Showing 61-70 of 95 results
Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities
This guide lists funding opportunities offered by federal programs, and is indispensable for anyone seeking government help to foster their innovative enterprise in forestry and agriculture.
No-Till and Cover Crop Innovations Increase Dairy Profits
Summertime for dairy farmers in New England is anything but slow. Silage corn must be planted and harvested in a short window to provide high-quality forage for cattle, leaving little time to plant cover crops to replenish the soil. Under pressure to get corn planted early, farmers may delay the first cutting of hay, sacrificing […]
Farm to Hospital Toolkit
Tools farmers and hospitals can use to increase direct hospital purchases from local producers.
Using Hydroponic Green Forage to Reduce Feed Costs in Natural Pork Production
Due to the rising cost of feed, many small scale pork producers are exploring alternatives in order to increase their profit margins. At Donnelly Farms, Jack Donnelly is producing hydroponically-grown green forage for his hogs, and has been able to reduce feed outlay and increase their bottom line. Donnelly Farms is a small, family-owned farm […]
Integrated Alternative Energy and Livestock Production Systems
Agricultural production capacity, as well as transportation, storage, and marketing infrastructure for alternative biomass feedstocks and other renewable energy sources often presents challenges. In some cases, farmers and ranchers can find themselves at a disadvantage, operating in a knowledge vacuum as they encounter developers moving to position themselves for future energy development. Michael Siepel’s project […]
Storage and Utilization of Ethanol Co-Products by Small Cattle Operations
While perennial biomass crops have both environmental and energy benefits over corn ethanol, there are limited commercialscale facilities utilizing biomass feedstocks for liquid fuel production. The expansion of corn ethanol has provided Nebraska with several million tons of animal feeds from ethanol co-products annually. According to Francis John Hay, these ethanol co-product feeds have excellent […]
Researchers Study Forage Chicory for Parasite Reduction in Sheep
Sheep and goat production is a growing enterprise for small and limited resource farmers in the North Central region. While small ruminants (sheep and goats) are adaptable to many different production systems and can be raised with relatively few inputs, they present production challenges. For instance, control of internal parasites, especially gasrointestinal nematodes including Haemonchus […]
Cutting Edge Research: Helping Bees Help Themselves
Diseases, pests and the mysterious phenomenon of colony collapse disorder pose a dire threat to the U.S. beekeeping industry and, in turn, to the $20-billion-a-year crop industry that relies on insect pollination. Because of these increasing pressures, the ranks of managed bee colonies have plummeted in recent years: On average, beekeepers are losing 30 percent […]
Manure Composting for Livestock and Poultry Production
This Montana State University publication addresses medium- to large-scale composting as a management option for animal producers in cold, semi-arid environments.
Building an On-Farm Poultry Processing Facility
Plan and construct a mobile poultry processing unit or stationary facility for on-farm processing.