March 16, 2012 | SARE

News Release – Since 1988, SARE has funded more than 5,000 sustainable agriculture research and education projects on farms and ranches large and small, dryland and wetland, urban and rural, from Florida to Alaska to Guam. This is quite a milestone, especially when considering that behind each of these projects are great innovators—farmers, ranchers, researchers, educators and nonprofits—working hard to develop the next profit-making, land-conserving, community-building project to help feed our growing world.

SARE is proud to release its 2011/2012 Report from the Field, the biennial report of the program’s recent cream- of-the-crop grantees and their work.

Some highlights:

• Two brothers in Nebraska boosted corn yields by 10 percent in non-irrigated conditions with moisture-conserving cover crops, and have launched a cover-crop seed business.
• Within a year, knowledge gained from a three-day renewable energy training benefited more than 2,600 farmers across the South.
• Former tobacco farmers in Kentucky are now cashing in on sweet potatoes—grossing up to $7,000 per acre—thanks to new research and outreach from University of Kentucky Extension.
• A Cornell University Extension specialist developed new techniques for onion growers that can increase their net profit by up to $258 per 100-foot bed.
• 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.

Download 2011/2012 Report From the Field now.

Report from the Field is a full-color, 16-page publication, complete with 12 inspirational profiles and tips for getting more information. It relates stories of innovation from every corner of the United States in key areas of American agriculture: local and regional food systems, clean energy education, specialty crop diversification, and pollinator health, to name a few.

Report from the Field also includes updates on some of the funding allocations and priority activities in each of SARE’s four regions, such as new grant programs, stakeholder listening sessions and scaling up local-based projects to the regional level – all to continually adapt grant making to the needs of the agricultural community.

Report from the Field is an inspirational and informative snapshot of the people who are working to make American agriculture more profitable for farmers, better for the environment, and a stronger foundation of rural communities.

Download all editions of SARE’s Report from the Field for free in the Learning Center. To order print copies visit the SARE WebStore, call 301/374-9696 or write to SARE Outreach, PO Box 753, Waldorf, Maryland 20604-0753. (Please specify title requested when ordering by mail.) Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Call 301/374-9696 for more information on bulk, rush or international shipments.