Western SARE From the Field

SARE-funded extension specialists in 42 states are making homestead farmers better stewards of their land.

Vineyard managers in Fair Play, California are looking for a way to increase the efficiency of their water applications.

For ranchers, Montana's first state-recommended winter wheat variety is a livestock forage with multiple benefits. 

California's massive winegrape industry is growing more sustainable, thanks to the efforts of groups like the Central Coast Vineyard Team.

Don Bustos has used solar energy to cut his winter greenhouse heating bill to almost nothing.

For decades, John Allen has helped farmers develop business skills and strategies, improving their profitability and helping to revitalize rural communities.

Thanks to the effort of two New Mexico State University faculty members and a SARE grant, the farmers of northern New Mexico are finding that vegetables can be successfully grown year-round more....

Jeff Mitchell of the University of California Kearny Agricultural Center, was awarded a Western SARE Professional + Producer Grant to evaluate and refine strip-till and no-till planting systems for corn forage production and no-till drill winter forage planting at the San Joaquin Valley in terms of crop establishment, weed control and profitability.

As the Xerces Society implements their Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Courses in the Western Region, they are already showing signs of impact and interest among their targeted audience....

Nevada rancher Agee Smith is using a farmer/rancher grant to add sagebrush to his cattle's diet, which has the potential to lower winter feed costs while improving rangeland biodiversity. 

Because of high obesity and diabetes rates and a lack of locally-grown foods on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Washakie, Wyoming, Justine Russell launched her PDP-funded project with the goal of increasing awareness of the potential for a farmers market on the Reservation. In less than two years, she and her partners accomplished so much more than increasing awareness.

University of California researchers are discovering the keys to success for regionally based supply chains, which play a major role in vibrant local food systems.

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.

Pervasive cheatgrass has long posed a threat to ranchers and their communities in the Intermountain West, but there is new hope in forage kochia, a perennial shrub with the potential to improve grazing and biodiversity.

Dr. Bret Hess' research looking at camelina as an alternative seed crop for biofuels and as feedstock will give producers the information and tools they will need to make decisions around adding camelina to their operation when fuel prices do rise again. Read more...

Shermain Hardesty and Penny Leff of the University of California Small Farm Program see an opportunity in agritourism to increase and diversify profits for producers, given the increased public demand for local foods and for education about local farms and ranches...

When Fara Ann Brummer of Warm Springs Oregon began her SARE-funded project, Cropland Planning Group, her original intent was for the group to focus on one piece of tribal land and produce a well-thought out plan as an exercise. What happened in addition to this is that the group took on a life of its own through the middle phase of the project and gained immense tribal support to start a farm. Read more...

The San Joaquin Valley of California is one of the most productive and diverse agricultural areas in the country. However, Daniel O’Connell of the Sequoia Riverlands Trust (SRT), along with local producers, gathered data that identified challenges in building a healthier regional food system.  These challenges, similar those many other regions face, included  lack of infrastructure to provide for adequate distribution channels, minimal awareness by consumers about where and how to access product in the region,  land use decisions on the urban-rural edge that impacted farmers with pressures that drove up land and production costs, and the Valley’s disconnect from broader, statewide food systems thought, policy changes and economic benefits from localized trends like value-added processing.

This research project demonstrated that higher water use efficiency is possible with irrigation reductions of at least 25% in on-farm trials, with no affect on yields and fruit quality. This reduction could help keep ag land in production, especially in drought years

Steve Van Vleet found that properly managing grasslands with mob grazing significantly helped regenerate the vegetation and improve species diversity.