Education & Training

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

NCR-SARE developed a Diversity Goals Narrative to clarify NCR-SARE’s goals for its new diversity initiative and initiated a special call for the Diversity Research and Education Grant Program.The special call for the Diversity Research and Education Grant Program’s purpose was to fund people and/or projects that could help NCR-SARE reach and work with underserved audiences to improve agricultural sustainability in the region.

This website represents the collaborative efforts of: the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy; Ohio Department of Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture; Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA); the Organic Food and Farming Education & Research Program of the Ohio State University Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center; and the Ohio State University Extension. These entities, working together as Begin Farming Ohio, aim to build Ohio’s capacity to provide, expand, enhance, and sustain services to beginning farmers.

This toolkit provides a decision making tool (the matrix) to guide communities toward developing their own standard of sustainability and criteria for meeting that standard.

Organizations are providing invaluable training and resources to help small-scale commercial poultry farmers establish profitable operations.

Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses brings the business planning process alive to help today's alternative and sustainable agriculture entrepreneurs transform farm-grown inspiration into profitable enterprises.

A new program has been developed in Iowa and Kansas to train Extension and other professionals to increase their awareness of Latino culture and community.

The “Building Capacity to Engage Latinos in Local Food Systems” project was designed to provide Extension educators and other agricultural professionals in Iowa and Kansas with the knowledge and skills to identify and respond to the needs and goals of Latino growers and produces and their families.

This course covers planning and business development, marketing opportunities and strategies for farm/ranch businesses, and managing the farm/ranch business for long-term success.

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.

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...

A group in Kansas City is training new, primarily organic growers, in the Kansas City food shed, and seeking to improve the skills of existing growers. The Growing Growers Training Program is a collaborative effort to train new sustainable and organic market farmers to serve the Kansas City food shed, and to develop the skills of current producers.

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.

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.

A graduate student from North Dakota State University created five extension fact sheets after monitoring and reporting on the riparian ecosystem associated with the Middle Sheyenne River, a perennial stream in eastern North Dakota.

Beginning farmers in South Dakota have an opportunity to learn first-hand about lowcost, sustainable methods of farming and gather the tools to successfully launch a farm enterprise thanks to Dakota Rural Action’s Farm Beginnings program. 

Beginning farmers in South Dakota have an opportunity to learn first-hand about lowcost, sustainable methods of farming and gather the tools to successfully launch a farm enterprise thanks to Dakota Rural Action’s Farm Beginnings program.

In 2009 Tonya Haigh and Frank James with Dakota Rural Action submitted a proposal for an NCR-SARE Researchand Education Grant and were awarded $25,000 to evaluate and refine the Farm Beginnings platform, which was developed by the Land Stewardship Project, in order to meet the unique needs of beginning farmersand ranchers in SD. As a result, the SD BeginningFarmer Training and Linking project was developed to build an educational network for beginning farmers in SD.

This informative book contains history and present day stories about how food is regarded as the medicine and economic staple of the Anishinaabeg people.

Iowa State University graduate student's unexpected discoveries inspired vibrant new learning communities for small-scale meat processors.

Includes curriculum materials, extension bulletins, resource lists, and a greenhouse energy model that were developed with the intention that educators can use the materials in full or part to deliver programming on energy management and conservation for greenhouse production.

This 12-page bulletin outlines how to conduct research at the farm level, offering practical tips for both crop and livestock producers, as well as a comprehensive list of more in-depth resources.

Just off of Highway 77, running north from El Dorado, Kansas, runs seventy three acres of agritourism property which is a part of Carroll and Becky Walters’ family farm and pumpkin patch, Walters’ Pumpkin Patch. 

Working in an extension office, co-owner of Dakota Family Mill, Adrian Biewer, became aware of the health needs that wholegrain products could address. Developing a better tasting wholegrain product made practical sense.

In 2006, the farm families of Dakota Family Mill, Duane and Jean Smith, Bob and Debra Evenson, and Adrian and Anne Biewer, submitted a proposal to the NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant program, and were selected for funding.

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

The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, supported by SARE grants, has helped dozens of small farmers in Massachusetts establish their roots.

A 16-page bulletin intended to be a resource for agricultural educators, heads of community development and agricultural organizations, government agency staff and others who want to better connect with and improve the lives of farmers and ranchers who remain hard to reach.

Jim Sluyter first read about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in a now-defunct magazine called Harrowsmith, soon after the first CSAs were started in the north east part of the United States. Although the concept was immediately appealing for their small homestead farm, Sluyter and his spouse, Jo Meller, hesitated to become involved. 

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.

A SARE-funded workshop series is helping farmers produce their own biodiesel, saving money and reducing their carbon footprint.

The Organic Dairy Short Course for Ag Professionals, a Professional Development Grant Program project, aimed at improving the ability of public and private sector agricultural educators and advisors to serveorganic and transitional organic dairy producers.

The project developed, delivered, and evaluated a professional development training module called “Organic Dairy 101: A Workshop for Agricultural Professionals” at four locations in Minnesota and three in Wisconsin, training a total of 174 dairy andagriculture professionals. 

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

Transitioning to organic farming? Already switched, but needing to update your farm plan? Get step-by-step help in this workbook from Ohio State's Organic Food and Farming Education and Research (OFFER) Program.

This Extension educator curriculum focuses on successful strategies for increasing the adoption of sustainable practices on reservation lands. 

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

Southern SARE and Extension

Course on how to incorporate principles and practices of sustainable agriculture in training for southern region ag professionals, with a focus on integrated pest management.

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.

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

Charuth van Beuzekom-Loth grew up in Holland. Her family raised goats and good cheese was plentiful. Eventually, she moved to the United States and years later settled down with her husband on a small farm named Shadowbrook near Lincoln, Nebraska. The transition went along nicely except for one thing. The cheese just wasn’t the same.

“I guess I’d always had a dream of doing some kind of a cheese making venture,” said van Beuzekom-Loth. “I love the cheeses in Holland. I never was very satisfied with the cheese that I could buy here unless it came from Europe.”

Information shared during a three-day training for Extension professionals on renewable energy topics—including biofuels, energy efficiency, and wind and solar energy—has benefited thousands of farmers in the South.

Will Allen is using innovative soil-building techniques and educational programs to lead the way in urban agriculture.

This award-winning report provides a sampler of best practices in sustainable agriculture—from marketing and community vitality to cover crops and grazing—as well as eight profiles of producers, educators and researchers who have successfully implemented them.