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 […]
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 […]
30 Years of SARE: Our Farms, Our Future
30 Years of SARE: Our Farms, Our Future tells the story of thousands of men and women who have led SARE and received SARE grants. They have one objective in common: making American agriculture stronger, more sustainable and better equipped to face the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Bringing Independent Farmers into the Marketplace
Small- and mid-sized farms are increasingly turning to supermarkets as a means to earn more for their products and to participate in local economies. In this video, Diana Endicott discusses how she decided to take this route 15 years ago when it was less typical, and how her efforts have resulted in a 100-member co-op today that sells to 30 stores in the Kansas City area.
Building a Local Food Movement
Over the last few decades, agriculture in western North Carolina has transformed from a reliance on tobacco to a diversified, self-sustaining industry intertwined with local communities and economies. In this video, learn how one organization has worked alongside local farmers and communities to support this transformation.
Investing in the Future of Agriculture: How SARE Supports Farmer-Driven Sustainability
The most pressing challenges that face U.S. agriculture today require science-based solutions developed by partnerships of farmers, ranchers, researchers and educators. Discover how the SARE program enables such partnerships to flourish and meet the needs of agricultural communities across the country.
Our Farms, Our Future Podcast Series
The Our Farms, Our Future podcast series brings together the sustainable agriculture community for thought-provoking conversations about the state of agriculture, how we got here, and where we're headed.
How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranch
This 32-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.
2015/2016 Report from the Field
Read about SARE-funded work in the areas of sustainable dairy cropping systems, soil health assessments, nutrient management, cover crops, beginning farmers, pollinators, technical assistance programs for women farmers, and more. This edition includes highlights of projects funded through the graduate student program, and the highly regarded Sustainable Agriculture Fellowship, a professional development program coordinated by SARE and NACAA.
Investing in the Next Generation of Agricultural Scientists
Sustainable solutions to today's agricultural challenges arise when scientists, educators and producers work together to test theories in real-world, on-farm situations. For this approach itself to be sustainable, there must be opportunities for the next generation of agricultural scientists to use collaborative, applied research to address the real-world needs of farmers and ranchers. The SARE Graduate Student grant program is one such opportunity—since 2000, the program has supported the work of 600 master's and Ph.D. students.
Conservation Generation
The Colorado River irrigates 15 percent of the nation’s crops, making the conservation efforts of Western producers crucial to the American food system. Conservation Generation is a new short film by the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) about four young farmers and ranchers in the arid West who are committed to conservation practices that conserve water and promote soil health.
A Farmer’s Guide to Crop Quality for Wholesale Outlets
A simple guide to crop quality focused on tomatoes, cucurbits and greens, with photos of good and poor crop quality as well as best practices for post-harvest handling.
Integrating Traditional Foods with Aquaponics in the Desert Southwest
The Challenge Cochise County, Arizona, where Aaron Cardona’s Arevalos Farm is located, is classified by the USDA as a food desert with high poverty rates, as well as high rates of diabetes and obesity. To help confront these problems, Cardona decided to look into aquaponics, which had not been experimented with in the desert regions […]
Training in Marine Ornamental Farming for Extension Professionals in Micronesia
The Challenge The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) are fledgling sovereign nations. Both nations have low per capita GDP and high unemployment. Like many developing small island nations, the FSM and RMI are economically marginalized. The people of FSM and RMI have skills and resources for aquaculture, […]
General Information on Sustainable Agriculture
These general resources can be useful for youth educators who want to learn and share information about sustainable agriculture.
Farm to Table: Building Local and Regional Food Systems
More and more, farmers, ranchers, ag professionals, community organizers and others are striving to reconfigure the nation's food system so more value stays in food-producing communities.
The New Farmers’ Market 2nd Edition
The New Farmers' Market - 2nd Edition - is a must-have resource for growers interested in selling their farm or market garden products through farmers' markets, as well as for market managers and city planners in starting, managing, and promoting a market.
Abundant High Tunnels Provide a Community Boost in West Virginia
For years now, small-scale vegetable farmers have been turning to high tunnels—cheap, unheated structures similar to greenhouses—as a cost-effective way to extend the growing season and their on-farm income stream. But while high tunnels were popping up throughout many cold Northeastern states, in West Virginia they were not. Until 2008 that is, when West Virginia […]
¿Qué es la Agricultura Sustentable?
Este reporte ganador de un premio provee un muestrario de mejores prácticas en la agricultura sustentable – desde el mercadeo y la vitalidad de la comunidad hasta cultivos de cobertura y pastoreo – así como ocho perfiles de productores, educadores e investigadores que las han implementado con éxito.
Nutrient Management Plans: Western Region
This document is an instruction guide for creating and implementing a nutrient management plan on certified or transitioning organic lands in the Western Region.