State News and Activities
Join SARE grantee Steve Moring for a Kansas City workshop, "Designing Edible Forest Gardens," which will explore the vision, theory, design and practice of ecological forest agriculture that uses our temperate deciduous forest as a model. Moring says that by mimicking the structure and function of a natural ecosystem architecture through all stages of growth, a good design can maximize photosynthesis for perennial production of food, fodder, and fiber.
The workshop will cover the basics of forest gardening: forest ecology and architecture, examples of forest gardens, principles of permaculture,...
Read MoreNCR-SARE grant recipient Rachel Levi is the coordinator of Camp EarthDance, a farm-to-table summer camp for middle school students. Campers are able to gain experience in a full season of hands-on training and skill-based education in sustainable agriculture. Camp EarthDance offers a fun-filled and educational environment in which young people can visit a local farm, watch how carrots grow, and learn how and why to prepare and eat a healthy, local foods-based lunch. Campers also “celebrate the culture in agriculture” by engaging in art, writing, and fitness activities that let them further...
Read MoreThe 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...
Read MoreThe First International Symposium on Elderberry (Sambucus) will take place in Columbia, Missouri, USA, June 9–14, 2013.
This will be the world’s first gathering of international scientists from multiple disciplines studying all aspects of the elderberry plant and fruit, and its use as a food and dietary supplement. Horticulturists, botanists, biochemists, food scientists, economists, and others will gather in Missouri during peak elderberry flowering season for several days of scientific exchange and fellowship. The Symposium is being organized under the auspices of the International...
Read MoreSource: Adair County MU Extension Center, by Bruce Lane
Montgomery County farmer Harry Cope will talk about how he “moves the feedlot from the barn to the field” at the Missouri Livestock Symposium, Dec. 7-8 at Kirksville Middle School. University of Missouri Extension sponsors the free event.
Cope received an USDA NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher grant to research skip-row planting techniques with cover crops for sustainable growing. He has been experimenting with interplanting soybeans with corn to provide feed for his cattle and sheep operation on his Missouri Century Farm in Truxton. The crop...
Read MoreThe First International Symposium on Elderberry (Sambucus) will be held in Columbia, Missouri, USA, June 9–14, 2013.
Held in conjunction with University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry Professor, Michael Gold's, NCR-SARE Research and Education grant, it will be the world’s first gathering of international scientists from multiple disciplines studying all aspects of the elderberry plant and fruit, and its use as a food and dietary supplement. Horticulturists, botanists, biochemists, food scientists, economists, and others will gather in Missouri during peak...
Read MoreCelebrate the 20th anniversary the largest annual small farm trade show in the United States with dozens of SARE grant recipients plus staff from the SARE program at the National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference(tm). This year, the Conference takes place on Thursday, November 1st through Saturday, November 3rd, 2012, in Columbia, Missouri, at the Central Missouri Event Center (former Boone County Fairgrounds).
Do you want to farm or ranch while protecting the environment, making a profit, and benefiting your community? More than 25 Farmers Forum talks featuring grants recipients from...
Read MoreAs part of the MO SARE State Program, Debi Kelly will be hosting a webinar on cover crops on October 24, 9am-noon. Presenters will include Charles Ellis, a Natural Resource Engineer with the Lincoln County University of Missouri Extension Center, and Rich Hoormann, an Agronomy Specialist with Montgomery County University of Missouri Extension Center.
Rich Hoorman will cover:
- Laddonia Plots: Corn plant growth & development response to cover crops with yield information
- Results of 2012 spring root dig with backhoe by species
- Results of soil penetrometer readings...
The Associated Press wrote a July story on the UMCA-sponsored elderberry workshop held this summer in Hartsburg, which was sponsored by the University of Missouri’s Center for Agroforestry through an ongoing grant from NCR-SARE. The following article was widely circulated around the U.S. Check out the Elderberry Financial Decision Support Tool, which was developed as part of this project.
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Source: Journal Gazette
Missouri farmer Terry Durham is among those willing to bet the next hot food crop will be a berry now more commonly found in roadside ditches...
Read MoreThis article features grant recipient, Joe Gaylord. In 2010, he received a SARE grant to expand prawn and trout into their existing hybrid bluegill operation. Their annual "Prawn Harvest" will take place on September 29, 2012 at 11am.
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Source: The Adrian Journal, Sharon Kiesel
A new business that has been two years in the making will open officially this Saturday, March 12. JEMV, so named for the four owners first initials, is an aquaculture business. Founded by Joe and Eric Gaylord and their wives, Mary and Valerie, JEMV is located on a 100 acre farm southwest...
Read MoreResearchers in Missouri are using an NCR-SARE grant to increase knowledge about the elderberry market in the region and estimate future trends and growth potential. They hope to help identify the most appropriate strategies that can be adopted by elderberry growers and value-added processors to deal with the industry’s specific competitive forces. This feature in The Washington Post highlights some their work.
To read more about this Research and Education elderberry project, visit the MySARE reporting site here.
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Source: Washington Post
HARTSBURG, Mo. — Missouri farmer...
Read MoreAn NCR-SARE project in Missouri is teaching pasture budgeting techniques designed to match beef cattle nutrient requirements to the forage system while strategically managing input costs, pasture quality, and carrying capacity. As part of the project, four core beef producer groups are being developed in cooperation with state and regional Extension specialists. This news feature highlights the first meeting of the North Missouri Grazing Group at Jonnie Hubach’s farm, located in northeastern Andrew County.
To read more about the related NCR-SARE Research and Education project,...
Read MoreNCR-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...
Read MoreThose who are interested in learning strategies for creating dynamic local food systems to help communities establish thriving local businesses, protecting natural resources and strengthen community ties, or who have clients who wish to expand local food systems beyond farmers’ markets and community gardens can attend a two-day workshop designed specifically for community economic development professionals and extension educators. Attendees will be introduced to the latest concepts in local foods, including tours and discussions of models that connect farmers with processors,...
Read MoreThe following story features recent NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant recipients, Nicola and Daniel Macpherson-Hellmuth and their effort to cultivate black truffles with the help of University of Missouri researcher, Johann Bruhn.
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Source: Columbia Missourian, by Anna Boiko-Weyrauch
The field doesn’t look like much yet. At the flat top of a hill there is a three-fourths acre patch of grass clumps that have been slathered with limestone powder to alter the soil. Deer have left tracks in the soft dirt.
Ozark Forest Mushrooms co-owner Nicola Macpherson gets excited imagining...
Read MoreNCR-SARE, the University of Missouri, Lincoln University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture & Local Extension Councils invite you to attend a Forage Management Meeting on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at the Clasbey Center in Savannah, Missouri, at 11am CST. The meeting will feature presentations on:
- Utilizing grazing information to maximize pasture/forage quality
- Forage allocation and grazing wedges
- Feeding plans using forage test results
Dr. Justin Sexten- MU Extension State Beef Nutritionist will be the keynote presenter. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP by February...
Read MoreIn this feature, NCR-SARE Professional Development Grant Program grant recipient, Sanjun Gu, explains vegetable grafting, an emerging technique but has become popular among small-scale farmers.
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Source: Down the Earth: Report from the Field, Innovative Small Farmers’ Outreach Program (ISFOP): East Central Region. By Dr. Sanjun Gu
Grafting is an old practice with tree fruit. It is the act of joining two plants together. The upper part of the graft, the scion, becomes the top of the plant; the lower portion, the rootstock, becomes the root system or part of the trunk. Vegetable grafting...
Read MoreThe news story below features Billy Polansky, a 2010 recipient of an NCR-SARE Youth Educator Grant for his project, "Sprouts, Soil, and Worms."
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Source: Columbia Business Times
An alternative business model is growing across the U.S. and taking root in Columbia’s fertile soil. Columbia’s citizens and farmers are investing in one another through Community Supported Agriculture farming.
In a CSA, farmers sell shares to members of the community, who usually pay for their CSA share up front and receive a regular supply of locally grown, fresh food.
Chert Hollow...
Read MoreThe story below features the Missouri Beginning Farmer Program’s Online Learning Community and Debi Kelli, Missouri SARE co-coordinator and MU Extension Beginning Farmers guru.
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Source: Agriculture.com
Where can you find conversations about pasture-raised chicken and organic farming next to talks on soil and social media? Online.
The Missouri Beginning Farmer Program’s Online Learning Community from University of Missouri Extension lets everyone learn from experienced farmers. More than a year of archived workshops, webinars and discussions are now free online,...
Read MoreBecome a more effecitve grant writer for your innovative and unique farm ideas by attending the SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Writing Workshop which is being sponsored by Lincoln University Extension and University of Missouri Extension along with the Missouri SARE Program.
The workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 19th. Registration begins at 9:00 am with the program starting at 9:30 am and ending by 3:30 pm. The workshop will be held at the Pacific Fire House #2, 7376 Highway O, Robertsville, MO. The cost is $15/person which includes lunch and materials. Preregistration...
Read MoreNCR-SARE State Coordinator for Missouri, Debi Kelly, will be hosting 3 webinars to help producers understand the NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program, the grant writing process, what makes a good proposal, and answer questions you may have.If you are interested in learning about the NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program, join Debi Kelly on Sept 12th for a PowerPoint presentation about the grant program, and then join her again on September 19th and 26th to hear from past recipients about their NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher grants.
- Sept 12: 7-8:30 pm - NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program Webinar...
Source: Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
June 8th, 2011 by Andy Mason, Director, National Agroforestry Center
Nicola Macpherson knows the benefits of agroforestry. After all, she has the success of her farm, Timber Farms in the Sink, and her business, Ozark Forest Mushrooms, as proof.
“We have a wealth of forestry and trees. It’s just not fields,” Macpherson said of her family-owned farm Timber about three hours outside of St. Louis. “Agroforestry is a great way to utilize your wood, manage your forest and have a business. A lot of locals are woods people. It’s a good business model...
Read MoreSource: Kansas City Star, by Steve Everly
A farmers’ cooperative near Warrensburg, Mo., could help decide the fate of President Barack Obama’s plans to produce more cellulosic-based biofuels to curb oil imports.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to announce today that the Show Me Energy Cooperative will get the first grant in a federal program to determine whether U.S. farmers are interested in growing large quantities of switchgrass or other such energy crops.
The Obama administration wants U.S. farmers to harvest enough cellulosic crops to produce 16 billion gallons of ethanol...
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Source: No-Till Farmer, April 2011
By Martha Mintz, Contributing Editor
SOME DIG DEEP to identify the yield robbers on their farms. Jules Willott only
had to dig 3 inches.
After years of letting his fertilizer rep take his soil samples, the Mexico, Mo.,no-tiller decided to do the job himself. What he discovered as he dug his soil samples was a shallow compaction layer.
"There was good, loose soil for 3 inches, then a 1.5-inch layer that was hard and then good soil below that," Willott observed. "Our roots were getting through, but I think it must have slowed them down a little."...
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