SARE-funded extension specialists in 42 states are making homestead farmers better stewards of their land.

Vineyard managers in Fair Play, California looked for a way to increase the efficiency of their water applications.

For ranchers, Montana's first state-recommended winter wheat variety is a livestock forage with multiple benefits. 

California's massive winegrape industry is growing more sustainable, thanks to the efforts of groups like the Central Coast Vineyard Team.

Don Bustos has used solar energy to cut his winter greenhouse heating bill to almost nothing.

For decades, John Allen has helped farmers develop business skills and strategies, improving their profitability and helping to revitalize rural communities.

Thanks to the effort of two New Mexico State University faculty members and a SARE grant, the farmers of northern New Mexico are finding that vegetables can be successfully grown year-round more....

Jeff Mitchell of the University of California Kearny Agricultural Center, was awarded a Western SARE Professional + Producer Grant to evaluate and refine strip-till and no-till planting systems for corn forage production and no-till drill winter forage planting at the San Joaquin Valley in terms of crop establishment, weed control and profitability.

As the Xerces Society implements their Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Courses in the Western Region, they are already showing signs of impact and interest among their targeted audience....

Nevada rancher Agee Smith is using a farmer/rancher grant to add sagebrush to his cattle's diet, which has the potential to lower winter feed costs while improving rangeland biodiversity. 

Because of high obesity and diabetes rates and a lack of locally-grown foods on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Washakie, Wyoming, Justine Russell launched her PDP-funded project with the goal of increasing awareness of the potential for a farmers market on the Reservation. In less than two years, she and her partners accomplished so much more than increasing awareness.

University of California researchers are discovering the keys to success for regionally based supply chains, which play a major role in vibrant local food systems.

A landmark curriculum that helps USDA professionals better serve American Indians is being widely adopted throughout the West, and garnered its writers USDA’s 2011 National Extension Diversity Award.

Pervasive cheatgrass has long posed a threat to ranchers and their communities in the Intermountain West, but there is new hope in forage kochia, a perennial shrub with the potential to improve grazing and biodiversity.

Dr. Bret Hess' research looking at camelina as an alternative seed crop for biofuels and as feedstock will give producers the information and tools they will need to make decisions around adding camelina to their operation when fuel prices do rise again. Read more...

Shermain Hardesty and Penny Leff of the University of California Small Farm Program see an opportunity in agritourism to increase and diversify profits for producers, given the increased public demand for local foods and for education about local farms and ranches...

When Fara Ann Brummer of Warm Springs Oregon began her SARE-funded project, Cropland Planning Group, her original intent was for the group to focus on one piece of tribal land and produce a well-thought out plan as an exercise. What happened in addition to this is that the group took on a life of its own through the middle phase of the project and gained immense tribal support to start a farm. Read more...

The San Joaquin Valley of California is one of the most productive and diverse agricultural areas in the country. However, Daniel O’Connell of the Sequoia Riverlands Trust (SRT), along with local producers, gathered data that identified challenges in building a healthier regional food system.  These challenges, similar those many other regions face, included  lack of infrastructure to provide for adequate distribution channels, minimal awareness by consumers about where and how to access product in the region,  land use decisions on the urban-rural edge that impacted farmers with pressures that drove up land and production costs, and the Valley’s disconnect from broader, statewide food systems thought, policy changes and economic benefits from localized trends like value-added processing.

This research project demonstrated that higher water use efficiency is possible with irrigation reductions of at least 25% in on-farm trials, with no affect on yields and fruit quality. This reduction could help keep ag land in production, especially in drought years

Steve Van Vleet found that properly managing grasslands with mob grazing significantly helped regenerate the vegetation and improve species diversity. 

Composting is an example of an ecosystems service, and one that has potential to serve a variety of needs, including: waste reduction and diversion, soil enhancement, renewable sources of organic fertility, water conservation and carbon sequestration. In spite of interest in composting over the past decade, the project leaders saw significant untapped promise for agriculture to play a role in appropriate conversion of organic matter. Furthermore, questions remain. To address these questions, the Center for Sustainability developed a successful training program integrating the award-winning Maine curriculum with Cal Poly’s range of expertise and resources and established a number of collaborative partnerships that has resulted in research and educational programs within the Cal Poly Compost Project that surpass the scope of the grant.

With traditional methods of handling dead livestock either becoming more costly or falling under closer scrutiny, a team of researchers from four Western states developed in-depth training materials on livestock composting, an alternative disposal method.

A network of school gardens in Bellingham, Wash., is helping strengthen ties between local farmers and school food service administrators.

According the Dr. Virendra Verma, College of Micronesia - FSM, there is a crucial need to increase agricultural production in Micronesia by generating the ability to successfully raise livestock and grow food and feed crops for sustenance. This can be accomplished by training local farmers in appropriate and skillful use of sustainable and integrated agriculture systems.

The diversity found in irrigated vegetable crops in Arizona and Southern California, along with high temperatures and dry conditions, provides an ideal habitat for a number of insect pests, including lepidopterans. Management of these major pests primarily involves chemical pesticides. The use of these pesticides has created several problems, including insecticide resistance, outbreaks of secondary pests, decrease of biodiversity, and other effects of environmental concern. For this reason, the search for environmentally-friendly strategies for pest management is important.

Beans are the fourth most valuable crop in Wyoming, yet production has been limited by micronutrient deficiencies from high pH, low-organic-matter, and calcareous soils in the region. Specifically, iron deficiency causes interveinal chlorosis, which reduces the yield and quality of the beans. While a graduate student researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Wyoming, Emmanual Omondi jumped on the opportunity to conduct interesting research that had potential to overcome iron deficiency chlorosis.

Research by geneticist Dr. Blair Waldron, USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Lab in Logan, Utah, has led to a better understanding of the positive uses of perennial shrubs (such as Forage Kochia) and grass-legume mixes in managing rangeland in the semi-arid west. His research will assist ranchers and land managers in decreasing invasive species, lessen damage from wildfires, reduce nitrogen fertilizer use and feeding costs, and increase environmental stewardship.

Graduate student Rebecca Cockrum's Western SARE-funded project was the first to use the GrowSafe feed intake system with sheep to measure residual feed intake (RFI). Her project attempted to address one unmet need of the sheep industry – the reluctance to adopt RFI as a measure of feed efficiency, due to limited research.

In the Pacific Northwest, growers are facing damage by the raspberry leaf mottle virus (RLMV) which is transmitted by the large raspberry aphid. The virus causes symptoms of crumbly fruit, resulting in lowered fruit quality and reduced life of the field. Through this project, Pacific Northwest producers have been informed about aphid management during both fall and early spring.

For better or worse, land management decisions impact soil health. To support on-the-ground soil quality improvements, Theresa Matteson and her team created plans for two workshops to train ag professionals; a database for rating soil samples, generating farmer reports, and documenting activities and efforts; and a website to serve as a central hub for communication and resource distribution.

In the face of regional water policy aiming to reduce groundwater overdraft, graduate student Haley Paul was curious about how growers in the central Arizona desert make water use decisions and if there were recommendations to be made to enhance agricultural water sustainability.

Due to declines in honey bee populations, and drops in native bee numbers in some regions, there is increasing interest in on-farm practices that restore habitat-supporting pollination services. Hedgerows – field edge plantings of native shrubs and forbs – are commonly used to re-diversify agricultural areas as a means to strengthen ecosystem benefits.More knowledge about the efficacy of hedgerow restoration in providing availability of nesting resources, translating into more nesting bees, is essential.

A serious impact of agriculture can be non-point source pollution, effecting water quality. Conservation easements have been perceived as an effective means of improving water quality. However, Melissa Scherr as a graduate student at Oregon State University, observed that their effectiveness is not well understood and maintains “if we are to promote good stewardship of agricultural lands, we must understand the utility of best management practices such as riparian conservation easements.”  To gain this understanding, Scherr considered that comparing the diversity and abundance of the endemic invertebrate fauna along the Umatilla could assist in determining the health of the system. The results of the project indicated that “the conservation easements in this area are having less success returning to a more ideal condition, and are still highly affected by the agricultural use on the adjacent landscape.”

Oregon and Washington are ideal for spinach seed production, with long summer days, dry summers, and mild summer temperatures. The area’s growers faced the challenge in spinach seed production of Fusarium wilt (caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Spinaciae) due to their acidic soils. According to Emily Gatch, graduate student at Washington State University, management tools were needed.

Pakorn Sutitarnnontr successfully developed an automated multiplexing system for chamber-based monitoring of greenhouse and regulated gas emissions from manure sources which was used to examine spatial and temporal variability in emissions associated with manure management practices. After development of the system, Pakhorn measured gaseous emissions from AFOs in the Intermountain West to recommend site-specific BMPs.

Farmers are becoming increasingly interested in their soil’s biological status. Nitrogen mineralization, aggregate formation, and pathogen control, along with other soil biological processes, effect farm productivity and profitability. Graduate student Doug Collins believed that “a spatially-explicit research approach can strengthen our understanding of biological diversity and abundance and better connect those parameters to edaphic properties and biological functions.”

Building on a previously funded Western SARE project, Kenneth Tate and his team led this project to develop grazing recommendations based on the previous research and share those recommendations with ranchers, public land managers, and others involved with California’s natural resources.

Researchers, ranchers, and land managers have recognized that livestock grazing can be a valuable and selective noxious weed management tool. In 2004, Jay Davison, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, found that known techniques had not been summarized into a useful format. This weakness had led to slow adoption of livestock grazing as a management tool. Davison and colleagues designed his project to summarize information concerning the use of livestock grazing to control important noxious weeds in nine western states, package the information in a readily useable format, and to disseminate the information to targeted audiences.

A Montana State University team used on-farm research to identify fertilizer application practices for wheat that can minimize volatilization, or atmospheric nutrient losses, saving the state's farmers millions of dollars per year. "This was a landmark study because we knew we were losing nitrogen, we just didn't know how we were losing it," says farmer Curtis Hershberger.

Carol Bishop created the Western SARE Professional Development Program project Economic Evaluation of Alternative (low-water use) Crops for the Great Basin to “educate producers with pertinent information about alternative low-water-use crops and the associated decision-making tools developed to implement them.”

According to Karen Thomas of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, their regional wine grape growers needed “information on alternatives to frost protection using overhead sprinklers, on irrigation management strategies to reduce water use, and on Best Management Practices for water conservation when frost protecting and irrigating grape vines.” In order to provide this information, Thomas designed the Western SARE Professional + Producer project Water Management in Sonoma County Grape Production.

A key to improving the sustainability of IPM and CBC is a diversified, native habitat that contains resources for predators and parasitoids year-round. This can be accomplished by creating a farm landscape that mimics the habitat that existed before the vineyard and is attractive to beneficial arthropods. David James and his team in Washington obtained an extensive amount of information on the relative value of more than 100 flowering plant species in attracting beneficial insects, including predators, parasitoids, and pollinators. These species include Snowy Milkweed, Yarrow, Gray Rabbitbrush, among many others.

According to Simon Ellis, director of the Marine and Environmental Research Institute of Pohnpei (MERIP), one of the most successful aquaculture enterprises in the FSM and RMI to date has been farming of marine ornamental invertebrates for supplying home aquariums in the United States and Europe. Ellis designed his Western SARE Professional Development Program project, “Training in Marine Ornamental Farming for Extension Professionals in Micronesia,” with the assumption that the marine ornamental aquaculture industry in Micronesia could be improved by better skills, knowledge, and communication between practitioners.

Farmers in Hawaii manage plant-parasitic nematodes, which can cause significant yield losses in a number of crops, through the use of nematicides. Many farmers are looking for alternative methods for managing nematodes in the soil. Shelby Ching had learned that edible mushrooms, such as the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), have been known to create a toxin to incapacitate nematodes. She hypothesized that oyster mushroom substrate can be utilized in the management of nematodes in the soil. Ching developed this Western SARE Graduate Student project to develop an approach of nematode management using oyster mushroom compost waste that will be easily accessible to farmers, with an added benefit of the production of edible mushrooms.

Farmer Aaron Cardona designed his project to research building a more affordable aquaponic system on his farm, which could be replicated by others in the region, creating an economic opportunity. The system would also produce culturally relevant food as a means of bringing back traditional foods into the local population’s diet; thus, improving the health of the community.

When attacked by the clover root borer, red clover can only be raised for two years due to the reduction in yield, causing economic hardship. According to Oregon State University graduate student Anis Lestari, “Insect pathogens provide an effective means of suppressing pests but have received less attention compared with other biological control agents. For pests that develop below ground, insect pathogens may offer the best management option.” As a student, she developed this Western SARE project with the goal to investigate the virulence of insect pathogens against the clover root borer.

To provide information on habitat enhancements to ag professionals, Eric Mader of the Xerces Society developed the Professional Development (PDP) project “Western Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course.” This project aimed to supply in-depth pollinator conservation training to farm educators and resource conservation professionals in 11 Western States.

Growers on the Central Coast of California face rising costs and increasing regulatory scrutiny due to implementation of Total Maximum Daily Load. Thus, many growers are seeking more sustainable and cost-effective irrigation and nutrient management strategies. 

At the Western SARE Hawaii sub-regional conference held in 2008, stakeholders identified replacing imported fertilizers with local resources as the highest research, education, and development priority. The cost of commercial fertilizer has risen along with oil prices, and thus, growers in the Pacific region are increasingly interested in obtaining locally available by-products that can be used as agricultural inputs. According to Theodore Radovich, University of Hawaii, possible inputs include commercial green-waste composts, rendered animal products (tankage), and invasive algae from coral reef remediation projects. These by-products are readily available, but bottlenecks exist that inhibit use and adoption by growers. To address the bottlenecks, Radovich developed this project to conduct a series of greenhouse and on-farm trials in cooperation with university faculty, commercial growers, and industry partners.

When Douglas Collins, Washington State University, brought together a research and producer group, they identified a “lack of successful examples of reduced-till practices for systems similar to theirs and in the maritime Northwest climate” as a critical gap to making this system change. Producers were specifically interested in identifying species of cover crops to use in organic reduced-till systems; planting and termination timing for cover crops; weed management techniques; and field equipment necessary to adopt these systems.” Consequently, Collins and his team developed the project “Selecting Management Practices and Cover Crops for Reducing Tillage, Enhancing Soil Quality, and Managing Weeds in Western Washington” with the long-term goal to increase organic farmer economic and environmental sustainability in western Washington through soil conservation in reduced tillage systems.

Katharina Ullmann, University of California Davis, designed her project “Best Management Practices that Promote Sustainable Crop Pollination: The Role of Crop Rotations and Tillage Depth" to explore how tilling and crop rotation practices impact an important pollinator of squash and pumpkin, the squash bee (P. pruinosa).

Farmer Heather Harrell and beekeeper Les Crowder of New Mexico recognized the need to develop conservation techniques to preserve the continued presence of honeybees and other pollinator species in both agricultural and wild lands, due to their collapsing populations. Research existed on the potential causes of the collapse; however, more information was needed on remediation. Organic producers, such Harrell and Crowder, had turned to the idea of building healthy habitats for pollinators in areas that are protected from environmental degradation. In 2011, Harrell and Crowder had NRCS funding to establish pollination hedges, but they did not have a viable list of plant species to use. The goal this project was to begin the process of identifying forage species which provide food and habitat for pollinators while serving as windbreaks, livestock forage, and nitrogen-fixing cover crops. They believed that “this will enable beekeepers and interested agricultural landowners with the knowledge to develop their lands in support of these diminishing populations.”

Farrmer Jared Pruch received numerous requests from his farmers’ market customers in Oregon to produce GMO-free poultry products. However, Pruch was uncertain of the economic viability of raising poultry with GMO-free feed. In order to determine the potential for his operation and other local poultry farmers, he conducted a cost-comparison study between raising Cornish cross broiler chickens on locally sourced, GMO-free feed versus conventional feed. He found that there was economic potential in providing consumers a GMO-free chicken.

To manage pests, growers have to be able to identify them. They have to be able to recognize enemies – insects, weeds and diseases that will cause them economic harm – and realize that not all bugs or blotches on their plants are enemies. Some are allies – beneficial insects that prey on damaging pest – and others are neutral third parties that neither help nor harm the growers’ crops. Identification of pests and beneficials is one of the first principles of integrated pest management, and the core of a train-the-trainers program that’s been successfully improving the skills of young ag professionals in rural Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

Pest managers are familiar with the concept of using degree days to predict pest outbreaks. Insects, like many other organisms, develop according to the temperature around them and degree days are a way to measure accumulated temperature. Plants – at least in part – also develop based on temperature, so a team in Oregon is adapting a degree-day modeling system built for pest management to make a tool for vegetable growers to better plan their planting and harvesting dates.

Berggren Demonstration Farm (now Phoenix Farm Enterprises, Inc) performed a side-by-side comparison of pasture-raised Cornish Cross broilers fed on GMO-free feed vs. conventional feed. This project would help local poultry producers evaluate the viability of raising poultry with GMO-free feed.

Montana State University researchers discuss flower strips of nine native plants that provide habitat for native bees and an additional income source for farmers who can collect and sell the flower seeds.

Holistic Management Institute (HMI) is recognized as a successful whole farm planning method – incorporating environmental, economic, and social sustainability in its planning process. A survey conducted by HMI found that 50 agricultural professionals in the Western SARE region were interested in HMI’s Whole Farm Planning through Distance Learning training. As a result of the survey, HMI adapted the training so that residency periods were shorter, enabling more professionals to participate. Dr. Ann Adams and her team at HMI in New Mexico used their Western SARE PDP funds to provide agricultural professionals scholarships to participate in the Whole Farm Planning through Distance Learning training. By leveraging additional funds, they were able to increase the number of ag professionals trained from their original goal by 30%.

If ranchers could select for the hill-climbing trait, the same way they select for any number of other genetic traits, it could have huge implications throughout the rugged West. They could graze more cows on mountainous ranches. Rangeland would be more productive and more evenly utilized. Riparian areas could be more easily protected. With Western SARE funding, Derek Bailey is working with a team of scientists located across the West to investigate this opportunity, including Milt Thomas, Scott Speidel and Mark Enns at Colorado State University, Juan Medrano at UC Davis, and Larry Howery at University of Arizona.