Northeast

Growing Specialty Ethnic Crops for a South Asian Market in the Northeast

This guide, written by David Vigil and Kendra Ellis of East New York Farms!, provides information on growing three types of South Asian specialty crops--beans, vining gourds and greens. A general description, planting and care considerations, harvesting tips, and varieties and seed sources are included for each of the following crops. Beans Winged Beans (Psophocarpus […]

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 […]

Scaling Up Pastured Livestock Production

This research report, authored by Pasa Sustainable Agriculture staff Franklin Egan and Brooks Miller of North Mountain Pastures, summarizes land and feed efficiency benchmarks for grass-finished beef, pastured pigs, and pastured broilers. It explores the implications of these benchmarks for scaling-up pastured livestock to become a dominant method of livestock farming in Pennsylvania.

Raising Ducks on a Small Agroforestry Farm

This guide, authored by Steve and Elizabeth Gabriel, shares their experience raising ducks on their farm in Trumansburg, New York. The guide includes the following topics. Key considerations for raising ducks Breeds Basic care Infrastructure tips and tricks Duck products The Gabriels say, "This document is gathered from our experience at Wellspring Forest Farm after […]

NJ farm evaluates oyster seed nursery practices

Oyster farming is increasing in the Northeast and is a top contributor of our region’s $161 million in annual aquaculture sales. However, a major challenge to the continued growth of this shellfish crop is availability of oyster seed. Hatchery and nursery capacity for seed production is limited, and often the demand for oyster seed exceeds […]

WV farm determines optimal strawberry planting dates

Strawberries are a high demand crop for both pick-your-own and local retail markets. While this crop commands premium prices, growing strawberries in southern West Virginia has been tricky due to challenges like deer and weed pressure, labor demands and planting time conflicts. With their Northeast SARE Farmer Grant, Kent and Jennifer Gilkerson of Sunset Berry […]

Edible Weeds on Farms

Tusha Yakovleva of Found Wild in New York's Hudson Valley authored this resource guide for wild edible plants on cultivated soils. Edible weeds are nourishing, resilient, and yet often maligned crops. Yakovleva encourages readers to see "weeds" in a new light -- as ways to provide supplemental income, offer novel flavors and phytonutrients, increase biodiversity […]

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 […]

Northeast SARE Seeks Candidates for Administrative Council

Update 12/05/2020: The deadline has passed to submit for this year's membership to the Administrative Council but please contact us if you have an interest in serving in the future. Thank you! The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program is seeking individuals to serve on its Administrative Council (AC). The 20-member governance committee […]

Dairy Farm Closes Loop with Improved Compost System

Eric Paris of Tamarlane Farm, a dairy in northeastern Vermont, has been closing the loop on his farm by composting farm waste and community food scraps (about 12 tons per week) to create a valuable fertility source for his farm fields. His Farmer Grant project sought to determine whether a low-cost Aerated Static Pile (ASP) […]

Hudson Valley Farm Applies African Farming Methods to Local Rice Production

Dawn Hoyte and Nfamara Badjie of Ever-Growing Family Farm in Ulster Park, NY received a Farmer Grant to evaluate nursery methods for rice production. Transplants are critical to growing this crop successfully in our region, given the short growing season. Past Farmer Grant research has shown that using a plug-tray nursery method was successful. Badjie, […]

Small-scale Vegetable Operation Explores Solutions to Farming on Marginal Soils

How do small-scale farmers in rural and urban locations farm successfully on marginal soils? Jennifer Wilhelm of Fat Peach Farm in Madbury, NH conducted a Farmer Grant project to find out. Wilhelm had established no-till permanent raised beds on her one-acre mixed vegetable operation and her project investigated weed suppression, soil health and production potential […]

Northeast SARE Invites Applications for Farmer Grant Program

Burlington, Vt.--The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) is now accepting applications for its Farmer Grant Program. Up to $15,000 is available per project. Applications are due online at 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 17. The Farmer Grant Program funds farmers to enable them to explore new concepts in sustainable agriculture on production, […]

Pastured Rabbit for Profit

Pastured Rabbit for Profit is a guide written by New York farmer Nichki Carangelo. It is a practical resource intended to guide farmers through the start-up phase of a pasture-based rabbitry. It includes a full enterprise budget along with housing plans, sample breeding schedules, feed guidelines and other rabbit husbandry basics. Chapters include:

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 […]

Social Media Toolkit for Farmers and Agricultural Producers

Juliet Glass of the Maryland Farmers' Market Association created this social media toolkit for farmers, based on the work she conducted through a Northeast SARE Partnership Grant. Glass worked with four Maryland farms to audit their social media channels and make concrete suggestions on how they could improve their social media use to expand their […]

21st Century Pastured Poultry

21st-Century Pastured Poultry is a fully illustrated and photographed management guide for new and established farmers of every scale. It was designed as a comprehensive resource for farmers seeking to develop, expand or improve a pastured poultry enterprise. Using Joel Salatin’s Pastured Poultry Profit$ as a guide, author Nickhi Carangelo set forth to produce an […]

PA Extension reaches out to Hispanic and Latinx farming communities

As more people of color choose farming and agricultural careers, Cooperative Extension and other agricultural service organizations must expand their ability to serve culturally diverse groups. Pennsylvania saw a 16% increase in Hispanic and Latinx farmers and farmworkers, inspiring Elsa Sanchez of Pennsylvania State University to conduct a Northeast SARE Professional Development Grant project aimed […]

New technology for improving nitrogen management in corn

A multi-state Research and Education project, led by Cornell University’s Aaron Ristow and Harold Van Es, aimed to enhance nitrogen (N) management in corn acreage by calibrating a new tool, Adapt-N, and educating farmers about nutrient management. Adapt-N is a cloud-based computer tool that provides precise N fertilizer recommendations that account for seasonal weather conditions […]

Developing native shrubs for the green industry

University of Connecticut associate professor of ornamental horticulture Jessica Lubell explored native shrubs as replacements for invasive plants through her Northeast SARE Research and Education project. To help wholesale nursery growers looking for alternative ornamentals that perform well in the Northeast, the project combined research trials of native shrub selections with an education program to […]