Animal Production

Soil for Water

This series of 11 semi-structured interviews was carried out by Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension to better understand farmers’ and ranchers’ agroecological motivations and values related to the protection and conservation of water resources. The series highlights diverse farms of Virginia’s agricultural community through a narrative inquiry framework. Introduction to the Soil for Water […]

Regenerative Grazing in the South: Case Studies from Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Virginia

A multistate team lead by the National Center for Appropriate Technology developed the following series of rancher profiles as part of a larger project to promote regenerative grazing and soil health throughout the South. Case Studies from Texas This publication explains historical factors that have created barriers to adoption and profiles a working group and […]

Yak Meat Production Enterprise Budgets

Instructions: Enterprise Budget Worksheet for Yak Meat Production This guide offers instructions for using the Enterprise Budget Worksheet for Yak Meat Production, below. Excel tool: Enterprise Budget Worksheet for Yak Meat Production This decision tool is targeted for those interested in raising yaks for meat production. The goal is to assist individuals in accounting for […]

Co-Cultivating Rice and Fish to Reduce Methane, Increase Income

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – University of Arkansas researchers are partnering with rice farmers across the state on a project to reduce winter methane emissions in rice fields while providing an additional income stream to acreage. With a $30,000 On-Farm Research Grant, funded by Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE), bioengineer Benjamin Runkle is adding fish […]

Kentucky Farmer Testing Warm-Season Grasses as Forages for Meat Goats

SALVISA, Kentucky – Fatima Jackson is keeping her fingers crossed that native warm-season perennials being planted on her farm will perform better than tall fescue as an alternative forage for meat goats in the summer months. “Come the heat of the summer in July and August, the goats won’t touch the tall fescue,” said Jackson. […]

Culturing Live Microalgae to Improve Nutrition in Bait Fish

FORT PIERCE, Florida – Algae, zooplankton and other microscopic organisms are such a vital component of commercial fish hatcheries as a high protein food source that aquaculturists are always looking for ways to optimize their culture for higher fish nutrition and improved growth performance. One aquaculturist in south Florida received a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research […]

Warm Season Limpograss Bridges the Forage Gap for Fall Grazing in Florida

MARIANNA, Florida – For Southeast ranchers interested in grazing their beef cattle year-round, winter is the most challenging season for finding supplementing feed after warm-season grasses, like bahiagrass, decline in the fall, but before cool-season forages (oats or rye) are ready in the winter. University of Florida researchers have found a perennial grass that will […]

Legume Cover Crops Have Potential as a Nitrogen and Forage Source in Semi-arid West Texas

SAN ANGELO, Texas – Farmers in west Texas are eyeing legume cover crops as a nitrogen and forage source to fill fallow periods between dryland, no-till wheat and cotton crop rotations. But finding the best fit for the area’s environmental challenges is proving tricky. So Texas A&M University researchers are working with farmers to develop […]

Identifying Pollen to Improve Honeybee Health

HUDSON, North Carolina – Honeybees forage their nutrition from two key plant sources: nectar and pollen. And while nectar is important, it’s the quality of pollen that is linked to colony health and growth, and may be the key to managing some of the major pollinator health issues like varroa mites and Colony Collapse Disorder. […]

Drought-tolerant Feed Alternatives for Small Ruminants in Arid Texas

MARFA, Texas – Visitors to Big Bend Country in far West Texas come for the desert mountain views, mystery lights in the sky, a burgeoning art culture…and Malinda Beeman’s goats. Beeman and her partner Allan McClane run Marfa Maid Dairy – a 25 dairy goat herd operation where they sell artisan cheeses and give weekly […]

Texas Beekeeper Rethinking Bee Hive Boxes for More Honey and Better Bee Health

MABANK, Texas – Texas beekeeper Daniel Brantner has a simple and economical solution for increasing honey production and improving the health of honey bees: redesigning the industry-standard bee hive boxes. Brantner, owner of Texas Honey Company and a certified Texas master beekeeper, is using his skills as an architect to turn the typical standard 16”X22” […]

Kentucky Livestock Farmers Testing Bale Grazing for Winter Feeding Cattle

LEXINGTON, Kentucky – Livestock farmers in Kentucky are changing the way they feed hay to cattle during the winter to prevent nutrient loss, regenerate pastures and keep animals healthy. Generally, hay is fed to livestock on a feeding pad or sacrifice area, or is unrolled in a pasture. In the case of a feeding pad, […]

Mississippi Farmer Optimizing Animal/Crop Production in a Unique Integrated System

KILN, Mississippi – The damage brought about by Hurricane Ida in 2021 was a light bulb moment for Mississippi farmer Stephen Wyatt, who was looking for ways to maximize production of his two high-demand cash crops: strawberries and rabbits. With the storm came massive flooding, disease and predators. In less than one season, most of […]

Exploring Warm Season Grasses for Parasite Control and Performance in Sheep

HIDDENITE, North Carolina – A North Carolina livestock producer is exploring the use of native warm season grasses as forage for Katahdin Hair sheep as a way quickly bring the animals to market weight, and for better parasite control. Lee Holcomb of LeeDer Farm, situated in a rural area just north of Charlotte, is establishing […]

Adding Livestock Farm Diversification with Yaks

MOREHEAD, Kentucky – On a frigid January morning at Morehead State University, Kentucky farmer Greg Dike keeps his fingers crossed for good news as MSU veterinary technology professor Philip Prater completes the pregnancy tests of four yak heifers from Dike’s farm. Yes, you read that right…yaks. Dike has been championing yaks since 2013 as an […]

Duke University Brings Students, Soil, and Carbon Together Through Southern SARE Grant.

DURHAM, North Carolina- Through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, Duke University built a program to study how livestock grazing can offset carbon emissions. In 2019, Duke was awarded an On-Farm Research Grant through the Southern SARE program. This grant funding helped combine the efforts of the Duke Campus Farm, the Duke […]

Alabama Farmer Helping to Diversify State’s Aquaculture Production with Crawfish

BOLIGEE, Alabama – A tall, bright yellow banner with the words “Crawfish” in big, black letters displayed at the entrance of Greene Prairie Aquafarm along rural U.S. Highway 43 in western Alabama may be signaling a shift in the aquaculture industry in the state. Farm owner David Coddington is among a handful of farmers who […]

FAMACHA

FAMACHA is a diagnostic tool to help farmers identify parasite infection in small ruminants, allowing them to cut the cost of deworming agents by targeting treatments only to infected animals. Training is required before purchase.

Southern SARE Awards $1M Grant to Explore Regenerative Agriculture

Griffin, GA- The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program has announced a $1,000,000 Research and Education Grant, the largest awarded since the program launched in 1988.   The National Center for Appropriate Technology, the project lead, selected a systems research approach to identify practical and regionally-appropriate methods of regenerative grazing that can be implemented […]