farm in Barron County will discuss his system that involves annual cover crops, extensive mulching and purchased fertility inputs. Spring Hill Community Farm is located at 545 1½ Ave., Prairie Farm, Wis.

On Nov. 4, Larry O'Toole of Growing Home's Les Brown Memorial Farm near La Salle, Ill. will talk about his use of horse manure compost, cover crops and tillage tools. The farm is located at 2539 N. 30th Road, Marseilles, Ill.

Both events will run from 1-4 p.m.

These farms are participating in a two-state project examining the costs and benefits of soil fertility management strategies on organic vegetable farms. University specialists and project staff will be at the field days to answer questions and discuss findings.

Brochures and directions to the farms are available at www.cias.wisc.edu. For more information, contact John Hendrickson:

608-265-3704 or jhendric@wisc.edu.

The field days are sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS), with support from the USDA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.
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SARE Speakers Showcase Innovations at National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:47:00 +0000

Friends:

Please join us in November when a host of SARE grant recipients plus staff from the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program will be featured at the largest annual small farm trade show in the United States-The National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference(tm). Now in its 17th year, the Conference takes place on Thursday, November 5th through Saturday, November 7th, 2009, in Columbia, Missouri, at the Boone County Fairgrounds. The theme for 2009 is "Education is the Key to Success", and the "teachers" include farmers, ranchers, youth and educators with hands-on experience.

Can you farm or ranch while protecting the environment, making a profit, and benefiting your community? These speakers say, "Yes!" and will show you how to do it. There will be 38 Farmers Forum talks featuring North Central Region (NCR) SARE Farmer/ Rancher Grant and Youth & Youth Educator Grant recipients. Sessions are 25 to 55 minutes long and run continuously throughout the three-day event. You'll hear about bioenergy, developing markets, native plants, high tunnels, berries, forestry, heritage turkeys, Angora goats, Christmas trees, poultry, bees, herbs, ginger, reducing pesticides, mushrooms, and much more. After the talks, meet the speakers and pick up free sustainable agriculture resources at the SARE Trade Show booths. Call NCR-SARE for Farmers Forum details: 1-800-529-1342.

Choose from 16 one-hour seminars at the show - two featuring SARE staff and associates. Don't miss the Conservation Planning seminar on Nov. 5 by Cheryl Simmons, NRCS National Technology Specialist and NCR-SARE Administrative Council member, or the Integrating Cover Crops seminar on Nov. 7 by Andy Clark, author of Managing Cover Crops Profitably and Coordinator for SARE Outreach.

Six short courses give you the opportunity to get in-depth information on topics ranging from agroforestry to mob grazing. Explore grant options for sustainable farming at a short course on successful Grants and Grantwriting on Nov. 7. Instructors include: Joan Benjamin, NCR-SARE Associate Regional Coordinator; Margaret Krome, Policy Program Director of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute; and Indiana farmer and SARE grant recipient, Kevin Cooley.

The National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference(tm) is sponsored by Small Farm Today(r) and sustained by Bishop & Associates; NCAT-ATTRA; Truman State University; Great Salt Lake Minerals; and USDA-CSREES Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program.

Show times are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Preregistration is $8 for 1 day, $12 for 2 days, or $15 for all 3 days, allowing attendance of the trade show, seminars, demonstrations, exhibits, shows, meetings, and Farmer's Forum. Three-hour short courses are an additional $35 each ($25 in advance).

To register, call Small Farm Today at 800-633-2535, write National Small Farm Show, 3903 W Ridge Trail Rd, Clark MO 65243, or see http://www.smallfarmtoday.com for more information.

Begin Farming Ohio Website Launched to Assist Beginning Farmers

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Contact: Sharon D. Sachs, Spokesperson
Phone: 800-372-6092, ext. 3 or 614-885-3042
Email: sachssd@aol.com

Columbus, Ohio (Aug 27, 2009)

For the first time Ohio's new and beginning farmers have an entire website dedicated to their unique information needs and designed to make it easier for them to find the services and resources they seek. The website URL is http://www.beginfarmingohio.org.

The website represents the collaborative efforts of the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy; Ohio Department of Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture; Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA); the Organic Food and Farming Education & Research Program of the OSU Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center; and the Ohio State University Extension. These entities, working together as Begin Farming Ohio, aim to build Ohio's capacity to provide, expand, enhance, and sustain services to beginning farmers.

The new website was developed with an affiliated partner, Innovative Farmers of Ohio (IFO). IFO allocated funds awarded by the national outreach office of the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program to enhance the website development process. IFO provided case studies and resource referral information first published in 2008, one output of Wisdom in the Land, a mentor-based pilot program for beginning farmers in central Ohio that IFO operated from 2006-2008.

The website will also provide listings of events of special interest to Ohio's beginning farmers, and facilitate searches for educational and funding resources to assist beginning farmers with challenges related to production, marketing, and business management.

"In order to help sustain the future of agriculture, it is important to support beginning farmers," said Ohio Agriculture Director Robert Boggs. "The department is excited to be part of this collaborative effort, which will assist these farmers with less than 10 years experience."

The USDA 2007 Census of Agriculture reports that 21% of U.S. family farms were beginning farms, and in contrast to established farms, beginning farms were more likely to be small farms.

About Begin Farming Ohio
Begin Farming Ohio was formed in 2008 as a collaboration of higher education, state government, and the non-profit sector to better serve Ohio's beginning farmers. Each of the five founder organizations provides education, training, and other services to farmers and has an employee pool of professionals who are experts in both sustainable agriculture production and farm business management. Additional affiliated partners provide resources that complement the services of the collaborators. See www.beginfarmingohio.org for a complete list of collaborators and affiliates.

Production of Disease and Mite Resistant Queen Honey Bees in Rochester, Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:28:00 +0000

Jacobson pouring liquid nitrogen which is used to test bees for hygienic/disease resistant behavior. – Photo by JP Goguen

In Rochester, IL, Stu Jacobson is attempting to increase interest and understanding among beekeepers in Illinois, eastern Missouri, and southern Wisconsin.

Jacobson has been working with bees for decades. He kept bees in Cape Cod, Massachusetts where he lived from 1970 to 1991. He started beekeeping in central Illinois in 1993. He has a PhD in biology and he did his Post Doc work studying the African bees when they first arrived in Venezuela in 1978.

In 2006, Jacobson submitted a proposal to increase understanding and adoption of disease and mite resistant lines among beekeepers in Illinois, eastern Missouri, and southern Wisconsin and was awarded $4,409 from the North Central Region Sustainable Research and Education Program’s (NCR-SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant Program.

“The project was designed to address the dual problems of a lack of adoption of disease and mite resistant or tolerant lines of bees and an over-reliance on queens from Sunbelt states,” explained Jacobson. “Use of these lines will lessen the industry’s dependence on harsh chemical and antibiotics, which can contaminate honey and cause reproductive problems for the bees, and should be at the core of strategies to address Colony Collapse Disorder.”

A major thrust of the project was comprised of educational presentations to beekeepers on disease and mite resistant lines of bees. During 2007-2008 nine presentations were made to 288 persons. Venues included the Bluegrass Beekeeping School, which draws beekeepers from Indiana and Ohio; the Kankakee Valley, IL Beekeepers Association; an introductory class of the Lincoln Land Beekeepers’ Association; the summer meeting of the Illinois State Beekeepers’ Association; at a State Line Beekeepers Association meeting; and at the Eastern Apicultural Society meeting, among others.

The 2008 Illinois State Beekeepers’ Association (ISBA) and the fall Stateline Beekeepers Association (Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin) meetings served as catalysts for the formation of an Illinois Queen Project (IQP). This initiative’s purpose is to promote the Illinois production of disease and mite resistant queens as well as small colonies adapted to the state’s climate and conditions.

The second part of the project was to produce disease and mite resistant, Minnesota Hygienic queens and to sell them to local beekeepers.

Two operations were involved in this project, a mixed grain farm of 250 acres in Loami, IL, and a 2.6 acre homestead near Rochester, IL. The Loami site has 15 honey bee colonies and sells honey and honey soap; the Rochester site has 50 honey bee colonies in three bee yards and sells honey and since the SARE project began, some queens and small honey bee colonies.

Sustainable beekeeping practices were carried out for the past 4-5 years at both sites; either no treatments or only “soft,” botanically-based ones were used for varroa mites in a given year. Antibiotics were not used for at least 7 years at either site.

For the project, Jacobson used standard “cell grafting” methods to raise queens. The cells were introduced individually into small colonies called mating nuclei, from which the virgin queens take mating flights and remain until they begin laying eggs, at which point they are sold or placed into larger colonies.

During 2007, marketing of the queens occurred first through the annual summer meeting of the local beekeeping association, with about 30 persons attending. Marketing also occurred via calls to beekeepers in the area. During 2008, marketing also occurred during an introductory beekeeping class.

Steven Staley assisted by producing queen bees at his farm for the project; Richard Ramsey, past president of the Illinois State Beekeepers’ Association, provided ongoing advice on marketing and related matters. David Burns, a queen bee producer and beekeeping equipment supplier, and Phil Raines, a commercial beekeeper in Illinois and Wisconsin, made important contributions to the project.

Jacobson believes that bees play a vital role in the sustainability of agricultural systems. “About 1/3 of every bite of food we eat requires insect pollination,” said Jacobson. “Honey bees are he most important pollinators for virtually all fruits and many vegetable crops; these foods high in antioxidants, fiber, etc. Native pollinators are unlikely to regain sufficient importance as long as agriculture relies on large monocultures, insecticides, herbicides, and clean cultivation.”

Since completion of this project, Jacobson has commenced a new SARE project focusing on the Illinois Queen Initiative (formerly Illinois Queen Project). Activities for the new project have included a session on state queen projects and formation of an informal association of queen producers at the Heartland Apicultural Society meeting held in Ohio in July.

Read more about Jacobson’s project online at http://www.sare.org/reporting/report_viewer.asp?pn=FNC06-641&ry=2008&rf=1, or contact the NCR-SARE office for more information at ncrsare@umn.edu.

Indiana Farmers Experiments with Geothermal Climate Controlled Storage Facilities to Lower Utility Costs

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:57:00 +0000

The Welch’s open loop geothermal system uses a wind powered in-wall heating/cooling unit. - Photo courtesy of Anna Welch.

In Carthage, IN, Anna and Keith Welch are creating a geothermal model that uses sustainable energy to lower their utility costs for grain storage.

Inspired by Anna’s father’s interest in geothermal, the Welches installed geothermal in the construction of a log home. Not long after, they became interested in supplementing an open loop geothermal system with a wind powered in-wall heating/cooling unit to regulate the temperature and humidity of a community storage room.

In 2007, they submitted a proposal for a CSA Conference and Mini-School project, and were awarded $6,000 from the North Central Region Sustainable Research and Education Program’s (NCR-SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant Program. Their goal was to create a model that uses sustainable energy to lower utility costs as much as possible. Its primary focus is grain storage, but the facility will store a diverse number of local goods.

They have worked with a geo-thermal consultant, Randy Overman, as well as a local construction company to determine appropriate materials for maximum efficiency in the storage facility. It was determined that cement blocks insulated on the interior of the blocks, floor, and ceiling with R25 value sheets of insulation would be the most cost effective to construct, most resistant to rodents and insects, and most efficient to maintain a constant temperature of around 50 degrees.

2008’s field crops produced around 10,000 pounds of organic, edible grains and seeds. They constructed a small version of the storage room in a similar area which is concrete construction and cooled by geothermal, and were pleased with the results; the crops were dry and pest free.

“We are very pleased with this year's test results and are confident that the storage project will meet the grain storage needs that we face,” said Keith Welch. “We can maintain quality grains and seeds for our clients and other producers, who do not have the capacity to store several month's supply of fresh grains and seeds.”

They plan to complete a blue print with a materials list for the completion of the storage room and geothermal room, which is constructed adjacent to the cold storage. They separated the geothermal unit to avoid any dampness within the cold storage.

“We feel in the times that we are in, the small farmer will need to help his community to survive more than ever,” said Anna Welch. “The storage will not only be for our farm but for the community. Farmers will be able to keep their crops longer to extend the buying season at markets for consumers. With this concept, there would be less waste of needed food. The water can be reused as stated above or for any type of irrigation we may need for green houses or for the crops.”

Read more about the Welch project online at http://www.sare.org/reporting/report_viewer.asp?pn=FNC07-655&ry=2008&rf=0, or contact the NCR-SARE office for more information at ncrsare@umn.edu.

Growing New CSA Farmers: a Michigan Conference and Mini-School for Community Supported Agriculture

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:51:00 +0000

Jo Meller and Jim Sluyter. Photo by Jay Raupp.

In Bear Lake, Michigan, Jim Sluyter and Jo Meller have been helping farmers, especially new, prospective, and transitioning farmers, learn about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and sustainable agriculture.

Sluyter and Meller have been running a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm in Bear Lake, Michigan, cultivating about ½ acre of mixed vegetables in intensively managed raised beds since 1994.

As their homestead and gardens grew, they felt isolated in an area with few other CSAs. They attended conferences in the Northeast and Canada devoted specifically to CSA in the late 90’s and became energized and excited by these events. In 2004, when there were several years without a conference, and no indication that another was forthcoming, they decided to bring that experience to the growing CSA community in Michigan.

In 2005, they submitted a proposal for a CSA Conference and Mini-School project, and were awarded $14,000 from the North Central Region Sustainable Research and Education Program’s (NCR-SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant Program. Their project was designed to help farmers, especially new and prospective ones, learn about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and sustainable agriculture.

With the funds, they developed a 'mini-school' for prospective CSA farmers, provided financial assistance to farmers for attendance at the CSA conference and/or mini-school, developed a CSA mentoring program, and created a CSA "startup" manual.

They had participation from almost 200 CSA growers, prospective growers and CSA advocates. Participants in the conference and mini-school provided evaluations of the experience. Mentors and Mentees were also asked to evaluate their experiences.

Also supported by the SARE grant was assistance in the production of the CSA Training Manual that was developed as a companion to the mini-schools. The text of that document is available online at http://www.csafarms.org/csafarms0656231.asp and has been sent in hard copy to many growers, and used in other CSA training sessions in Missouri, Maine and Ohio.

“We have seen a strong upward trend in CSA in Michigan since the first conference in 2004, continuing to this day,” said Sluyter. “In 2003, there were 37 CSAs in Michigan that we knew of. Since then our count has reached 86, and that does not take into account farms that developed sustainable agriculture projects because of the conference but did not start a CSA. Many of these growers have told us that one of the big lessons from the conference, and especially from the mini-school, was to start small and start slowly. We believe this has benefited many growers, who started their CSA a year or more later than they might have, to gain experience in this demanding agricultural model.”

In addition to NCR-SARE, financial support was provided by: CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems, Michigan Farmers Union Foundation, Michigan Land Trustees, Madison Area CSA Coalition, Higher Grounds Trading Company, Michigan Farmers Union, The Community Farm newsletter, Michigan Catholic Rural Life Coalition and Crop Services International. In-kind support was provided by the Michigan Land Use Institute and the Manistee County Conservation District.

Read more about the Sluyter’s project online at http://www.sare.org/reporting/report_viewer.asp?pn=FNC05-589&ry=2008&rf=1, or contact the NCR-SARE office for more information at ncrsare@umn.edu.

A Retrospective Evaluation of NCR-SARE's Research & Education Grant Program

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:40:00 +0000

In 2007, North Central SARE conducted a retrospective evaluation of its Research and Education (R&E) Grant Program. The Center for Evaluative Studies in Michigan State University’s Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (MSU CARRS) conducted the survey research component of the evaluation.

A few highlights from the reports:

The surveyed projects had high levels of farmer and extension involvement;
NCR-SARE R&E projects led to cooperation and partnership opportunities in furthering advancement of sustainable agriculture systems and practices;
Nearly eight out of ten farmer cooperators in NCR-SARE R&E projects found the information gained from the NCR-SARE project useful, and just over half of them used what they had learned on their farm;
Market recognition of their farm’s products increased for half of farmers who responded to the survey.

Go here to read more about the evaluation process and results.

NCR-SARE Announces Funded Projects

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:25:00 +0000

The North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) has made public the lists of projects most recently recommended for funding for each of its grant programs: Farmer Rancher, Research and Education, Professional Development, Youth and Youth Educator, and Graduate Student.

Go to http://sare.org/ncrsare to find links to lists of the projects recently recommended for funding.

NCR-SARE administers these grant programs, each with specific priorities, audiences, and timelines. The focus for each of the NCR-SARE grant programs is on research and education.

Funding considerations are made based on how well the applicant articulates the nature of the research and education components of their sustainable agriculture grant proposals.

NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council (AC) members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. A collection of farm and non-farm citizens, the AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region. Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, and nonprofit organizations.

In addition, regional representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and NCR agribusinesses, state agencies, and foundations sit at the table to distribute grant money.

Missouri Man Develops Sustainable Irrigation System for Organic Vegetable Production

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:42:00 +0000

Dan Kuebler and his solar irrigation system. Photo by Diane La Mar.

In Ashland, MO, Dan Kuebler is creating an affordable, efficient, and sustainable irrigation system for a two acre organic vegetable operation. Since 1977, Dan Kuebler has been running a certified organic garden operation in Ashland.

Half the property is open fields and the remainder is hardwoods. Kuebler grows a wide variety of vegetables on approximately 1.5 acres of the property, which includes one heated greenhouse for starting plants and two tall tunnels which are unheated.

Kuebler has been intensively growing for over 15 years using organic methods and had been using drip irrigation on his crops for 10 of those years using expensive public county water.

In 2005, Kuebler submitted a proposal for his sustainable solar irrigation project, and was awarded $5,633 from the North Central Region Sustainable Research and Education Program’s (NCR-SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant Program.

“My goal was to irrigate my crops with water from my farm pond and to use renewable energy as the power source for pumping the water up the hill to my fields and to save money in the process,” said Kuebler. “I was familiar with SARE over the years and had tried to keep up with many of the projects. It stimulated me to also think in terms of what I could do on my farm since I had always been very interested in solar power and renewable energy projects.”

Don Day, Natural Resources Engineer, at Missouri University Extension shot the elevation that Kuebler needed from the pond's surface to the top of the hill in order to properly size the solar water pump needed for the project. Day also advised Kuebler on the proper size pipe to use to capture the rainwater from his barn roof and direct it to the pond.

The total cost of the system was $5,930.37. Kuebler estimates that it would cost $2,850 annually using county water for irrigation. He calculated that the solar irrigation system yield annual saving starting in the third year of operation.

Kuebler hosted a Demonstration Field Day in May 2007 and presented his project at the National Small Farm Today Trade Show & Conference.

“I learned that I should have acted on my idea for a solar irrigation system years ago and I would have been more profitable in my operation,” said Kuebler. “My system is very efficient and so does not really need to run for very many hours of each day. It presents a model that can be duplicated by other growers in our region and the country as well as stimulating others to refine it further for their unique situations. This project is getting me excited about the possibilities for more creative ideas for solar and wind energy on the farm.”

Read more about the Kuebler’s project online or contact the NCR-SARE office for more information at ncrsare@umn.edu.

Ohio Katahdin Sheep Producer Finds a Fairly High Heritability for Resistance to Parasites in the Breed

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:57:00 +0000

Beilak with her sheep - photo courtesy of Kathy Bielak.

In Wooster, Ohio, a producer of Katahdin sheep is working with producers from two other states on the heritability of parasite resistance. The group is investigating methods of identifying ewes with a reduced periparturient rise. They are comparing the fecel egg count of sheep selected for their low fecal egg counts as lambs to determine how it relates to their adult parasite resistance and that of their offspring.

Prior to 2000, Kathy and Jeff Bielek of Misty Oaks Farm wanted to diversify their tree farm and incorporate some livestock. After attending Ohio Sheep Day in Wooster in 2000, they decided on sheep. They started with Shetlands, but then switched to Katahdins in 2001, and grew to love the breed. Katahdins are a hair sheep raised for their meat.

The Bielaks, along with a group of ten Katahdin producers, submitted a proposal to the North Central Region Sustainable Research and Education Program’s (NCR-SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant Program in 2005 and were awarded $17,950 for their project, “Selecting Sheep for Parasite Resistance.” In 2007 they applied for another grant to continue their work with three producers from three states, and were awarded a subsequent grant from NCR-SARE for $14,215 for their project, “Building on Parasite Resistance Selection in Sheep.”

In their current project, David Coplen of Birch Cove Farm in Missouri, Donna Stoneback of Wade Jean Farm in Pennsylvania, and the Bielaks are raising registered Katahdin Hair Sheep. All are forage based, and all are using rotational grazing and selective deworming strategies. Flock sizes range from 25 to 32 ewes. Each farm uses at least two rams, some closely related to rams used on other farms.

“As we were monitoring the parasite levels in our flock over two years we noticed distinct differences in the resistance to parasites between offspring of different sires. We really wanted to see if these differences in the parasite resistance in lambs of different sires that we had identified on our farm could be duplicated on other Katahdin farms,” said Bielak. “SARE was the perfect source, since they have such a strong reputation of supporting farmers in looking for more sustainable yet profitable ways to farm.”

Data collected on ten farms as part of the initial SARE group producer grant was submitted to Dr. David Notter, Professor of Animal Science at Virginia Tech and head of the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP), for analysis and for use in his work on developing a fecal egg count measure of expected progeny differences (FEC EPD) in Katahdin sheep. Dr Notter reported a fairly high heritability for resistance to parasites in the Katahdin breed.

In addition, the group was able to learn and demonstrate the effects that management had on parasite levels in their flocks. All three couples learned methods they could use to better manage parasites in addition to selecting more resistant sheep.

“In our project we were able to demonstrate how different management strategies, like managed grazing, time of lambing, nutrition and genetics can impact parasite management on our farms,” said Bielak. “This will enable farmers to lessen the use of expensive and increasingly ineffective dewormers while still maintaining healthy, productive sheep.”

Read more about the Bielak’s project online or contact the NCR-SARE office for more information.

Iowa Farmers Utilize Alternative Crop to Develop New Opportunities for Small Family Farms

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Photo of Vaughn and Cindy Pittz courtesy of Vaughn and Cindy Pittz

In Missouri Valley, IA, Vaughn and Cindy Pittz have been developing the opportunity for small family farms to utilize the aronia berry as a sustainable organic alternative crop at Sawmill Hollow Organic Farms, located 6 miles north of Missouri Valley, Iowa in Harrison County.

Vaughn Pittz attended a food technology conference in New Orleans, where he learned about aronia. As a family project, the Pittzs established small test plots. By the late 1990’s the bushes were producing 20 to 25 pounds per bush. Based on preliminary results, they decided expanding their planting was necessary to support new product development/test marketing of aronia Berry products.

By 2005, the Pittzs were eager to research the feasibility of the aronia berry as a value-added, profitable, alternative crop which could be produced in the North Central Region by the small family farm, and to develop the opportunity for small family farms to utilize the aronia berry as a sustainable organic alternative crop. They submitted a proposal to the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant program, and received a grant for $5,990.

“We could see that a sustainable, value added crop would benefit not only our farm but also provide opportunities for others, with the potential to create a new industry for our declining rural communities,” explained Vaughn Pittz.

Commonly known as the Chokeberry, the aronia berry is a lesser-known berry variety, native to North America that is becoming increasingly popular for its coloring and antioxidant properties.

Throughout their project, they planted more than 13,000 aronia berry bushes. They developed a business relationship with Bluebird Nursery to assist with the propagation of the organic aronia berry plants using soft wood cuttings from the Sawmill Hollow stock. They continued to research and developed six aronia berry products: aronia jelly, aronia cayenne Sauce, aronia BBQ sauce, aronia syrup, aronia salsa, and aronia wine.

Dr. Eldon Everhart, a commercial horticulture specialist with Iowa State University Extension, conducted educational seminars highlighting the aronia berry as a sustainable, value-added crop.

Sawmill Hollow Organic Farms presented two Aronia Field Day workshops in 2006 and 2007 respectively; they had eighty-five participants at their first Aronia Field Day, and approximately 150 people attended their 2007 field day. They offered tours of the organic plantation fields, demonstrating hands-on planting, growing techniques, and harvesting techniques.

In September 2008, Sawmill Hollow held the first ever 2-day Organic Aronia Berry Festival attended by more than 700 people. They featured artisans from the Loess Hills region of Western Iowa and guest speaker Joan Benjamin of NCR-SARE. The Sawmill Hollow Log Cabin Country Store will be opening in April 2009, where organic aronia berry products and Loess Hills artisan products will be sold.

Today, Sawmill Hollow Organic Farm is the largest aronia berry plantation in the Midwest and the first in the United States to be managed organically, certified by the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship.

“The potential for this to become an industry for our Region is real,” said Pittz. “We have discovered and demonstrated that the aronia berry is a low input crop, one with roots native to America. The berry has the potential for value added farm to market production and it also displays great promise as a high value raw berry. We consider it to be an asset for small diversified sustainable farms.”

Since 1988, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. The program, part of USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems.

Read more about this project online.

Developing Added Value, Convenience Products From Free-Range Pastured Chickens in South Dakota

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:35:00 +0000

Tom Neuberger grinding chicken – photo courtesy of the Neubergers

In Canistota, SD, a group of family farmers have been experimenting with methods for adding value to their products and income to their operations.

Tom and Ruth Neuberger were traditional livestock farmers in '70's. During the credit crunch of early 80's they found themselves in debt “up to their ears.” They sold off their livestock to pay off debt, and then had to devise a new business plan.

They turned to poultry.

“We turned to poultry mainly because of the faster turnover,” explained Tom Neuberger. “Goose was especially profitable because Ruth could make pillows and comforters from the feathers and down, in addition to profit generated from the meat.”

The Neubergers had been raising, processing, and direct marketing poultry as whole birds for about two decades, and in 2001 they were looking for ways to add value to their products and income to their operations. They, along with a group of family farmers, submitted a proposal to the North Central Region Sustainable Research and Education Program’s (NCR-SARE) Farmer Rancher Grant Program and were awarded $14,513 for their project, “Developing Added Value, Convenience Products from Free-Range Pastured Chickens.”

Rather than purchasing more chickens, the group wanted to find ways to improve the chickens that they already had. On their farm, the chickens used for the project were raised in a free-range manner and cattle and sheep raised on the farm were rotationally grazed. The SARE grant assisted them in acquiring the equipment and supplies necessary to create products that would not only increase profits but also provide convenient food products for consumers.

Through further processing of the chickens, they were able to come up with several new products such as, cut-up chicken, split and quartered chicken, ground chicken, BBQ wings, and snack sticks. The products require a variety of processing techniques and involve different amounts of time and effort to produce.

“The exciting thing we learned from the project was that adding value to a whole bird was more profitable than raising and marketing more birds,” explained Neuberger. For example, we found we could double the value of a whole bird by simply cutting it up in a few minutes and selling the parts in pound packages.”

While this project did not produce a profit due to large labor costs and time spent producing the products, it did confirm that there is potential to add profits by adding value to products on the farm. It took 144 hours at $9 per hour ($1,296) to produce $6,301 worth of value-added products. The 781 processed whole chickens from which the value-added products were made were valued at $5 each ($3,905).

“Many of the birds were seconds and would have been sold at a discount if sold as whole birds,” said Neuburger. “However, the cost of bags and labels, equipment depreciation, and overhead added to the cost of the new products and eliminated any profits during the testing phase.”

Neuberger analyzed the labor and cost data for producing the 8 products and determined that a producer could further process 5.42 chickens per hour. Using a rate of $9 per hour for labor, he determined that a producer could add $1.66 worth of value to each bird raised on his farm. Neuberger noted that there are several factors that could alter the results of the project. A location with a high demand for value-added products would allow producers to charge a higher price and make the process more profitable.

“Our project should have convinced anyone interested in raising chickens that it is more expedient to increase income by adding value than to raise more chickens and selling them whole” said Neuberger.

Read more about the Nueberger’s project online or contact the NCR-SARE office for more information.

THE NEW FACES OF NCR-SARE

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:02:00 +0000

David Baker, Rhonda Janke, Hans Kandel, Tim Kautza, Juan Marinez, Tricia Wagner have been elected to serve as Administrative Council (AC) members for the North Central Regional Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (NCR-SARE).

Assistant Dean for the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri-Colombia, David Baker, has been elected to serve as the Extension Director’s Representative to the NCR-SARE Administrative Council. From 1975-1994 Baker held the extension appointment for Extension Safety and Occupational Health Specialist at the University of Missouri-Colombia. He has previously served on the NCR-SARE Professional Development Program Committee, the Research and Education Program Review Panel, and the Evaluation Committee, among others.

Rhonda Janke is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist for Cropping Systems at Kansas State University (KSU) in the Department of Horticulture. She has been elected to serve as the Kansas Research Representative to the NCR-SARE Administrative Council. In 2006, Janke developed two new courses at KSU, “Opportunities in Sustainable Agriculture” and “Organic Farming Systems.” In 2005, Janke interviewed more than 70 leaders in sustainable agriculture. Those interviews are currently being transcribed for a full-text web site, as well a print publication.

North Dakota State University Extension Broadleaf Agronomist, Hans Kandel has been elected to serve as the North Dakota Research Representative to the NCR-SARE Administrative Council. Kandel has previously served as the Minnesota research representative to the NCR-SARE Administrative Council and is a member of the North Dakota State Variety Release Committee.

Doug Karlen, Supervisory Soil Scientist and Research Leader for the National Soil Tilth Laboratory and Professor of Agronomy at Iowa State University has been elected as the Regional Agricultural Research Service Representative to the NCR-SARE Administrative Council. Karlen has previously served on the NCR-SARE Administrative Council and the National Academy of Science as a Panel Member for Alternative Liquid Transportation Fuels, among other activities.

A Science and Environmental Education Specialist for the National Catholic Rural Like Conference in Des Moines, IA, Tim Kautza has been elected to serve as the Regional Non-Profit representative to the NCR-SARE Administrative Council. Kautza critiques and educates about the environment and social implications related to confined animal feeding operations, agricultural pesticides, water supply and quality, bioenergy, and global climate change.

Juan Marinez, Assistant Director for Outreach with the Julian Samora Research Institute at Michigan State University and Regional Director of Michigan State University Extension has been elected to serve as the Michigan Extension Representative to the NCR-SARE Administrative Council. Marinez has previously served on SARE’s Sustainable Agriculture Network Steering Committee. Among other activities, Marinez has served as a panelist for the Hispanic Serving Institution Education Grants Program and the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Competitive Grants Program.

Tricia Wagner has been elected to serve as the Missouri Farmer Representative for NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council. Wagner operates Yellow Wood Farmers in Hermann, MO and a 100 share CSA in partnership with Lee Farms of Truxton, MO. Among other activities, Wagner is a member of the Missouri Vegetable Growers Association, the Missouri Organic Association, and recently worked as a Community Development Specialist for Local Food Systems with the University of Missouri Extension.

NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council represents various agricultural sectors, states and organizations. It sets program priorities and makes granting decisions for the region.

SARE Outreach Announces Event Sponsorship Program

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:26:00 +0000

SARE grantees are important partners in fulfilling SARE's mission to advance sustainable innovations to the whole of American agriculture. The SARE Outreach Event Sponsorship Program provides financial support for educational events that advance SARE-funded project results to beginning, minority, underserved and commodity producers and the extension and educational professionals that serve them.

The application deadline for the SARE Outreach Event Sponsorship Program is December 15th, 2008.

Visit http://www.sare.org/events/support.html to download application forms or for more information.

Examples of eligible projects include, but are not limited to:

* Developing a track of conference workshops featuring SARE grant recipients as speakers
* Featuring SARE-funded grant project results in a poster session or display for beginning farmers
* Incorporating SARE-funded research sites on a farm tour for out-of-state producers and/or agricultural professionals
* Organizing conference sessions based on SARE publications
* Providing scholarships for producers who are unfamiliar with sustainable practices to attend a workshop featuring a SARE grantee

Successful proposals must advance the results of SARE-funded research or education projects by addressing one or more of the following priority areas:

* Extend innovative, sustainable production and marketing practices to producers or agricultural professionals, especially beginning, minority, underserved and/or commodity producers.
* Feature speakers, publications, or other content highlighting SARE-funded research and education projects
* Facilitate networking and exchange of SARE-funded research results across state and SARE regional boundaries.

Sponsorships are available in the amount of $500-$5000. Limited funds are available, and sponsorships will be allocated on a competitive basis. Sponsorship allocations will be determined by the event's capacity to achieve clear outcomes in the priority areas stated above.

Rolling applications are accepted on a quarterly schedule with the following deadlines: December 15, April 15, July 15, October 15. Call 301/504-5236 to request a print copy of the application form and guidelines by mail.

SARE Director Accepts New Detail

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:11:00 +0000

Farm Bill Brings Changes to SARE Leadership

SARE is experiencing the first ripple effects of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (farm bill) with a new role for Jill Auburn, SARE Director for more than 10 years. Jill is being detailed to a new position in USDA reporting to the Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. She will be chief of the Agricultural Systems and Technology division of the Research, Education and Extension Office. This mouthful was all newly created under the new Act. The move is scheduled for November 17, 2008.

While we'll miss Jill's day-to-day leadership of SARE-the detail could last up to four years-she'll be within hollerin' distance. SARE matters will cross Jill's new desk often, so she'll still be contributing to the effort and better able to link our work with other research, extension and education endeavors at the department.

Employee of the Year

As noted in the previous post, on October 21, 2008, Jill was awarded CSREES' Employee of the Year in Science and Education award-but SARE widely considers her entire tenure worthy of such recognition. Jill brought an openness to new ideas, intellectual rigor, remarkable organizational and management skills and broad experience to SARE. Says one regional coordinator: "She motivates others with positive attitude, clear vision and an ability to solve problems." It's no wonder that at SARE's 20th Anniversary conference in March Jill was given a standing ovation!

The Transition Plan

For the first six months, Western SARE Coordinator Phil Rasmussen will give 25 percent of his time to act as national director. He will receive substantial assistance from Kim Kroll, SARE Associate Director, and Andy Clark, SARE Outreach Coordinator. CSREES will revisit the situation after January 1, 2009 to see what makes most sense going forward as the circumstances of Jill's detail, the new administration, and the transition from CSREES to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (as mandated by the farm bill) develop.

The new SARE team is confident that, with SARE staff's support, the shift in leadership will go smoothly and SARE's work to advance sustainable agriculture will continue unhampered.

Regards,
Phil Rasmussen

Distributed by SARE Outreach for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), USDA. SARE's nationwide research and education grants program advances farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Maryland and the University of Vermont to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture.

Jill Auburn named the CSREES Employee of the Year in the Science and Education Category

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:55:00 +0000

Jill Auburn, CSREES national program leader, is the CSREES Employee of the Year in the Science and Education category. She was recognized for her outstanding leadership of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, championing the goals of CSREES, and dedication to achieving more sustainable agriculture across America.

photo from CSREES web site

SARE Program in USA Today

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:34:00 +0000

As sustainable farming takes root, green thumbs get greener
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY

ALTURA, Minn. — The 160-acre Kreidermacher family farm, once a traditional dairy operation, has become an incubator for sustainable farming methods.

Ed and Joyce Kreidermacher, now 63, bought the farm when they married in 1967. Over the years, they shifted from cows to hogs to growing flowers. Their son Eric, 33, is using environmentally friendly techniques and making the farm less dependent on oil.

Biomass boilers heat the greenhouses. Ash from the boilers fertilizes fields. Watering systems were designed for conservation, the soil mix used to grow plants includes coconut fiber and rice hulls instead of peat moss from environmentally sensitive bogs, and plants are grown and sold in biodegradable pots.

"We're looking for ways to do things better and be better for the land," Eric Kreidermacher says. "People respect and are willing to pay for a plant produced in a way that's more sustainable."

Kreidermacher is part of a growing trend. More old-school farmers are using techniques that protect natural resources instead of damaging them with chemicals, erosion and animal waste.

Many farmers are "rethinking … what farming is," says Kathryn Draeger, statewide director of the University of Minnesota's Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships.

'Doing the right thing'

Sustainable farming, the ability of a farm to produce food indefinitely, with little or no harm to its ecosystem, is catching on across the USA, says Andy Clark, national outreach coordinator for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program.

Interest is driven by consumer demand for locally grown, organic and sustainable products.

"Farmers have always been good stewards of the land," Clark says, "but now they can get paid for it."

What farmers are doing:

• Dave Petty, who raises cows, calves, corn and soybeans on 4,000 acres in Eldora, Iowa, has turned some crop production land into pasture to prevent erosion and protect nearby streams from fertilizer runoff. After fall harvests, he doesn't till his fields because leaving crop residue in place adds nutrients to soil and helps it retain moisture.

"Every major decision we make has to be sustainable," says Petty, 56.

• Scott Stone's family cattle ranch in Woodland, Calif., irrigates 600 acres of pasture and cropland with water from a nearby soup factory, limits the amount of time cows graze on each pasture to reduce disruption to plants and soil, and makes conservation projects a priority.

It takes time and money, says Stone, 51, but "you're doing the right thing. There are long-term benefits."

• The Yon family farm in Ridge Spring, S.C., also practices rotational grazing, says Lydia Yon, 43. They fenced their streams to prevent erosion and keep cattle from tainting them, making groundwater cleaner, she says. They plant grasses that give nutrients back to the soil.

"What's good for us from a business standpoint and at the same time is good for the environment is not something we do because we have to, but because we want to," she says.

A shift in focus

Sustainable farming makes financial sense for Kreidermacher.

Not long ago, the farm here used 80,000-100,000 gallons of propane every year. Now, by using biomass boilers that burn pellets made of corn and wood, consumption is down to less than 20,000 gallons. Kreidermacher's goal is to reduce that number in the next three to five years and use propane only as a backup.

He buys 600 tons of corn and wood pellets for the boilers each year, so he recently bought a pellet mill and planted native grasses that are being harvested and will be processed into pellets. When the mill is paid for, he'll save more money, he says. Biomass boilers heat two greenhouses, a barn for 1,400 hogs and the house.

Kreidermacher conserves water by capturing rain and pumping water into a growing table for his plants instead of watering them from overhead. The pots he uses are made of rice hulls or wood fiber and can be composted, but they don't break down for two or three years.

The impetus for his innovations was to find ways to make his mums, poinsettias and other plants healthier, Kreidermacher says. Gradually, his focus shifted to the environment. Planting native grasses on 20 acres two years ago, he says, resulted in "an increase in wildlife habitat and water quality, helping erosion problems."

Kreidermacher plants about 30 acres each of corn and soybeans and next year will grow organic corn, wheat and barley. He wants a wind turbine to generate more oil-free energy.

"You have to keep changing for the good of the land," he says.

Read the story at the USA Today site here.

Minnesota NCR-SARE Grant Project to be featured on the History Channel

noreply@blogger.com (NCR-SARE profile) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:25:00 +0000

Tim Carroll logging with draft horses – photo by Ronnie Hartman

After working at a treatment facility for juveniles for 16 years, Tim Carroll never planned to have a successful career logging with horses. But Carroll married his wife, Doreen, who had three riding horses, and he soon grew attached to draft horses and began using them to plow his driveway and do other work on his property. Soon after, down the road from his home in Minnesota, Carroll noticed a neighbor had hired a machine logger. The rest, you could say, is history

“Those loggers had left a mess on his property,” explained Carroll. “I asked if I could come by and clean out some of those logs with my horses. It didn’t take long and I had a crowd of people watching. People started asking me if I could come out to their land. Before I had my first job done, I had three contracts waiting. Not long after that, I had 27 contracts. After 5 years, I quit my day job, and started doing this fulltime.”

Cedar River Horse Logging and Wood Products has been in business for 18 years using draft horses for sustainable forest management.

“Equine forestry,” as Carroll calls it, became his new passion. Other than cutting firewood, Carroll hadn’t been involved in forestry. Before he got started fulltime, he traveled around the country working with other horse loggers, such as Jason Rutledge with Healing Harvest Forest Foundation.

Carroll developed a strong desire to educate people about the benefits and sustainability of equine forestry, so he submitted a proposal to from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE). He received a 2006 Farmer Rancher grant from NCR-SARE for $6,000 to promote this low-impact forest harvesting method.

“Draft horses are incredibly efficient, and people need to know that,” explained Carroll. “This project was started to educate the public about equine forestry and to bring young people into the profession. The average age of a horse logger is 45-55. It’s not for a lack of demand for the work; it’s a lack of educated young people getting involved.”

With his project funds, Carroll created a DVD to demonstrate and promote equine forestry. It was aired on Twin Cities Public Television (TPT). For the production, Carroll set up an old fashion logging camp with a 20 man crew, 11 horses, four saw mills, and a camp cook. During production, the camp logged and sawed 36,000 board feet in eight days.

“The film was aired for the first time on January 12, 2008 on TPT and I have had a lot of calls from people who want their land worked with horses,” said Carroll. “I have done a lot of seminars and demos and found people really want this service. This grant has given me an opportunity to understand the PBS system and how it works. My role as a businessman is changing from a producer to a manager and teacher.”

Carroll is convinced his method is sustainable from many angles.

“I don’t think that there’s a system that’s more sustainable for logging than ours,” he explained. “Horses cost about $2.50 per day to operate, including deprecation, and we can move a semi load of logs per day with them. We even use them to harvest the hay they eat. Skidders don’t produce baby skidders. Horses reproduce colts.”

Carroll’s project will be featured on the History Channel’s Modern Marvels program on November 21st, 2008. Visit the Modern Marvels web site for listings.

Read more about Carroll’s project online at the SARE reporting site.