The University of Minnesota Extension, the Minnesota State SARE program, and the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture havecome together again to host a bus tour of urban agriculture in the Twin Cities area.

The tour begins and ends in rooms 140A and 140B in the Plant Growth Facilities building, 1552 Gortner Avenue, University of Minnesota, St. Paul Campus.  Check in begins at 8:30am.  

The selected sites for this year’s tour will highlight urban farms that bring communities together through agriculture.  These farms show a variety of types of urban farms including :teaching...

The University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center will present a free Organic Dairy Day on August 7, 2012. The field tour will include NCR-SARE Graduate Student Grant Program recipient, Elizabeth Bjorklund's 2012 project, "Effect of Growth Meat Quality, and Profitability of  Organically Raised Dairy-Beef Steers." 

SCHEDULE

9:30-10:00 a.m. - Registration

10:00-10:10 a.m. - Welcome - Brad Heins, Lee Johnston, Asst. Commissioner of Agriculture

10:10-11:00 a.m. - Roger Moon, Dept. of Entomology, University of Minnesota, "Fly Management...

NCR-SARE is seeking farmers and ranchers to join the NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program Review Committee. 

Each year, NCR-SARE funds a competitive grant program for farmers and ranchers in the North Central region of the U.S. who are interested in exploring sustainable agriculture. The North Central Region covers 12 states: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, MN, ND, NE, OH, SD, and WI. The 29 members of the Farmer Rancher Grant Program Review Committee review the Farmer Rancher Grant proposals. The committee has one in-person meeting where they evaluate the grant proposals and make recommendations...

Rural Advantage, in partnership with Practical Farmers of Iowa, is seeking agricultural producers interested in utilizing cover crops. Cost-share dollars are available.  
 
As part of an NCR-SARE Research and Education grant project, Rural Advantage is seeking farmers willing to establish cover crops. Funding is available for up to $20 per acre for up to 20 acres [$400 maximum per farm].  Participating farmers may plant the cover crop(s) of their desire. A demonstration aspect and simple reporting will be required.  Funding for the project runs from Fall 2009 to Fall 2012....

The story below features the Minnesota Cover Crops Decision Tool by the Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC), a group which consists of eight Midwestern states and one Canadian province. The project to develop the Minnesota Cover Crops Decision Tool was funded through a Minnesota NCR-SARE mini-grant in Fall 2011.

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Source: AgWeek

Cover crops are any green crops grown between cash crops. They come in many different varieties, but until recently little information was available to help growers decide which varieties to select and exactly when to plant them.

Common...

This feature covers the research of NCR-SARE grant recipient Frank Forcella, who is experimenting with a physical weed control technique that involves sandblasting abrasive grit on in-row weeds. To read more about Forcella's NCR-SARE Research and Education project, visit the MySARE reporting site here.

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Source: Agrinews

MORRIS, Minn. — Organic farmers want to blast one of their greatest production challenges —weeds. They may be getting that chance thanks to Frank Forcelli's latest research project.

Forcelli, weed scientist at the USDA-ARS...

In this article from the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute's newsletter, NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher grant recipient, Phil Batalden and his daughter Kathleen, talk about their marketing of camelina oil. 

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Source: Agricultural Utilization Research Institute newsletter 

Lamberton, Minn. — After working on agricultural development in West Africa, Kathleen Batalden Smith and her husband Justin Smith came home to rural Minnesota and began some ag development of their own.

Kathleen and her family are growing and bottling organic camelina oil for the health food market....

Maawanji’idiwag Ji Gizhaadamowaad Miinkaanan (They are Gathering to Protect the Seeds).

The Great Lakes Indigenous Farming Conference returns on March 8-11, 2012 at Deep Portage Learning Center, Hackensack, Minnesota hosted by White Earth Land Recovery Project. This conference is open to the public.

The conference will feature local, regional, and international speakers. Hear how indigenous nations are restoring traditional foods and working towards sustainable communities. In addition, network with neighboring tribal nations and get information to further develop your own community programs....

The story below features SARE grant recipients turning to alternative energy practices-despite the steep learning curve often involved.

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Source: AgriView, Jane Fyksen, Crops Editor

High energy prices aren't going to go away. Concerned about the impact energy costs will have on the long-term sustainability of their operations, more producers are turning to alternative energy practices-despite the steep learning curve often involved.

While energy-efficiency measures are generally the fastest and cheapest way to reduce energy-related costs, many farmers are now turning...

The 2012 Minnesota Statewide High Tunnel Conference will be held Wednesday and Thursday, February 8 and 9, at The Lodge at Brainerd Lakes in Baxter, Minnesota. This conference is sponsored, in part, by NCR-SARE.

A Beginning High Tunnel Grower Workshop with a “Basics of High Tunnel Production” session will be held the morning of the first day, February 8th, from 8:30 a.m. to12:00 p.m. for beginning growers and those that need a review.

The main conference will start at 12:45 pm.Keynote speakers for this year’s conference include:

• Mary Gardiner from Ohio State who will present ”Identifying...

The story below features a SARE-sponsored Beginning Farmer Institute to be held in Minneapolis in January 2012. Participants of the Beginning Farmer Institute meet throughout the year to discuss topics, such as financial planning, USDA farm programs, risk management and communication skills, which they and the National Farmers Union have identified as important.

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Source: HobbyFarms.com

This month, first-time farmers from across the U.S. will converge in Minneapolis for the second session of the Beginning Farmer Institute (BFI), a learner-centered program sponsored by the National...

A Conservation Tillage Conference is scheduled for February 7th - 8th, 2012, Rochester, MN. Conserve soil, time and fuel with conservation tillage. This conference will send you home with hands-on, how-to information in nearly every aspect of conservation tillage. Whether you are an experienced steward looking to fine-tune what you are doing, a crop consultant who helps growers, or a novice looking to get his feet wet, put this conference on your calendar now. Speakers include experienced growers, agronomists, academic experts and production economists. Sponsored, in part, by NCR-SARE. Visit the...

In the story below, read about a Local Foods College taking place in Minnesota on January 24, 2012, sponsored, in part, by NCR-SARE.

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Source: University of Minnesota Crookston

If you are interested in growing more of your own food or scaling up production to market garden scale, the upcoming Local Foods College is designed for you. The series, which begins on January 24, 2012, will offer an overview of the basics, from planning to soils, fruit and vegetable production and business planning. The series, available via interactive television (ITV) at several locations across northwestern...

Minority and Immigrant farmers are invited to participate in the 7th Annual Immigrant and Minority Farmers Conference February 3-4, 2012. Hosted by The Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota, Minnesota Food Association and USDA-Farm Service Agency and USDA-NRCS, the two-day conference provides education and resources to small farm operators and fosters relationships between farmers and community partners.

Major sponsors of the conference include:  AgStar, Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Land Stewardship Project, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, USDA - Risk Management...

The news story below features Winona LaDuke, an NCR-SARE grant recipient. To read more about LaDuke's NCR-SARE grant projects, click here and type "LaDuke" to begin your search.

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Source: Inforum

KRAGNES, Minn. - The harvesters break off dried corn stalks at the base with a brisk snap.

They twist off the ears and place them in recycled plastic grocery bags. A few of the pickers – anxious to see the corn beneath – peel back the crackly husks to reveal kernels ranging from burnt umber to eggplant to a pale, buttery hue.

Some of the cobs are studded with fat, off-white...

The news story below features a related NCR-SARE grant LNC09-313, Farmer Field School Approach to Increasing Cover Crop Adoption in Iowa and Minnesota.

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Source: AgriNews

MAYER, Minn.— The Schuettes' neighbors probably weren't sure what has been growing for the last few months on a field near Mayer.

Dean Schuette is taking part in a cover crop demonstration project that is trying out tillage radishes. A 17-acre area was planted to spring wheat and harvested this year. On Aug. 10, seven of those acres were planted to tillage radish, seven acres went to a mix of tillage radish,...

The story below features the Minnesota Cover Crops Decision Tool by the Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC) which consists of eight Midwestern states and one Canadian province.

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Source: Echo Press

Interest in cover crops has been increasing in the Midwest in the last few years. Field days, workshops, and multi-day conferences on the topic are being held around the region. Educational events, research, on-farm demonstrations, and utilization can be found right here in Minnesota. Cover cropping is still somewhat of an enigma, however, and many agronomic questions exist....

 A Cover Crop Workshop and Field Day will be held Thursday, October 27, 2011, from 10:00am to 12:30pm at University of Minnesota’sSouthwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC).

Shannon Osborne with USDA-ARS will start off the workshop portion of the day with ageneral cover crop discussion.  Jill Sackett, UMN Extension Educator, will show attendees the new Minnesota Cover Crop Decision Tool website and Brian Christiansen, NRCS – Redwood and Murray Counties, will give a short presentation on the EQIP and CSP programs.  The last hour of the program will be a tour of the cover...

What does soil quality mean? Why is it so important? How do we measure it and how can we impact soil quality with our management practices? Hear experts from the University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, and the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service address these questions and more at the "Soil Quality Workshop". This program will be held at two locations: Monday, September 12 at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris, and Tuesday, September 13 at the Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca. Each workshop will...

Nationally known grazing expert and author Greg Judy will lead two days of workshops on how farmers and landowners can produce profits from pastured livestock Sept. 9-10 at the Broadway Ballroom in Alexandria, MN. The charge for both days is $80, which includes meals. Attending one day of the workshops costs $50, which also covers meals (a limited number of scholarships are available). Pre-registration is required; to register and for more information, call the Land Stewardship Project’s Julia Ahlers Ness at 320-269-2105, or e-mail janess@landstewardshipproject.org. Click here to download...

Source: Pioneer Press

Nathan Schrecengost drives bushels of organically grown zucchini, potatoes and heirloom tomatoes six miles from his St. Paul croplands to the Lake Street farmers' market in Minneapolis, and if anyone claims his produce is more "local" than that, he'd like to see his odometer.

His four micro-farms are modestly sized, even by a hobby farmer's standards. Combined, they total three-quarters of an acre, in lots in and around St. Paul's heavily urban Frogtown neighborhood, known as the least green neighborhood in the city. And he's fine with that.

"So far, it's been...

Source: The Circle: Native American News and Arts

_{by: Winona LaDuke and Lauren Scott}

Indigenous farmers and gardeners from the region and beyond gathered at the 9th Annual Great Lakes Indigenous Farming Conference in March to share knowledge, stories, and of course, their seeds.

More than 100 native people, organic farmers, students, and community members participated in the conference hosted by the White Earth Land Recovery Project held on the White Earth Reservation in Northern Minnesota.

"I had a Hopi Squash run up a tree last year," Frank Kutka, USDA Sustainable Agriculture representative...