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Virtual Fence User Guide
The virtual fence webpage on Rangelands Gateway allows potential users to access resources, tools, workshop materials, webinar information, and multimedia resources. Virtual fencing (VF) has the potential to change grazing systems by allowing unprecedented impact over livestock distribution. The systems use invisible barriers, established by GPS coordinates, to influence livestock movement with a combination of […]
The Terroir of Bison
Is Grass-Fed Bison Better for your Health? Not all bison burgers are created equal. As with other livestock, it stands to reason that how and where bison are raised would impact the meat’s nutritional profile. But there isn’t much science on how different forages and finishing strategies effect bison quality. Until now. Nutrition science […]
Exploring Montana Agriculture
The SARE Fellows trip to Montana was amazing. I enjoyed seeing the collaborative efforts among the various farms and organizations to share their knowledge, expertise, and resources to help each other thrive while meeting the needs of the community. This experience has shown me how people working together is what truly makes programs sustainable. – […]
Cheatgrass-Eating Sheep
Wildfires in the West are inevitable and part of a natural, necessary ecological cycle, but invasive grasses like cheatgrass can make fires burn hotter, spread farther and cause more destruction. So, across the West, researchers, range managers, cattle ranchers and others are looking for ways to economically control cheatgrass and other invasive grasses on millions […]
WSARE Quick Guide: Choosing Between Two Good Chicken Housing Systems
Quick guide to choosing between chicken caging systems.
WSARE Quick Guide: Selecting Cattle to Improve Grazing Distribution
Quick guide summarizing what you can do to select cattle to improve grazing distribution.
Integrating Small Goat Herd Production with Fruits and Vegetable Production
Most small family farms produce and market more than a single crop from their farm. Growing multiple crops promotes benefits coming from both biologic and economic diversification. This report resulted from a project in Hawaii with the purpose to develop a diversified production system by integrating the farm’s goat production enterprise into a crop production […]
On-Farm Internship Training Binder
The Placer Ag Futures Project was conceived as a response to critical issues affecting local agricultural sustainability. This project was intended to help grow a new crop of agricultural professionals that are trained in sustainable agricultural practices. One part of the Ag Futures Project was the on-farm internship training. The summer internship program consisted of […]
Moooooving Forward Together
This case study is a total of 39 graphically designed pages and includes an overview of beef to school in Montana; school, processor, and producer needs; an infographic of the beef lifecycle; an infographic of common beef to school partnerships; demographics of Montana schools, producers, and processors; challenges and opportunities for beef to school in […]
Market Opportunities of Conventional vs. GMO-free Broilers
Berggren Demonstration Farm (now Phoenix Farm Enterprises, Inc) performed a side-by-side comparison of pasture-raised Cornish Cross broilers fed on GMO-free feed vs. conventional feed. Three batches of birds were raised under experimental conditions, tracking feed costs, labor inputs, transportation, and dressed weight at processing. At point of sale, consumers were informally surveyed to evaluate preferences […]
Collaborative Grazing for Sage-Grouse: Centennial Valley
This video portrays the Collaborative Grazing for Sage-Grouse Project in the Centennial Valley focusing on understanding how grazing management affects sage-grouse survival. Better understanding will be important to increasing sage-grouse populations.
Pasture and Grazing Management in the Pacific Northwest
A book that provides knowledge of ecological processes involved in pasture growth and utilization and an understanding of how management influence those processes for good or bad.
Biological Soil Crusts
Cheryl McIntyre investigates the influence of biocrusts on the establishment of native perennial grasses and cheatgrass and the conditions under which biocrusts might make rangelands more resistant to exotic grass invasion, and thereby serve as a potential restoration tool for producers.
Fresh Growth Podcast
Fresh Growth: Approaches to a More Sustainable Future from Western Ag Practitioners introduces you to farmers and ranchers from around the western United States who are finding innovative sustainable practices that enrich the natural resources we all care about. These successful multi-generational operations experiment with new ideas and are making it pay. Listen in as […]
Responses to COVID-19 in Western Ag
Agriculture in the Western Region has been greatly impacted by COVID-19 and its resulting Shelter in Place orders, labor and processing challenges, and strongly shifting consumer behaviors and markets. It has also become clear that our agricultural community has been responding quickly and creatively. Western SARE cares about our community and feels a responsibility to share ideas and strategies. Toward that end, we conducted a survey of our state coordinators and project leaders of grants funded in the past three years. The data and examples are listed below. We will also create a report from this information, along with ideas provided on how Western SARE itself should adapt to the crisis.