SARE Nationwide Press Releases

Spotlight on Innovative Research Earns SARE.org Top ACE Award

outreach@sare.org (Hayley Hay) — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:48:35 +0000

Today, cutting-edge sustainable agriculture research results are more accessible than ever, thanks to the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program's new suite of websites, which was recently awarded a top honor by the Association for Communications Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE).

"This is a very effective, beautifully designed set of sites," commented ACE judge Lorna Olsen, of North Dakota State University. "The content is easily searchable and discoverable, and the navigation is intuitive and user-friendly." SARE.org received ACE's Gold Award for website design plus the Outstanding Professional Skill award for the entire information technology category.

Says SARE Director Robert Hedberg, "SARE.org is a comprehensive learning tool that helps advance sustainable innovations to the whole of American agriculture. Five thousand SARE-funded projects are searchable by topic, project number, grantee name, region, and state."

Users can also browse free books, bulletins, fact sheets, grantee-produced resources and videos spotlighting SARE-funded research. From the Field profiles invite producers, agricultural professionals, and other users to learn from grantees who have put their innovative ideas to the test.

The web project was an all-hands-on-deck effort with SARE's regional and national staff working collaboratively over three years to create five independent sites with common coding that allows information sharing among sites and ease of navigation. Contractor ThinkCreative of Tallahassee, Fla., built the site on the eZ Publish platform, helping to make the shared webplex vision a reality.

Learn more about ACE.

Connect with SARE Today on Social Media

outreach@sare.org (Peter Toro) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:09:36 +0000

In 2010, Oregon farmer Scottie Jones used a SARE grant to help family farms boost incomes through agritourism by launching Farm Stay U.S., a national online database matching consumers with farms offering overnight stays.

With Facebook, Twitter and Flickr complementing her popular website, Jones is leveraging the power of online tools to bring together the communities that help strengthen American agriculture.

Now, we are pleased to follow Jones' example by inviting you to join SARE on Facebook, Twitter and RSS! If you want to connect locally, consider joining one of our regional social media communities.

Joining SARE on social media is one of the best ways to stay up to date with the latest developments and opportunities in sustainable agriculture. Be among the first to learn about:

New educational resources in SARE's Learning Center
Farmers, ranchers, educators and researchers using SARE grants to advance cutting-edge innovations
SARE grant funding opportunities
News about sustainable agriculture events and speakers

And of course, social media is a great way to tell us what you think. Share your own stories and knowledge with other SARE stakeholders. Your voice and participation will help ensure that informed insights are leading SARE's efforts to advance innovations in sustainable agriculture.

New Release: SARE's 2011/2012 Report from the Field

outreach@sare.org (Andy Zieminski) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:32:53 +0000

Since 1988, SARE has funded more than 5,000 sustainable agriculture research and education projects on farms and ranches large and small, dryland and wetland, urban and rural, from Florida to Alaska to Guam. This is quite a milestone, especially when considering that behind each of these projects are great innovators—farmers, ranchers, researchers, educators and nonprofits—working hard to develop the next profit-making, land-conserving, community-building project to help feed our growing world.

SARE is proud to release its 2011/2012 Report from the Field, the biennial report of the program’s recent cream- of-the-crop grantees and their work.

Some highlights:

Two brothers in Nebraska boosted corn yields by 10 percent in non-irrigated conditions with moisture-conserving cover crops, and have launched a cover-crop seed business.
Within a year, knowledge gained from a three-day renewable energy training benefited more than 2,600 farmers across the South.
Former tobacco farmers in Kentucky are now cashing in on sweet potatoes—grossing up to $7,000 per acre—thanks to new research and outreach from University of Kentucky Extension.
A Cornell University Extension specialist developed new techniques for onion growers that can increase their net profit by up to $258 per 100-foot bed.
A landmark curriculum that helps USDA professionals better serve American Indians is being widely adopted throughout the West, and garnered its writers USDA’s 2011 National Extension Diversity Award.

Download 2011/2012 Report From the Field now.

Report from the Field is a full-color, 20-page publication, complete with 12 inspirational profiles and tips for getting more information. It relates stories of innovation from every corner of the United States in key areas of American agriculture: local and regional food systems, clean energy education, specialty crop diversification, and pollinator health, to name a few.

Report from the Field also includes updates on some of the funding allocations and priority activities in each of SARE’s four regions, such as new grant programs, stakeholder listening sessions and scaling up local-based projects to the regional level – all to continually adapt grant making to the needs of the agricultural community.

Report from the Field is an inspirational and informative snapshot of the people who are working to make American agriculture more profitable for farmers, better for the environment, and a stronger foundation of rural communities.

Download all editions of SARE’s Report from the Field for free in the Learning Center. To order print copies visit the SARE WebStore, call 301/374-9696 or write to SARE Outreach, PO Box 753, Waldorf, Maryland 20604-0753. (Please specify title requested when ordering by mail.) Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Call 301/374-9696 for more information on bulk, rush or international shipments.

Introducing the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass

outreach@sare.org (Andy Zieminski) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:16:07 +0000

The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF) Compass is a new online resource about USDA's support of local and regional food. The Compass is an online multi-media narrative with stories, pictures and video about USDA's support for local and regional food systems and an interactive map of USDA-supported local and regional food activities in all 50 states. With the Compass, you can:

Learn about USDA resources to develop local and regional food enterprises - from seasonal high tunnels that extend the growing season, to technical assistance for beginning and experienced producers, to support for marketing, processing, distribution and retail infrastructure.
See case studies and photos of successful producers and projects from around the country.
Navigate the interactive KYF Compass Map, which shows the location and focus of many USDA-supported local and regional food projects.
Watch videos documenting how others are building strong local and regional food businesses, expanding local food production on their farms and ranches, and making change in their communities.
Join the national conversation. If you're a customer, meet a farmer. If you're a farmer, talk to your customers. Continue the conversation in your neighborhood, town and community about what local foods mean to you.

The KYF Compass is a result of USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative. Launched in 2009, the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative has been working with USDA's 17 agencies to coordinate USDA's work and investments in local and regional food system. The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass now allows you to easily navigate the stories of USDA's work in local and regional food systems, and will spur ideas for how to build stronger local and regional food opportunities in your community.

New Video: Conserving Water in the Texas High Plains

outreach@sare.org (Andy Zieminski) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:47:08 +0000

Agriculture in the Texas High Plains, a $20-billion-per-year industry, is facing a water crisis. Between extreme drought and overpumping, the Ogallala aquifer, the region's only source of irrigation water, is shrinking and the region's dominant, water-intensive corn and cotton monocultures face an uncertain future.

See the video here.

Thanks to a unique partnership of High Plains producers and Texas Tech University researchers, however, farmers and ranchers are developing economically viable alternatives. The research partnership, funded in part by a series of Southern SARE grants, is called the Texas Coalition for Sustainable Integrated Systems Research (TeCSIS). It is using a collaborative "systems," or holistic, approach to explore innovative agricultural models that take the entire agricultural system into account, including water use. The result is a "back-to-the-future" approach that integrates production crops with less water-intensive forages and livestock, much like the approach producers took before the advent of monoculture agriculture but guided by much more scientific accuracy. In a 10-year test, one integrated system of cotton, grains and grasses was as profitable as a conventional cotton system, but used 25 percent less water.

To learn more about TeCSIS' work, view this short documentary recently produced by SARE and its video production partner Cooking Up a Story, in which lead researchers and producers discuss the plight of the Ogallala, regional agriculture, and how they are working together to find solutions that hold real promise.

Initial funding for the long-term project and team was provided 15 years ago by Southern SARE. This initial grant has since been leveraged into a $6.2 million grant from the state of Texas, which led to the creation of a producer group called the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, or TAWC.

"The object is to pump less water and make more money," says TAWC Director Rick Kellison, a rancher in Lubbock. "By measuring everything that's measurable on the farm - total water use, tillage systems, fertility programs - and having academics look at each site under a magnifying glass, we can see how producers can maximize their productivity."

Along with conserving water, diversifying from a cotton monoculture leads to improved soil quality and soil carbon, less erosion and significantly lower use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, the group found.

Conserving water in the Ogallala, one of the largest fresh-water aquifers in the world, is vital not only for Texas, but for much of the United States. The Ogallala traverses through portions of eight states-Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming-providing 30 percent of the United States' irrigation, and contributing to an astounding 20 percent of the country's entire agricultural output.

Interested in more SARE resources? Check out the Integrated Systems topic section of SARE’s Learning Center to discover more examples of whole agricultural systems. Or, consider the 16-page bulletin Smart Water Use on Your Farm or Ranch for an overview of water conservation practices.

Grafting Tomatoes Brings Better Yields Naturally

outreach@sare.org (Andy Zieminski) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:28:40 +0000

Exciting new research shows that U.S. tomato growers may not have to choose between plant varieties that produce high-value fruit and those that are resistant to troublesome soil-borne pathogens. Researchers and farmers alike are demonstrating that grafting shoots of one plant to the root system of another is a cost-effective, environmentally sound way for growers to both manage diseases and cash in on improved yields.

For example, one Pennsylvania farmer growing grafted tomatoes in high tunnels boosted his yields 20 percent—or $9,024 per high-tunnel acre—compared to his standard practices. Separately, North Carolina State University researchers determined that grafting with organic and heirloom tomatoes can increase profit by 38 cents per plant.

SARE is pleased to release a new fact sheet, Tomato Grafting for Disease Resistance and Increased Productivity, that helps farmers and agricultural educators learn how to graft tomatoes to fight disease and improve the health and vigor of tomato crops. It is available for free download from SARE's Learning Center.

Growers interested in experimenting with this novel approach of improving resistance to soil-borne pathogens will find:

Helpful tips for grafting plants, including variety selection based on resistance to particular diseases, step-by-step grafting techniques and caring for grafted plants
Instructions for building a healing chamber for newly grafted plants, and for transplanting them to the field
An analysis of the economic viability of grafting under different conditions.

Still a relatively uncommon practice in the United States, researchers around the world have demonstrated that grafting can protect plants against a variety of soil-borne fungal, bacterial, viral and nematode diseases, such as Verticillium and Fusarium wilt (FW), corky root rot, root-knot nematodes, bacterial wilt, southern blight and other diseases.

Grafting is on the rise in the United States, since it has been shown to successfully manage bacterial wilt in tomatoes, even in severely infested soils. In western North Carolina, for example, a resistant rootstock was used to reduce bacterial wilt in tomatoes: At season's end, nearly 90 percent of the control plants died while 100 percent of the grafted plants not only survived, their yield was more than two fold that of the surviving non-grafted plants.

Tomato grafting shows particular promise for high-tunnel, heirloom and organic growers. With little opportunity for extended crop rotation intervals in a high tunnel, disease pressure can be very high. Heirloom varieties are not bred for resistance, and, in organic systems, other disease management practices are limited. Due to the phase-out of methyl bromide in the United States, grafting could become a widespread pest management strategy for a large segment of growers.

Interested in sustainable pest management? Visit the pest management section of SARE’s Learning Center to see our entire collection of free resources related to this topic.

Grazing Sheep for Alfalfa Pest Control in the Northern Plains

outreach@sare.org (Andy Zieminski) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:20:33 +0000

Wheat and alfalfa growers in the Northern Plains face major challenges in managing pests and weeds on their farms. Arthropod pests alone cause an estimated $260 million in alfalfa damage each year across the United States. Traditional control methods come with significant drawbacks: In many areas, stricter environmental regulations have led to bans on burning, and herbicide applications can be costly and management intensive.

SARE is pleased to release a new fact sheet, Sheep Grazing to Manage Crop Residues, Insects and Weeds in Northern Plains Grain and Alfalfa Systems. This fact sheet provides strategies for farmers and educators interested in using sheep for pest control.

A team of Montana State University (MSU) researchers have turned their attention to sheep as an alternative solution to controlling alfalfa weevil, wheat stem sawfly and other pests. In three separate on-farm studies funded by SARE, they developed recommendations for effectively using sheep for pest control. For example:

Sheep grazing wheat stubble in the fall and spring killed 75 percent of wheat stem sawfly compared with a no-treatment con-trol (42 percent sawfly killed), tillage (40 percent killed), and burning (45 percent killed).
On a commercial sheep operation in southwestern Montana, adult weevils were reduced in grazed plots by 35-100 percent, and larvae were reduced by 40-70 percent, depending on sampling date and study year.

This fact sheet presents results from the MSU research, and covers key details of animal selection, stocking rates, timing, economics and other issues, all according to the farmer's objectives.

Because targeted grazing is gaining prominence as a land-management tool, crop producers can usually find sheep producers in their area who provide this service. Grain farmers do not have to become sheep producers to take advantage of the strategies described in this fact sheet.

Along with effectively controlling pests, grazing also: provides an environmentally friendly alternative to herbicides and pesticides; increases soil nutrient cycling and soil carbon from sheep waste deposited across the field; provides an important tool for erosion control by allowing the grower to control the amount of remaining residue, whereas herbicides and cultivation can leave the soil completely exposed; and lowers equipment and fossil-fuel costs through reduced tillage.

Using sheep as a management tool in cropping systems also benefits the sheep producer. Sheep are traditionally grazed on rangelands or pasture forages and supplemented during winter with harvested feeds. Using sheep to graze hay and grain residue not only provides a new and valuable feed source, it can also reduce costs, and offer new business opportunities.

Interested in sustainable animal production? Visit the animal production section of SARE’s Learning Center to see our entire collection of free resources related to this topic.

Low-Till Forage Production Taking Hold in Central Valley

outreach@sare.org (Andy Zieminski) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:22:26 +0000

Strip-tillage is gaining momentum among dairy farmers in California’s Central Valley as a strategy with many benefits: It saves fuel, labor and equipment costs; reduces soil disturbance and dust; and opens the door to improved manure nitrogen management in the face of tighter regulations.

Leading the way is University of California, Davis Crop Specialist Jeff Mitchell, who has received two SARE grants to conduct research on Central Valley dairies evaluating strip-till and no-till planting systems for corn and winter forage production, and assessing conservation tillage’s ability to enable year-round triple cropping.

In addition, Mitchell coordinates the Conservation Tillage and Cropping Systems Workgroup, a 1,500-member group of California researchers, farmers, industry representatives and others interested in the practice, which is well-established in other parts of the country but relatively new to California.

By converting to strip-tillage, a typical dairy producer could eliminate four to five tractor passes. With high fuel costs, fewer passes across the field are better not only for the field but also for the dairy producer’s bottom line. It has also been shown that strip-tillage and no-tillage for forage production can reduce particulate matter emissions by 50-90 percent compared with traditional tillage.

“We estimate a reduction in costs of $50 an acre by using strip-tillage instead of traditional tillage,” Mitchell says. “However, it is important to understand that strip-tillage may not work in all soil types; heavier soils may be more difficult than coarser soils.”

Mitchell’s first SARE grant, received in 2006, evaluated strip-till silage corn production following wheat forage at Larry and Daniel Soares’ 600-cow dairy in Hanford. The trials evaluated conventional, no-till and strip-till in replicated strips, each 10 acres, in an 80-acre field. Results showed corn plant populations were higher in the strip-tilled fields, and weed populations and yields were roughly equal among the applications.

In his second SARE grant, ongoing since 2008, Mitchell is expanding on previous research by evaluating the potential benefits of conservation tillage-enabled triple cropping as a means for producing more silage, and thereby removing more manure nitrogen from dairy corrals. His work involves side-by-side comparisons of standard tillage double cropping versus conservation tillage triple cropping on dairies in Modesto and Turlock.

California dairies struggle with excess nitrate in groundwater, and new state regulations prohibit applications of nitrogen that exceed 140 percent of crop removal. “This standard will force many dairies, especially smaller ones, out of business if they cannot acquire additional land,” Mitchell says. Triple cropping, however, can become “a potentially reliable component of sustainable nutrient management plans.”

Mitchell offers these thoughts for producers considering strip-tillage:

When strip-tilling, having some moisture in the soil precludes bringing up large clods.
Timely weed management is needed – time herbicide applications close to planting (within a week).
Using the same GPS system for both the strip-tilling and planting operations will keep the planter on the strip-tilled area.

Read Mitchell’s SARE grant reports to learn more about his conservation tillage research: FW06-308, Conservation Tillage Forage Production in California’s San Joaquin Valley; and SW08-060, Triple-Cropping Dairy Forage Production Systems through Conservation Tillage in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

Interested in sustainable soil management? For in-depth, practical information on implementing conservation tillage and other ecological management practices, check out SARE’s Building Soils for Better Crops, 3^rd Edition. Visit the Learning Center to see SARE's library of educational resources, or visit the project reports database to learn more about SARE's grant-funded research.

Systems Science Grantsmanship Workshop

outreach@sare.org (Sean McGovern) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:04:37 +0000

2011 Systems Science Grantsmanship Workshop

Offered by The University of Tennessee in Partnership with NIFA

Tuesday, August 9, 2011, 8:30 AM, Knoxville, Tennessee

On August 9, 2011, NIFA National Program Leaders, in partnership with The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, are offering the third in a series of 1-day national workshops covering the preparation and management of competitively awarded, systems-based grant applications.

Participate via free webcast

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, the Organic Research and Extension Initiative, and the Organic Transitions Program all solicit applications that use a systems approach and transdisciplinary teams to meet challenges faced by producers and consumers.

This year's program will cover a number of new topics and revisit some key themes. New speakers will offer unique perspectives and dialog (via panel discussions) on stakeholder engagement, systems thinking, project evaluation, plugging in to eXtension CoPs, and project directorship. Audience participation will include both on-site and remote attendees.

The program will be hosted live on The University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville TN; however, participants have the option of viewing a live webcast, or accessing an archived version for post-workshop viewing. Registration is free, but advance sign-up is strongly encouraged to aid planning. To view the agenda and register for the meeting, visit The University of Tennessee workshop website.

Workshop archives from the previous two years can be found at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/business/training/cpworkshops_past.html. You can find both video and PowerPoint archives at the link.

For information on future and past NIFA Grantsmanship Workshops see www.nifa.usda.gov/business/training/cpworkshops.html.

Leading the Way to Energy Independence

outreach@sare.org (Andy Zieminski) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:09:03 +0000

Roger Rainville is ahead of the curve when it comes to reducing costs on his 300-acre dairy farm near Alburgh, Vt. Rainville started growing canola for biofuel in 2005, and now he's producing biodiesel for about $1.70 a gallon, and fueling his farm with it. Those savings, and his profit margin, are going to be even greater if energy and fuel prices continue to rise as they have recently.

See the video here.

What's more, one of Rainville's main goals is to share profitable farming strategies with his neighbors: For years he has been partnering with University of Vermont Extension Specialist Heather Darby to turn his farm into a research and demonstration site for energy production, cover crops and reduced tillage. Many of these efforts have been funded by SARE.

"We're showing ourselves that we can do things differently than we've been doing them," Rainville says.

To learn more about Rainville's innovative work with biofuels and soil management, check out this 16-minute video recently produced by SARE and Cooking Up a Story, in which Rainville discusses in depth his biodiesel production.

Rainville is examining every step of the biodiesel process-raising the canola, extracting the oil, using the byproducts, refining the fuel-in order to find strategies that are more efficient, and therefore more cost effective. He estimates it costs $135 per acre to raise canola.

Along with the thousands he expects to save by producing his own fuel, canola comes with two additional financial benefits. He uses canola straw as bedding for his 50 dairy replacement heifers, which adds a $200 per acre value in straw he does not have to buy. Also, he can pelletize canola meal after the oil is pressed out and sell it locally as protein-rich cattle feed, worth $350-$400 per ton.

In addition to his work with biofuels, Rainville serves as chairman of the Farmer's Watershed Alliance (FWA), a local nonprofit that helps farmers implement economically viable strategies to protect water quality. Under his and Darby's leadership, the group launched an initiative that increased the amount of cover crops planted in two local watersheds from 100 acres in 2006 to 1,500 acres in 2008. The project includes demonstrating best management practices for reduced tillage and no-till.