Rural Action and Green Edge Organic Gardens in Amesville received an NCR-SARE Professional Development Grant to educate agriculture and natural resource professionals on Green Edge’s use of high tunnel structures to extend the growing season and create a fourth period of harvesting through the winter months.

Source: Vinton Daily

Rural Action and Green Edge Organic Gardens in Amesville to educate agriculture and natural resource professionals on Green Edge’s use of high tunnel structures to extend the growing season and create a fourth period of harvesting through the winter months.

Coordinator...

On Saturday, June 22, SARE grantee Matt Sweeny, of Simple Earth Hops, will be hosting a 2013 Hop Growers Roundtable at Simple Earth Hops, 4352 State Road 23, Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

This commercial hopyard event will feature:

• 9am-Noon, two hops presentations by Matt Sweeny titled: "Marketing Hops" and "Sustainable Hopyard Establishment"
• Noon-1pm, a reception
• 1-3pm, a hop growers forum discussion with a panel of 2 commercial hop growers from Wisconsin

Tickets are $45 per attendee. Order tickets online at http://2013hops.eventbrite.com/#.

Simple Earth Hops operates a 1/4 acre...

SARE grantee, Barry Lonik, contributed this feature to the Ann Arbor Observer about his ongoing project to preserve undeveloped farmland. Lotnick received a SARE grant in 2009 to develop the Connecting Landowners, Growers and Markets Using Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) group. They endeavored to connect the owners of smaller farmable properties in Ann Arbor Township, MI with producers interested in small-scale agriculture to provide fresh produce and other commodities for markets in the Ann Arbor area and surrounding regions by utilizing the Township’s agricultural purchase of development...

Wright County NRCS and University of Minnesota Extension are hosting a free event from 9am-1pm on April 19, 2013. It will feature speakers on cover crops, tillage, soil health and water quality.

 HIGHLIGHTS: 

• Field demonstration of the “Soil Warrior” strip till implement by Environmental Tillage Systems 
• First hand experiences shared by local landowners 
• Lunch and refreshments will be provided 

SPEAKERS:

• Jill Sackett U of MN, Cover Crops + Farmer Panel: Jill Sackett is a Local Extension Educator, Conservation Agronomist for University of Minnesota Extension....

SARE grantee, Diane Doud Miller, is an apple geneticist and researcher at Ohio State University. She is also the special advisor for the Midwest Apple Improvement Association, a grassroots apple breeding program. Doud Miller and her team conducted SARE-supported research to determine if consumers would purchase/select apples based upon labeling by fruit characteristics (such as mild-sweet; spicy-tart; predominately tart), production method (sustainable), and/ or growing area (locally grown), with or without variety name.

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Source: January 1st 2013 issue...

Kenyan women living in Minnesota pose for a photo as they harvest a food plant from their homeland known as mwangani, or spider plant. Photo by Elizabeth Kackman.

This story features Elizabeth Kackman's NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher grant project. Through the project, Kackman and a group of Kenyan immigrant farmers were able to grow, harvest, and market a specialty crop called mwangani in Minnesota. Mwangani,...

The story below features SARE-supported work conducted by William Sexten and a group of researchers and Extension specialists at the University of Missouri. Their findings suggest that delayed grazing can help both cows and pastures, and they recommend delaying turning herds onto pasture until at least a 5-inch growth shows.

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Story by: Justin Sexten and Robert Kallenbach

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Turning cow herds out to graze pastures at the first sign of green grass harms forage growth later in the season. But there’s another big reason to wait, says a University of Missouri beef...

A 2013 Urban Agriculture Expo will be held on April 20th, 2013 at the Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis, MN. The Expo will be from 9:00am - 1:30pm, with educational seminars beginning at 9:30am. This event is for those who currently have an urban farming enterprise, are considering starting one, are supporters of urban farming, or are just curious to learn more. No preregistration is required for the event. There is suggested donation of $5 to attend.

The 2013 Expo will include three different topic categories; growing topics, business topics, and people topics. The growing topics will...

NCR-SARE has announced the projects that have been recommended for funding for the 2013 Farmer Rancher and the 2103 Youth Educator competitive grant programs. More than 50 projects were awarded a total of more than $.5 million through these two NCR-SARE grant programs, which offer competitive grants for producers, educators, organizations, and others who are exploring sustainable agriculture in America’s Midwest.

For the 2013 Farmer Rancher Grant Program, NCR-SARE awarded more than $495,000 to 45 projects ranging from $2,219 to $22,500. The Farmer Rancher Grant Program is...

Source: Sleepy Eye News, Troy Krause

Education is not passive.

Students learn most effectively by being involved, and that involvement often takes its best shape in hands-on activities.

For students in the Wabasso Public School District, their science education is going to be taken to the next level through a recent donation of some state-of-the-art, high-tech equipment.

This past Tuesday morning, representatives from the U of M’s Southwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC) were in the Wabasso school library presenting science equipment to one of the school’s educators. That equipment,...