Pennsylvania

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 […]

July-August Innovations Newsletter Focuses on Social Sustainability

Visit our latest edition of Innovations to learn more about Northeast SARE, our Grant programs, and stories of funded projects. This edition focused on social sustainability.

Implementing a Food Safety System for Small-Scale and Raw Milk Cheese Plants

The purpose of this guide is to assist small-scale and raw milk cheesemakers in conducting Hazard Analyses of their processes to ensure they are producing the safest product possible and to meet the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The author, Dr. Kerry E. Kaylegian of the Pennsylvania State University, created this resource […]

Integrated Fly Management for Pastured Cattle

In grazing systems, flies can not only be a nuisance for cattle but can also cause herd health problems like pink eye, and reduce milk production and weight gain. Matt Steiman, livestock manager at Dickinson College Farm worked with Dr. Jason Smith, entomologist and horticultural specialist at Milton Hershey School to develop this fact sheet […]

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.

A Practical Guide to No-Till and Cover Crops in the Mid-Atlantic

No-till and cover crops are among the most cost effective tools to reverse soil and carbon loss and improve soil health; the economic, agronomic and environmental benefits of these practices are well known within the farming community. Transitioning from conventional farming to no-till, and incorporating the use of cover crops, requires a higher level of […]

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 […]

Crediting Cover Crops and Soil Organic Matter in a Variable Rate Nitrogen Fertilizer Prescription

Crop growth depends on available nitrogen (N) in the soil, much of which comes from mineralization of soil organic matter and other organic residues, such as cover crops. The amount of mineralized N available to a crop depends on several biological and environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, soil texture, the total quantity of organic […]

Tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus and Impatiens necrotic spot orthotospovirus

This fact sheet was written by Pennsylvania State University graduate student Juan Francisco Iturralde Martinez who studied molecular techniques for detecting the viruses: Tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV) and Impatiens necrotic spot orthotospovirus (INSV). The publication provides information and recommendations about the project's model virus TSWV and the closely related virus INSV that can be […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

Penn State student studies poultry bedding alternatives

In the Northeast, wood shavings are the predominant bedding material on which commercial broiler chickens are raised. Because their availability and cost fluctuates and new concerns have emerged around biosecurity risks of transporting bedding to and from farms, Pennsylvania State University Master of Science student Amy Barkley used her Northeast SARE Graduate Student grant to […]

Native bees and flowering cover crops

While managed colonies of European honey bees are most frequently used for crop pollination, wild or native bees commonly provide the same pollination services for ‘free’ without the costs of renting or maintaining honey bee hives.

Log-Based Shiitake Cultivation

A 57-page guide to producing these gourmet mushrooms.