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Michele Hebert, Western
SARE PDP coordinator in Alaska, checks native plants grown to
vegetate disturbed landscapes, including North Slope oil fields.
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Consider
the Alternatives
Producers Look at New Ways to Capitalize on Old Resources
Alaska’s vast and beautiful landscapes sometimes wear the
scars of human activity, like drilling for oil on the state’s
North Slope.
Mike Emers, who grows vegetables at Rosie Creek
Farm near Fairbanks, imagined that Alaska producers
could grow an alternative crop of native legume seed. The legumes
could be planted with native grasses to heal the scars, at the same
time filling a commercial seed void in interior Alaska and providing
a new source of income for local producers (FW00-050).
As with Emers’ project, Western SARE funds allow producers
to test alternatives while reducing the fear of risk.
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| Washington
vegetable producer Owen Shaffner is testing consumer interest
in baby corn. |
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Owen Shaffner, who produces and sells vegetables
on his Montesano, Washington, farm, experimented
with growing and marketing fresh baby corn, miniature ears typically
pickled and used in Asian dishes (FW98-002). He grew several varieties,
focusing on one that tasted best.
“The research was a success,” says Shaffner, who marketed
fresh ears to a high-end grocer. “Several hobby farmers are
growing baby corn because of this project.”
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Livestock nutritionist Woody
Lane, left, is teaching western Oregon livestock producers Karen
Murphy and John Neumeister about new ways to manage their pastures.
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Northwest of Eugene, several Oregon livestock producers
developed a grazing network to find alternative and more productive
ways to manage their resources. The Willamette Valley Grazing and
Nutrition Group (WVGANG) conducted tours and classes, and many of
its members are changing fertility and grazing techniques (FW99-071).
Network member John Neumeister likes visiting
other farms to see creative approaches that might apply to his own
sheep operation, and member Karen Murphy, adds,
“There are endless topics for discussion, and enthusiasm is
high.”
California dairyman Dean Martin
converted from a year-round to a seasonal operation, freeing his
cows from the barn to graze on pasture. The transition to intensively
managed grazing has reduced his cost of hay, increased cow body
condition and increased milk production (FW00-008).
“If I hadn’t made the changes when I did,” says
Martin, “I would not still be in the dairy business today.”
In Washington, WSU specialist Ed Adams
conducted 11 workshops on potential alternative crops for dryland
agriculture in the Intermountain West (EW99-009). Nearly 200 producers
and professionals attended the workshops, from which 10 extension
bulletins were created, and several producers have tested the new
crops.
“My vision for American agriculture is a rural landscape
where a variety of nutritious foods are produced. This landscape
is managed by farmers and ranchers equipped with the resources and
incentives—and freed from the disincentives—to produce
food, fiber and other public benefits including wildlife habitat,
energy, recreation, scenic open space and floodplain management.
The Western SARE program is an essential component in making such
a vision reality.”
Casey Walsh-Cady, environmental scientist, California Department
of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, California
Simply Sustainable
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