In Kentucky, cattle producers, University of Kentucky scientists, and an NRCS district conservationist are teaming up to improve strategies to provide drinking water to livestock. Using a grant from SARE’s new On-Farm Research Grant program, the team is exploring ways to control cattle access to farm ponds to improve water quality, reduce erosion, and ultimately boost cattle performance.

SARE’s Partnership and On-Farm Research grants are for agricultural professionals who work directly with farmers – specifically Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, NRCS personnel, non-governmental organizations, and others – who are interested in developing on-farm demonstration, research, or marketing projects related to sustainable agriculture. The grants are to advance the understanding and widespread use of sustainable techniques and to strengthen partnerships among farmers, extension, non-governmental organizations, and NRCS personnel.

Grant Deadlines –
Northeast Region Partnership Grants are due November 30. Partnership projects can address a variety of topics, including the development of beneficial insect habitat, alternative crops or animals, practices that make use of biological cycles for improved soil, plant, and pest management, marketing, adding value, grazing, tool or technology development, agroforestry, farm management, and water quality.

Southern Region proposals for On-Farm Research grants are due in the regional SARE office by close of business December 3. 

Western Region will announce its Agricultural Professional Plus Producer program (similar to On-Farm Research Grants) next spring. Watch Sustainable Agriculture Spotlight for the announcement.

The Kentucky cattle watering project  was funded by Southern SARE in 2003. Since receiving close to $15,000 from Southern SARE’s On-Farm Research Grant program, University of Kentucky researchers have helped three Kentucky farmers limit their herds’ access to farm ponds using access ramps and floating electric fences.

NRCS district conservationist Paul Veech, who has worked for years to help producers conserve water on northern Kentucky’s steep, thin Eden Hill soils

NRCS district conservationist Paul Veech, who has worked for years to help producers conserve water on northern Kentucky’s steep, thin Eden Hill soils, sees the SARE grant as a way to bring “hard data” to the farmers about the benefits of water conservation and improving water quality. He helped the researchers design and construct a gravity-fed watering system from a fenced pond, collect data, and organize field days. “I eventually hope to convince every producer in the region that there are benefits in improving water quality that will put dollars in their pockets,” Veech said. “By quantifying these details in their livestock operations, we should be able to show a positive bottom line for long term sustainable conservation in the region.”

About SARE
Since 1988, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)  program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound, and good for communities through a nationwide grants program. The program, administered by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, USDA funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems and natural resources.

NRCS field office professionals frequently collaborate on SARE-funded projects and are valuable partners to the SARE program. NRCS staff serve on SARE’s National Operations Committee, on regional Administrative Councils, on State committees, and are actively engaged as technical advisers and collaborators on SARE-funded research grants around the U.S.
For more information, visit the SARE website.
Your contact is Diana Friedman, SARE research associate, at 301-504-6422, or dfriedman@sare.org.