Crop Production

An eight-minute video that explores the benefits of alternative tillage techniques in corn grown for biofuels.

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

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....

Transitioning to Organic Production lays out many promising conversion strategies, covering typical organic farming production practices, innovative marketing ideas and federal standards for certified organic crop production.

As the drought in the Texas High Plains continues to intensify, a unique partnership of producers and researchers is working diligently to find economically viable alternatives to the region’s irrigation-dependent crop monocultures.

Tucked away in the sprawling prairies of Northwestern Kansas is a town not unlike thousands of other rural communities spread across the country. It is a town built on agriculture that has subsisted for over 130 years on the determination of its citizens and their love of the land. The only outward sign that sets this community apart from the other towns around it is that its citizens are predominately African American. They have their roots in the post-Civil War movement which freed millions of individuals from plantation slavery. Their town is called Nicodemus.

Hailing from small vegetable farms, cattle ranches and grain farms covering thousands of acres, the producers in The New American Farmer, 2nd edition have embraced new sustainable approaches to agriculture.

Anu Rangarajan, of Cornell University, is advancing the next generation of organic agriculture through research, training and by connecting farmers and educators.

Michigan State University (MSU) graduate student, Jesse Sadowsky, received an NCR-SARE $9,900 Graduate Student Grant to conduct an observational study to examine the effects of both organic and conventional management on plant health and soil biology in blueberry fields in Michigan.

Weed control demands time, labor and expense for every farmer every year. Steel in the Field shows how today's implements and techniques can control weeds while reducing—or eliminating—herbicides. Available only online.

This publication provides a guide for selecting best management practices that consider both production and environmental-sustainability goals for corn production in South Dakota.

As producers throughout the nation grow increasingly concerned about water scarcity, farmers, ranchers and agricultural educators are beginning to explore new, conservation-oriented approaches to water use.

Corn growers across New York have together cut their use of starter phosphorous by tens of millions of pounds, thanks to SARE-funded Cornell University research.

Semiochemical-based trapping methods were developed for the control of the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus), the New Guinea sugarcane weevil (Rhabdoscelus obscurus) and the sweetpotato weevil (Cylas formicarius) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Photos of trapping systems, as well as trapping dates, were collected and developed into an instruction manual along with the developed methods.

Order an entire set of SARE Outreach books and bulletins for one low price.

A publication to foster recognition of the Appalachia region and encourage preservation of heirloom seed varieties.

Sarah Carlson, Project Coordinator and Research and Policy Director at Practical Farmers of Iowa, is an agronomist who conducted on-farm research for her master’s thesis with several farmers. Practical Farmers of Iowa has been conducting on-farm research within their membership on cover crops since 1987.

An interactive website to assist ag professionals in developing and demonstrating successful organic education programs, teaching principles in organic agriculture.

A group of farmers in Wimbledon, ND are working to turn a conventional chemically dependent farm into a fertile, sustainable, organic, farming unit. What started as a farm restoration project for the sake of their beef market ended by using all of the livestock to restore the soil.

A series of eight handbooks for new farmers or established producers seeking to transition to organic or improve their current practices. Print only; order from Chelsea Green.

Dan Forgey has farmed for 40 years based on the belief that if you take care of the land, it will take care of you, evidenced by his commitment to no-till, cover crops and crop diversity.

Weeds can be challenging without rightsized mechanization.

In Kingsville, MO, a perennial and native seed crop producer has been developing and processing energy crops and agricultural residues into biomass engineered fiber fuel, and now he and other producers in MO could help determine the future of cellulosicbased biofuels.

In Ashland, MO, Dan Kuebler is creating an affordable, efficient, and sustainable irrigation system for a two acre organic vegetable operation. Since 1977, Dan Kuebler has been running a certified organic garden operation in Ashland.

Managing Cover Crops Profitably explores how and why cover crops work and provides all the information needed to build cover crops into any farming operation.

Managing Alternative Pollinators: A Handbook for Beekeepers, Growers and Conservationists is a first-of-its-kind, step-by-step, full-color guide for rearing and managing bumble bees, mason bees, leafcutter bees and other bee species that provide pollination alternatives to the rapidly declining honey bee.

While every farming system is unique, the principles of ecological pest management apply universally. Manage Insects on Your Farm highlights ecological strategies that improve your farm’s natural defenses and encourage beneficial insects to attack your worst pests.

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.

In Missouri Valley, IA, Vaughn and Cindy Pittz have been developing the opportunity for small family farms to utilize the aronia berry as a sustainable organic alternative crop at Sawmill Hollow Organic Farms, located 6 miles north of Missouri Valley, Iowa in Harrison County.

Researchers at the University of Illinois (U of I) are using sorghum-sudangrass as a summer smother crop in the battle against aggressive perennial weeds.

How to Manage the Blue Orchard Bee explains how to use this alternative pollinator successfully, including nesting, rearing and wintering, how to manage predators, and more. Available only online.

Dan Forgey describes how he grows cover crop mixes in synch with a cash crop of corn, and gets strong yields without chemical fertilizer.

It all began in 2002 with a $6,500 SARE grant and the seed of an idea: a no-till tractor implement that rolls, crimps and kills cover crops, creating a weed suppressing mulch.

Overcoming weed challenges, Georgia farmer Relinda Walker brings the Southeast's first crop of certified organic peanuts to market.

University of Vermont Extension Specialist Heather Darby partners with colleagues and farmers to advance research in biofuel production, organic grains for dairies, and value-added wheat for local bakeries.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems has produced a wealth of valuable data through its farm systems research units.

These in-depth training manuals, produced by the University of California Santa Cruz, help instructors conduct hands-on teaching in organic farming and gardening, direct marketing, and small-farm business planning.

The primary short-term goal of this graduate student grant project was to test a strategy for utilization of  native plants to increase biodiversity in a perennial fruit system. This project is of particular relevance to specialty crop farmers that are under pressure to reduce pesticide inputs while also producing the highest quality food. 

Nebraska farmers Keith and Brian Berns found they could use cover crops in dryland farming to increase corn yields, and now are sharing their knowledge.

Research at Iowa State University (ISU) may be good news for swine producers who have been facing high grain prices. Coordinated by Jim Fawcett, the team’s recent research at ISU has demonstrated that field peas can be utilized as a partial substitute for soybean meal or corn in swine diets.

University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student, Herika Kummel, conducted an experiment in two restored prairies in southern Wisconsin to assess their carbon sequestration potential under a gradient of warm-season grass (C4) to cool-season (C3) pasture grass ratios. The sites were the Bison Ridge Ranch in Marquette County and the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Arlington Agricultural Research Station in Columbia County. 

Funded in 2005 through the Farmer Rancher Grant Program, Pov Huns’ high tunnel project, “Can Screened High Tunnels Extend the Growing Season of Bitter Melon in the Midwest?” (FNC05-551) aimed to determine whether pest control and season extension could make a tropical vegetable such as bitter melon protable by using a high tunnel on his Kansas City farm.

This bulletin describes some of the many agronomic crop alternatives, with plentiful examples of on-farm successes.

This study was conducted to develop an effective method for management of internal discoloration of horseradish roots. Internal discoloration of horseradish is a disease complex caused by at least three fungi, Verticillium dahliae, V. longisporum, and Fusarium solani. These fungi are carried in the propagating roots (set-borne inoculum) and also survive in the soil (soil-borne inoculum). 

Dan Forgey uses no-till, cover crops and crop rotations to build soil health, manage weeds and maximize rainfall.

Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual provides an in-depth review of crop rotation, including how it improves soil quality and health and helps manage pests, diseases and weeds.

This Rodale Institute fact sheet reviews the use of cover crops and no-till in organic systems, including selection, establishment and mechanical termination of cover crops; crop rotations; and energy and production budgets.

Building Soils for Better Crops is a one-of-a-kind, practical guide to ecological soil management, now expanded and in full color.

Backpack sprayers are a boon to farmers on small acreage, but not all sprayers are created equal. 

In Minnesota, Mhonpaj Lee, NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher grant recipient, is researching and documenting information about traditional Hmong herbs. In addition to her job as a translator at Hennepin County Medical Center, Lee farms with her family. They are currently offering shares from the first certified organic Hmong owned and operated Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation.

South Dakota farm manager Dan Forgey has improved soil quality and the bottom line by successfully introducing cover crops to his long-term no-till system.

The scope of this NCR-SARE Research and Education project was designed to assist the Roots of Appalachia Growers Association (RAGA) develop a learning network among growers, to close the gap between growers and current research activities, and support RAGA entering the marketplace.