Sustainable Agriculture Network Seeks Authors

Do you have material that would make a good book, technical guide, manual, or electronic resource for farmers, ranchers, agricultural professionals, and/or agricultural educators? If so, consider teaming up with the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), the national outreach arm of USDA’s SARE program. If your proposal is accepted, SAN will subsidize most or all of the cost of publishing.

Since the mid-1990s, SAN has published an array of farmer-ready books and bulletins. SAN publishes materials that make good informational products — resources that help producers farm in ways that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities.

Every two years, SAN seeks manuscripts or material from experts in their fields. The winning proposals are professionally designed and printed and/or posted on the Web with help from SAN staff. Building Soils for Better Crops, by Fred Magdoff of the University of Vermont and Harold van Es of Cornell University, SAN’s best-selling book, is an example of one such collaboration.

Building Soils unlocks the secret of maintaining a diverse ecosystem below ground to foster healthy crops. Ecological soil management, as detailed by the soil experts who wrote the book, can raise fertility — and yields — while reducing environmental impacts.

Get an idea of the types of books, resources, and bulletins published by SAN.

If you have well-developed ideas or a draft of some material, we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out an on-line form by May 2.
Your contact is Valerie Berton, SARE communications specialist, at 301-504-5230.