West

It's Oysters vs. Shrimp in Washington's Willapa Bay

For the past century, a silent war has waged in the tidal mudflats of Washington’s Willapa Bay. The combatants: native burrowing shrimp versus farmed Pacific oysters. Right now, the shrimp have the upper hand, but the oysters’ allies have been testing new weapons, hoping to turn the tide. One of those weapons? Sodium bicarbonate – […]

Bridging Food Safety and Sustainability on California’s Central Coast

In this Sustainable Agriculture Action Plan funded project, the Community Environmental Council, the Central Coast Soil Hub, and the Coastal San Luis Conservation District brought together local farmers and food safety compliance consultants to discuss barriers in implementing sustainable practices while meeting food safety regulations. Fresh produce, one of the region’s primary economic drivers, is […]

Strengthening Small Farm Businesses

As a Community Development Financial Institution that invests in the prosperity and well-being of farmers, ranchers, and fishers who have limited access to financial resources, California FarmLink (FarmLink) recognizes that the state’s farms and ranches face unique challenges as small business entrepreneurs. For small-scale farms and ranches to prosper, they first must succeed as businesses. […]

Testing Prickly Pear Cactus as a Crop and Fire Break

Liron Brish sees protecting farming in the United States as his life's mission. The tech innovator has launched several ag-focused ventures (including a new banking platform called Thombar for specialty crop growers) and he and his wife bought 10 acres in the hills above Santa Barbara, California to farm themselves. There were just a few […]

Safeguarding Chickpeas

Montana chickpea growers – who produce a third of the U.S. chickpea crop – face a serious foliar crop disease known as Ascochyta blight. It’s caused by a poorly understood pathogen- Ascochyta rabiei that requires growers to make multiple fungicide applications each season. That’s not only expensive, it’s a recipe for fungicide resistance development. “Some […]

Seed Banking in the Southwest: A Guidebook for Community and Tribal Seed Banks

This guidebook provides guidance and resources on the process of creating and maintaining a seed collection in a way that maintains seed viability and meets community needs. Four existing seed banks in Arizona and New Mexico are profiled, and their different ways of caring for their seeds offer a variety of models that will be […]

Guide to Honey Bee Queen Banking

A healthy and productive queen is an essential part of a successful colony. Access to and replacement of queens has become a key part of beekeepers' economics and management decisions, and this guide addresses the handling and storage of valuable, highly perishable honey queen bees. Listen to the podcast episode "The Holy Grail: Banking Queens […]

Cut Flower Production Fact Sheets

Cut flowers represent a fast-evolving market with lucrative opportunities for producers. However, cut flowers require a high level of expertise to produce and are challenging to grow especially in Utah’s high-elevation and arid to semi-arid climate. These fact sheets are designed to support cut flower growers in Utah.

Biological Control Video Series

This videos series explains the basics of biological control– using natural enemies to manage invasive pests. Learn how to effectively integrate weed biocontrol agents into your management strategy—covering everything from initial collection to long-term monitoring. The management tactics covered in the videos apply to the following weeds: bindweed, yellow toadflax, Dalmatian toadflax, diffuse and spotted […]

Range Riding Producer Toolkit

Range riding is a flexible, time-tested way to protect livestock in the West. Its main goal is to monitor livestock and predator activity so you can act quickly to prevent trouble before it starts. Since every ranch and landscape is different, range riding can be customized to fit your specific needs. This toolkit uses the […]

Domes: Bridging Agriculture in Wyoming & the Pacific

At first glance, agriculture in Wyoming and agriculture on Hawaii or Guam don’t have much in common. But growers in both the tropical Pacific and the northern prairie can benefit from enclosed production spaces – structures like hoop houses, high tunnels or geodesic domes – which is why Wyoming-developed domes will soon be popping up […]

Agritourism: Montana Conference Builds Stronger Collaborations

The Montana Agritourism Association (MAA) hosted their successful two-day 2nd annual conference, “Opening the Gate: Unlocking Agritourism Opportunities to Connect, Collaborate, and Innovate” in November with over 160 attendees. The conference met its stated goal of bringing together farmers, ranchers, tourism partners, educators, and community leaders and in creating a space to connect, learn, and […]

Can Less Fertilizer Create Higher Sugar Yields? Testing a Win-Win Hypothesis

For a sugarbeet grower, when someone tells you that you can reduce your nitrogen fertilizer inputs and costs by 20 percent and increase your crop quality and sugar yield, there’s only one logical response. Prove it. That’s just what the Western Sugar Cooperative set out to do with a Western SARE Professional + Producer grant […]

Farmstay Website Helps Producers Profit

Fifteen years ago, Western SARE awarded Oregon farmer Scottie Jones to develop a Northwestern Farmstay USA website. Today, the website highlights farms in 16 regions around the country and protectorates and includes 306 farms and ranches. What’s a farm stay? As part of her Farmer/Rancher project, Scottie defined a farm stay as overnight lodging on […]

Building Soil Health in Montana

Montana is celebrating their 3rd Annual Soil Health Week April 1-7, 2026. The weeklong celebration is designed to raise awareness about how healthy soils can increase crop yields, strengthen food security, create greater climate resiliency, and improve nutrition. Western SARE grantees have been at the forefront of building healthy soils. Here are a few Montana […]

Reducing Predation in Multi-Species Grazing

New Mexico rancher Sydney Franz tested two approaches to kidding goats for economics and safety and found a clear winner. Sydney Franz moved her goat ranch, K&C Boer Goats, from central Texas to Mora County, N.M. to partner with Turner Ranches. Their dream was to establish multi-species grazing for land restoration and improved profitability. “In […]

Farmer-Rancher Research in the West

Making changes on the farm or ranch involves taking risks. One or two years spent experimenting can lead to a financial hit too difficult to recover from. That’s where Western SARE’s Farmer/Rancher and Professional + Producer grants help out. Grantees, like the ones highlighted in this report, come up with the possible solution to a […]

Range Riders

Most Western SARE research projects use science to develop new knowledge, insights or practices to help farmers and ranchers in their quest to be more successful and sustainable. Some, though, rediscover and refine old knowledge – like the effectiveness of range riding to protect livestock from predators like wolves, mountain lions and bears. “It’s fascinating […]

Dr. Darrell Donahue Joins as Regional Coordinator

Montana State University (MSU) is pleased to announce that Dr. Darrell Donahue has been hired as the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (Western SARE) Regional Coordinator, effective September 1. Dr. Donahue comes to MSU most recently from West Virginia University, where he served as Special Assistant to the Provost and President, following four years […]

Growing Green in the Nevada Desert

When outsiders think of Nevada, they picture the garish lights of Las Vegas or perhaps red desert sands. But Nevada has a green side, too.