North Central

Reaching Women in Agriculture: A Guide to Virtual Engagement

"Reaching Women in Agriculture: A Guide to Virtual Engagement" outlines a range of strategies and tools to help educators who have prior experience conducting in-person educational activities adapt their programming for online and hybrid spaces.

Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Wholesale Markets

For direct market farmers, expanding your operation to capture local and regional wholesale markets can represent an opportunity. But such a shift brings with it many changes to how you run your farm because the expectations that wholesale buyers have is much different than your direct market customers. Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Wholesale […]

Cultivos de Cobertura para Rotaciones de Cultivos Sustentables

Cultivos de Cobertura para Rotaciones de Cultivos Sustentables is an abbreviated, Spanish language translation of SARE's Cover Crops for Sustainable Crop Rotations topic brief.

Farmer-Focused Innovations Funded by SARE

“Institutionalized food is the forgotten part of the food revolution,” says Ann Swanson, talking about the lack of fresh produce available from local institutions in her community of Champaign–Urbana, IL. Inspired, Swanson used a SARE Farmer/Rancher grant to create new opportunities for local farmers, launch a series of educational classes and expand institutional capacity to […]

Manage Weeds on Your Farm: An Ecological Approach

SARE’s newest book, "Manage Weeds on Your Farm: A Guide to Ecological Strategies," examines the biology and behavior of common weeds and provides an integrated set of non-chemical control strategies that exploits their weaknesses.

Reaching Women in Agriculture: A Guide to Virtual Engagement

This guide brings together information, tips and tools to deliver effective and engaging online (and hybrid) education for farm and ranch women on topics related to farm viability, resilience and conservation.  While COVID-19-related restrictions issued in 2020 that curbed in-person gatherings were the impetus for developing this resource, online offerings can help address barriers—travel time […]

Understanding and Measuring Social Sustainability

This SARE brief defines social sustainability and illustrates how it can be addressed more clearly in SARE projects. Sample projects and quality of life indicators are provided to help grant-seekers and reviewers think broadly about understanding, measuring and describing the social impacts of research and education projects.

2021–2022 Report from the Field

Report from the Field features 12 stories from around the country of recent SARE grantees who are finding new ways to improve the sustainability of U.S. agriculture. The report also summarizes our total investment in research and education projects since 1988.

Soil Health Principles and Practices Videos

Experienced farmers and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) provide information on managing and improving soil health. Farmers discuss practices such as cover cropping, and using mulch and compost to improve soil health.

SARE Welcomes New Associate Director Dr. Kristy Borrelli

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) is pleased to announce that Dr. Kristy Borrelli has been hired to serve as its new associate director.

SARE Video Dives into the Economics of Sustainable Agriculture

While most agricultural profit models focus on maximizing yields in the short term, sustainable strategies prioritize profitable returns over the long term. SARE’s "The Economics of Sustainable Agriculture" animation describes how practices such as crop rotation and reduced tillage can improve an operation's bottom line sustainably. The newest episode in SARE’s “What is Sustainable Agriculture?” series provides […]

Updated Building Soils for Better Crops Focuses on Soil Health Fundamentals

SARE’s newest book, the fourth edition of Building Soils for Better Crops, provides rich detail on ecologically sound practices for developing and maintaining healthy soils. It is a must-read for farmers, educators and students alike.

Manage Weeds On Your Farm

Manage Weeds on Your Farm is a definitive guide to understanding agricultural weeds and how to manage them efficiently, effectively and ecologically—for organic and conventional farmers alike.

New SARE Bulletin Highlights Best Practices for Adult Learning

Studies show that farmers learn best through in-person, face-to-face educational programs. But learning opportunities often miss the mark due to content choice, disorganization or lack of understanding of participants' learning styles. Educators that use best adult learning practices have a greater effect on participants’ learning and retention, and empower farmers to make sustainable changes to […]

Water Management Addressed in New SARE Video

SARE's "Water Conservation" animation illustrates how efficient water management can help farmers and ranchers increase the resilience of their operations while improving the health of their crops and livestock.

New “Sustainable Grazing and Pasture Management” Video from SARE

“Sustainable Grazing and Pasture Management,” the sixth video in SARE’s “What is Sustainable Agriculture?” series shows how farmers can improve soil health and plant vigor by focusing on the health of their pastures and rangelands. This simple animation is a great introduction to the basic principles of sustainable livestock management and is intended to complement […]

New SARE Video "Ecological Pest Management"

SARE's new “Ecological Pest Management” animation highlights how farmers can use natural principles to control pests and improve the health and productivity of their production systems. The fifth episode in SARE's "What is Sustainable Agriculture?" series introduces key components of ecological pest management and is intended to complement more detailed training materials. Ecological pest management strategies […]

Sustainable Agriculture Through Sustainable Learning

This guide describes the science behind five best practices in adult learning and how to apply them to typical educational programs for farmers, including field days, workshops, online courses and one-on-one interactions.

New SARE Video Centers on Social Sustainability

SARE's new "Social Sustainability" animation addresses the importance of human resilience, success and fulfillment in sustainable agriculture. The fourth episode in SARE’s “What is Sustainable Agriculture?” series introduces key components of social sustainability in agriculture and illustrates strategies that can help farmers and ranchers succeed. Agriculture is a dangerous and demanding way of life, and […]