Newsroom

Our Farms Our Future Podcast: Making a Difference–Teaching Sustainability

Xiaochi (Max) Ma and Krista Jacobsen This week’s episode of SARE’s Our Farms, Our Future podcast series features University of Kentucky professor and agroecologist Krista Jacobsen and Xiaochi (Max) Ma, a Washington State University graduate student, who share techniques for teaching undergraduates about emerging sustainable practices and their critical environmental impact. Listen to or download the […]

Reflections of a SARE Fellow

The 2014-2016 cadre of SARE Fellows visited numerous farms in Arkansas, Nebraska, Idaho, and West Virginia to study sustainable agricultural practices. The Fellows themselves were from Florida, Maine, Missouri, and Washington; they overlapped with eight other Fellows who were either starting or ending their two-year study period. The various locations visited, diverse enterprises studied, and range […]

New: Improve Resilience and Stability With Farmers’ Guide to Business Structures

Selecting the right business entity for your farm is like building the foundation of a house. Without the right foundation, the house will falter. Choosing an appropriate business structure encourages you to follow good business practices in accounting and decision-making, and it protects your personal assets should your farm get into financial trouble. SARE’s newest […]

SARE Fellows Visit Oregon

Every year since 2007, USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension program (SARE) and the National Association of County Agriculture Agents (NACAA) has offered a national Fellows program. The program is designed for Extension faculty who are interested in learning more about sustainable agriculture in different parts of the country. Eight Fellows, two from each of […]

Our Farms Our Future Podcast: Quality of Life In Farming Communities

Beth Nelson and Doug Constance The next episode of our podcast series, Our Farms, Our Future, centers on quality of life in farming communities. Listen to or download the episode now. As the quality-of-life representative for Southern SARE’s administrative council and as a professor of sociology, Doug Constance is constantly thinking about how current policies, cultural […]

Using Flowering Insectary Borders to Boost Natural Enemies

Beneficial insects play an important role in managing insect pests and pollinating crops, but they struggle to thrive in and around farms that have low plant diversity and rely mainly on tillage. Routine soil disturbances and low plant diversity can mean fewer prey, shelter and plant-based resources available to support natural enemies, especially early in […]

Cultivating Partnerships: Building Farm-Research Networks for Improved Physical Weed Control

Managing and controlling weeds can be a challenge and a frustration for farmers, no matter the farm size or crop. Associate professor of horticulture at Michigan State University, Daniel Brainard, knows that weed management represents a major barrier to sustainable production of both field and vegetable crops. Brainard has been researching new tools and techniques […]

Cover Crops and Water Quality Resources Available

Barges carrying agricultural products aren’t the only traffic on the Mississippi River. Nutrients and sediment from across the Mississippi River Basin travel down the river until reaching the Gulf, where they linger and create low oxygen "dead zones" in which many fish cannot survive. Find out how cover crops can help! Monitoring of the Gulf […]

SARE Communications Director Andy Clark is Retiring

Please join us in thanking SARE Communications Director Andy Clark for 23 years of service and leadership to SARE and sustainable agriculture as he retires on June 29. Thank you! Andy joined SARE in June 1995 to coordinate the newly formed SARE Outreach office, known in those days as the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN). Under […]

Our Farms Our Future Podcast – SARE: The Early Years and Lasting Impact

Ferd Hoefner and Andy Clark Ferd Hoefner is a senior strategic advisor for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, (NSAC). He has worked on national food and agriculture policy in Washington, DC for 40 years. He helped create the USDA-program that we now know as SARE, and has seen it grow and develop throughout the years. Andy Clark […]

Our Farms Our Future Podcast: Finding a Better Way- Engineering On The Farm

Chris Callahan and Trevor Hardy Trevor Hardy is manager of one of New England’s largest distributors of agricultural supplies at Brookdale Fruit Farm in Hollis, New Hampshire. Chris Callahan is an agricultural engineer with University of Vermont extension. Both guests say engineering plays a crucial role in synthesizing the newest research and technology with the diversity and complexity of farming […]

New Release: Cultivating Climate Resilience

Texas ranchers Gary and Sue Price began noticing disruptive changes in the weather about 10 years ago, with dry periods getting drier and hot periods getting hotter. So they began making management decisions that would help their ranch adapt. As a result, when the crippling drought of 2011–2012 arrived, they were able to get by. […]

Our Farms, Our Future Podcast: Water Challenges

Water rarely cooperates when it comes to growing crops – sometimes we have too much of it, while other times there just isn’t enough. For Amy Garrett in western Oregon, summer months often bring almost no rainfall. In Iowa, Ron Rosmann sees growing seasons with heavy downpours that increase water quality risks associated with lost […]

Now Available: 2017 National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health Presentations

Videos and presentations from the 2017 National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health held on December 7-8, 2017 in Indianapolis are now available. Hosted by the Soil and Water Conservation Society with video development supported by SARE, the conference highlighted insights from some of the nation’s most innovative producers, conservation leaders and scientists on using cover crops to […]

30 Years of SARE: Our Farms, Our Future

A group of eight Minnesota farmers interested in using cover crops to improve the health of their soil and profitability of their farms had a problem—there was scant information on how to manage cover crops in their area, where the growing season is short. But they were willing to lead the way, so in 2014 […]

30 Years of SARE: Our Farms, Our Future

A group of eight Minnesota farmers interested in using cover crops to improve the health of their soil and profitability of their farms had a problem—there was scant information on how to manage cover crops in their area, where the growing season is short. But they were willing to lead the way, so in 2014 […]

SARE Outreach Hires New Technical Review Specialist

SARE Outreach is excited to welcome Jermaine Hinds to the team as our new Technical Review Specialist. Jermaine is excited to support SARE in our mission of producing accessible educational tools for diverse agricultural audiences. His primary responsibilities will include evaluating recent SARE-funded projects and translating their results into practical, how-to information for educational and […]