On-farm research is an invaluable tool for farmers and ranchers exploring new ways of cutting production costs or improving stewardship of natural resources. NRCS field office staff often serve as technical advisers or cooperators with farmers and ranchers who perform research using SARE producer grants and provide them with guidance throughout their projects.

NRCS employees and others will find the newly updated How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranch bulletin from SARE’s outreach arm, the Sustainable Agriculture Network, a useful tool in offering that guidance. The 12-page bulletin helps producers answer their most pressing production questions by providing step-by-step instructions for designing and conducting investigations and research at the farm level. Not only does the bulletin provide practical research tips for crop and livestock producers, it also features four SARE-funded producers who improved production and marketing systems through well-managed research. For example, the bulletin highlights Pennsylvania grower Allen Matthews, who had a conservation plan that included a seven-year rotation of vegetables, small grains and hay. Matthews sought to combine the financial backing of SARE with the technical expertise of NRCS and his local conservation district.

a SARE grant helped Allen Matthews, prove that a new vegetable and grain rotation incorporating cover crops earns $848 more per acre -- l. to r. daughter, Alissa; wife, Martha; Allen Matthews; and son, Adam

He received a SARE farmer grant to test whether growing three years of vegetables – peppers, pumpkins, and sweet corn intercropped with cover crops – followed by a year of clover, would control erosion on his 150-acre farm near Pittsburgh. Growing high-value vegetable crops more frequently than grains and hay would earn greater profits, and Matthews wanted to measure how much.

The local soil conservation district and NRCS field staff provided the engineering and data collection while Matthews created a five-acre test on the hillside. On half the slope, he grew 80-feet-wide strips of the crops designated in the seven-year plan. On the other, he grew vegetables in narrow rows inter-seeded with three types of clover. To measure soil loss, the team dug diversion ditches midway down the slope and at the bottom that caught soil and collected runoff on the 15-percent grade.

The findings were significant. Matthews’ soil loss on his alternative rotation reduced erosion, measuring just 10 percent of what NRCS allows on farms. “We demonstrated that by doing alternative practices, we could still use the four-year rotation,” he said.

How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranch includes a comprehensive list of in-depth resources that provide more detailed information about research techniques.
For an .html or .pdf version of How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranchgo to the SARE Research and Education Page. To learn more about SARE grant projects in your area, go to SARE Project Reports page and search the program’s online project database. You can also order free copies of SAN bulletins and other publications using the attached form or by calling 301/504-5236.

Watch this feature for announcements for SARE’s Call for Proposals for farmer grants.

About SARE
Since 1988, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide grants program. The program, administered by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, USDA, funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems and natural resources.

NRCS field office professionals frequently collaborate on SARE-funded projects and are valuable partners to the SARE program. NRCS staff serve on SARE’s national Operations Committee, on regional Administrative Councils, on state committees and are actively engaged as technical advisers and collaborators on SARE-funded research grants around the U.S. 

For more information, visit the SARE website or for more information about the regional SARE programs, click on the region area of the map below.

Your contact is Diana Friedman, SARE research associate, at 301-504-6422, or dfriedman@sare.org.