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Farmers Invited to Apply for Sustainable Ag Grants

The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program is inviting farmers and growers to submit proposals to its Farmer Grant Program. Proposals are due online by 5 p.m. on Nov. 16 for projects starting next spring. Funded projects, which are capped at $30,000, will be announced in late February 2022. The call for proposals, […]

New Edition of "Building Soils for Better Crops" Now Available

The fourth edition of SARE’s most popular book, Building Soils for Better Crops: Ecological Management for Healthy Soils, is now available online and in print. The book covers everything from soil organic matter and nutrient cycles to ecological soil management including sections on cover crops, compost, reduced tillage, addressing fertility issues and more. Building Soils […]

Annual Report Looks Back at 2020 and Looks Up to the Future

Northeast SARE has published its annual report for 2020. The report includes a piece from director Vern Grubinger called, "Looking up – for Sustainability". It highlights funded projects representing each of Northeast SARE's six competitive grant programs, and lists the 111 projects awarded in 2020.

Successful Farming Practices in the Face of Climate Change

This article was reprinted with permission from Green Energy Times, a periodical that advances the opportunities at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability. When farmers and growers throughout the Northeast go to work, they know they will face unpredictable weather. After all, Mark Twain’s adage, “If you don’t like the weather in New England, […]

Case Studies on Setting Up Microloans

According to a study conducted by The Carrot Project, 25 percent of farmers that request financing are denied access to credit needed for start-up and expansion costs. In 2009 and 2010, the Massachusetts-based nonprofit set up collaborative microloan programs in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. They facilitated 15 loans, with a median loan size of $12,300, […]

Expanding Winter Harvest and Sales for New England Vegetable Crops

The Winter Production, Storage and Sales website is maintained through a partnership of the UMass Extension Vegetable Program, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and two local food organizations, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) in western MA and Seacoast Eat Local (SEL) in eastern NH. This project addresses the need for expanding winter […]

Mobile Poultry Processing Unit Farm and Food Safety Management Guide

New Entry Sustainable Farming Project and the New England Small Farm Institute prepared this guide for small-scale poultry producers and processors using a Massachusetts-inspected mobile poultry processing unit or stationary on-farm facility. It includes information and sample documentation to help producer-processors with: Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) Standard Sanitation Operating Procedures (SSOPs) Hazard Analysis Critical Control […]

Vegetable Bedding Plants Pest Management

This University of Massachusetts web page has information on integrated pest management (IPM) and organic controls, two practical ways to effectively manage pests on vegetable bedding plants. Vegetable bedding plants are commonly grown in the Northeast as part of the spring sales mix. Although vegetable bedding plants may only be in the greenhouse for a […]

New Online Tool Helps Farmers Make Cover Crop Decisions

The Northeast Cover Crops Council (NECCC) recently released an online tool designed to support farm decision-making around cover crops. The Cover Crop Decision Support Tool is available at no cost at: http://covercrop.tools/. It includes a Cover Crop Explorer that provides in-depth information on more than 35 cover crop species. It also has a Species Selector […]

Northeast Cover Crop Decision Support Tool

The Northeast Cover Crops Council (NECCC) has created an online tool designed to support farm decision-making around cover crops. The tool includes a Cover Crop Explorer that provides in-depth information on more than 35 cover crop species. It also has a Species Selector that assists users in selecting individual cover crops based on plant hardiness […]

Shiitake Mushroom Cultivation in the Northeast United States

The guide, developed by farmer Willie Crosby of Fungi Ally, outlines the process of indoor and outdoor shiitake mushroom cultivation. It also includes results from strain research conducted through a Northeast SARE Farmer Grant. Table of Contents Introduction Strains and Spawn Sources Growing Shiitake Mushrooms on Logs Growing Shiitake Mushrooms on Supplemented Sawdust Getting Started […]

Cordyceps Mushroom Cultivation in the Northeast United States

Cordyceps is currently one of the highest valued mushrooms cultivated in the world. The US market for cordyceps is rapidly growing in the supplemental and herbal markets. Willie Crosby of Fungi Ally, Montague, MA, studied basic production variables of cordyceps, including strain and container, on his farm. Results of the study informed this cultivation guide. […]

Cover Cropping on Vegetable Farms in Northern New England

This bulletin, authored by Heather Darby and her staff at the University of Vermont Extension Crops and Soils Team, provides basic information on cover crop strategies for vegetable farms based in northern New England. It addresses cover crop benefits and challenges; cover crop selection, seeding option planting dates, termination options; and additional resources. The bulletin […]

European Corn Borer in Hops

The renaissance of hopyards throughout the Northeast has brought pests not commonly associated with hop growing in other parts of the country. Farmers in New England have found European Corn Borer to be a unique pest in their hopyards. Farmer Ryan Houghton of The Hop Yard in Portland, Maine and David Handley of University of […]

2019 Northeast SARE Annual Report

The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program offers grants to farmers, educators, service providers, researchers and others to address key issues affecting the sustainability of agriculture throughout the Northeast region of the U.S. that includes Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and […]

Food hub faces the challenges of scaling up ethnic produce

The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (NESFP), led by Jennifer Hashley, has a 20-year history of training next generation farmers—including immigrant and refugee growers—to improve local food systems. A recent Northeast SARE Partnership grant supported the Project’s food hub initiative aimed at long-term economic self-reliance among farmers while expanding access of healthy, culturally-appropriate foods in […]

Weed Weasel prototype provides weed cultivation options for small-scale farms

Weed management is crucial on vegetable farms of all scales but may be particularly challenging for small-scale farms as hand weeding is time consuming while tractor cultivation may not fit with smaller acreages. So, with his Northeast SARE Partnership grant, Jan “Lu” Yoder of Woodmetalcanvas in Westport, MA collaborated with local farmers to build, test […]

Niche Poultry Enterprises in New England

Broiler enterprises have started making a comeback in the region in recent years, but they tend to look very different from the standard broiler operations you’d find in Maryland or Georgia.