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Western SARE promueve la protección los recursos naturales y biológicos sobre los cuáles se basa la agricultura, la mejoría de la calidad de vida en comunidades rurales, y el incremento en las ganancias de las operaciones agrícolas, invirtiendo en proyectos innovativos de investigación y educación en agricultura sustentable. Western SARE apoya proyectos generados por productores, […]
www.sare.org news free-fact-sheets-identify-broad-benefits-of-cover-crops Free Fact Sheets Identify Broad Benefits of Cover Crops
Along with cutting costs and increasing crop productivity, cover crops provide various ecosystem services that benefit the environment both on and off the farm. For instance, adding cover crops to a rotation can significantly increase the portion of the year when living roots are present for soil organisms to feed on, which can have a […]
www.sare.org news cover-crop-economics-report-now-available-in-print Cover Crop Economics Report Now Available in Print
Cover Crops Offer Options in Wet Soil As more farmers across the nation begin to incorporate covers into their rotations, they find that this valuable conservation practice pays in more ways than one. Many farmers in states suffering from oversaturated fields that prevented or delayed planting are considering cover crops. To help farmers evaluate the […]
western.sare.org news ipm-for-coffee-berry-borer IPM for Coffee Berry Borer
When the coffee berry borer arrived in Hawaii 2010, Suzanne Shriner had a hard conversation with her parents. “I sat down with them at the kitchen table and told them we might have to get out of the coffee business,” she remembered. “It was a pretty sober moment, and it wouldn’t have been a good […]
www.sare.org news when-do-cover-crops-pay-new-usda-sare-report-addresses-the-question When Do Cover Crops Pay? New USDA-SARE Report Addresses the Question
Farmers around the country are planting cover crops on millions of acres to protect and improve the soil, and the more that farmers use cover crops, the more they value this conservation practice. Cover Crop Economics, a new report published by USDA-SARE looks at the economics of cover crops to help farmers answer that big […]
New Release: Sustainable Production and Use of On-Farm Energy
Missouri fruit grower Dan West hated seeing so much wasted fruit littering his orchard floor, and he worried about how the supply and price of fossil fuel affected his profitability. Seemingly unrelated problems, West found one solution to both. He began fermenting the waste fruit into wine and converting some of that wine into ethanol […]
Growers Learn Pheromone-Based Monitoring
Growers are turning to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools in order to reduce the use of pesticides on their farm. Pheromone-based monitoring is one such technique used to manipulate the behavior of insect pests. It is a practice that could work well in the Northern Plains; however, according to Dr. Gadi V.P. Reddy of Montana […]
New Video: Improving the Management of Rangeland Ecosystems
From invasive species to the effects of climate change, ranchers in California, like many parts of the West, face a raft of environmental challenges as they strive to remain both profitable and good stewards of their land and water. "It's incredibly important that scientists and ranchers and policymakers work together, because the problems that we […]
New Video: Building a Local Food Movement
When Congress ended its tobacco support programs in 2000, thousands of tobacco growers in western North Carolina who depended on them were left without a viable way to make a living. “There wasn’t a real future for the farms in our region if we didn’t come up with something new,” says Charlie Jackson, the executive […]
New Video: Bringing Independent Farmers into the Marketplace
Access to profitable retail and wholesale markets is a challenge for small- to mid-scale family farmers. “The days of showing up with your cantaloupes in the back of the pickup are no longer a way to make a living,” says Diana Endicott of Kansas City, Mo. “So you have to be willing to make a […]
New Video: Improving Soil Through Cover Crops
Like many farmers, Jeff Frey sees the soil as his livelihood, so he does what he can to protect and improve this vital resource beneath his feet. "I remember one afternoon we had a thunderstorm that washed mud out into the road and I could actually see some of my freshly planted soybeans in with […]
New Video: How SARE Supports Farmer-Driven Sustainability
There is no universal vision for agricultural sustainability in the United States—every region, every farm may require a different approach to improving livelihoods, protecting the nation’s land and water resources, and strengthening communities. Since its inception in 1988, the SARE program has supported a broad range of innovations in sustainability through its grassroots, farmer-driven grants […]
western.sare.org news building-internal-capacity-for-the-blackfeet-tribe-agricultural-resource-management-plan Building Internal Capacity for the Blackfeet Tribe Agricultural Resource Management Plan
The Blackfeet Tribe, according to Loren BirdRattler, faces exciting and challenging times in terms of achieving food sovereignty through sustainable agriculture practices. An important undertaking in progress – the Blackfeet Agricultural Resource Management Plan (ARMP) – will change agricultural practices on the Blackfeet Reservation for many years to come, as well as the economic futures […]
NAC Index of SARE-Funded Agroforestry Projects Now Online
Photo credit: Shibu Jose, University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry Valuable SARE-funded agroforestry research is now even more accessible to producers and educators across the country thanks to a new online index created by the National Agroforestry Center (NAC) using data from the SARE project database. The NAC index allows users to search SARE-funded agroforestry […]
Our Farms, Our Future Conference Proceedings Now Available Online
“Thank you for organizing what turned out to be my favorite conference,” was one participant’s response to the Our Farms, Our Future Conference held by SARE and NCAT/ATTRA in April of this year. The three-day event featured over 35 different breakout sessions, bringing close to 110 speakers together to share their diverse ideas about the […]
western.sare.org news pueo-are-much-more-than-pest-management Pueo are Much More than Pest-Management
If you can encourage a threatened native species, help control non-native pests, benefit the state’s farmers and preserve a culturally important icon, you’ve hit an ecological grand slam. That’s exactly what the University of Hawaii’s Melissa Price is trying to do with the islands’ pueo owls. The striking, dark birds are a species of short-eared, […]
www.sare.org news new-release-cultivating-climate-resilience New Release: Cultivating Climate Resilience
Texas ranchers Gary and Sue Price began noticing disruptive changes in the weather about 10 years ago, with dry periods getting drier and hot periods getting hotter. So they began making management decisions that would help their ranch adapt. As a result, when the crippling drought of 2011–2012 arrived, they were able to get by. […]
western.sare.org news students-breeds-beans-for-organic-farming Students Breeds Beans for Organic Farming
Graduate students at the University of California, Davis, have begun field tests on very rare commodities: high-yield, disease-resistant bean varieties that can thrive on organic farms. “Most crops—about 95 percent—have been bred for conventional farming and can be difficult to grow in organic systems,” said Travis Parker, a Ph.D. student in plant biology who is […]
western.sare.org news reducing-medusahead-and-preparing-the-land-for-restoration Reducing Medusahead and Preparing the Land for Restoration
"Ranchers are hurting." That one thought is why Kip Panter, Research Animal Scientist at the USDA-ARS in Utah, is passionate about the collaborative work he, other Utah-based researchers, extension professionals, and ranchers have led to restore degraded grasslands. The inspired project team, studying at three ranches, found a “really good economical way to reduce medusahead […]
www.sare.org news fellows-program-gives-extension-agents-insight-into-sustaining-iowas-agriculture Fellows Program Gives Extension Agents Insight into Sustaining Iowa's Agriculture
This fall, eight Cooperative Extension agents from around the United States were given a unique training opportunity in Iowa that enhanced their understanding of sustainable agriculture and gave them in-depth exposure to agricultural innovation. The Sustainable Agriculture Fellows program provides Extension Agents from diverse backgrounds with hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture while offering meaningful networking […]