Showing 1-20 of 47 results
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” […]
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 […]
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 […]
Common Ground Podcast
Welcome to Common Ground from the University of Georgia's Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. Sustainable agriculture stories from the Southern USA, introducing farmers, ranchers, and those who support them as well as innovative practices from around the Southern United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Listen in as they tell their stories […]
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 […]
Making Fish Waste Compost
Dale Snyder, co-owner of Sweetgrass Garden Co-op on Johns Island, S.C., discusses the process used to make fish waste compost. The co-op conducted a Southern SARE-funded study over the summer to determine if fish waste makes a good organic compost for vegetable production. Dale Snyder with Sweetgrass Garden Co-op in South Carolina discusses the results […]
Case Study: Kentucky Mobile Poultry Processing Unit
A case study and accompanying video of Kentucky's Mobile Poultry Processing Unit to aid small farmers who want to raise poultry for market, but have nowhere to process their birds.
Cover Crops Incorporated into Rotational Grazing Improves Soil Health
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Over-seeding a diverse cool-season cover crop mix into a rotationally grazed warm-season grass pasture appears to improve soil health, especially when the system is managed over a longer period of time. In a limited study, funded by a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SSARE) Graduate Student Grant, Louisiana State University […]
The Performance of Cover Crops in Minimally Tilled Forage-based Grazing Systems
In a Southern SARE-funded Graduate Student Grant (GS15-152), “Evaluation of Winter Annual Cover Crops Under Multiple Residue Management: Impacts on land management, soil water depletion, and cash crop productivity,” Texas Tech University researchers investigated five cover crops species as potential complements to a warm-season beef-stocker grazing system. The impact of the project was two-fold: Stabilize the soil surface from excessive wind erosion and desiccation; and strengthen rural communities by ensuring the persistence of profitable agriculture in the region.
Integrating Legumes with Grass to Improve Forage-Livestock Systems
In a Southern SARE-funded Research and Education Grant (LS14-261), "Long-term Agroecosystems Research and Adoption in the Texas Southern High Plains -- Phase III," Texas Tech University researchers conducted a steer grazing trial comparing a grass only system to a grass-legume system for animal productivity and water use efficiency.
NCSU Explores Regionally Adapted Legumes as Forage and Cover Crops
RALEIGH, North Carolina – North Carolina State University researchers are working to expand the portfolio of crops farmers can use in grain, forage and cover crop production. Through a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SSARE) Graduate Student grant, student Rachel Atwell Vann and organic cropping specialist Chris Reberg-Horton field tested 19 winter pea (Pisum […]