Biodiversity

New Book: Farming With Soil Life: A Handbook for Supporting Soil Invertebrates and Soil Health on Farms

Smart farmers know that healthy soil hosts a flourishing and diverse ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and invertebrates. But the complex relationships between soil life, productivity and resilience are not well understood. Now available from the Xerces Society and SARE, Farming with Soil Life: A Handbook for Supporting Soil Invertebrates and Soil Health on Farms is […]

What is Sustainable Agriculture?

This award-winning report provides a sampler of best practices in sustainable agriculture—from marketing and community vitality to cover crops and grazing—as well as eight profiles of producers, educators and researchers who have successfully implemented them.

A Whole Farm Approach to Managing Pests

This 16-page bulletin helps producers—and the educators who work with them—use ecological principles across the entire farm to control pests.

Using Flowering Insectary Borders to Boost Natural Enemies

Beneficial insects play an important role in managing insect pests and pollinating crops, but they struggle to thrive in and around farms that have low plant diversity and rely mainly on tillage. Routine soil disturbances and low plant diversity can mean fewer prey, shelter and plant-based resources available to support natural enemies, especially early in […]

30 Years of SARE: Our Farms, Our Future

30 Years of SARE: Our Farms, Our Future tells the story of thousands of men and women who have led SARE and received SARE grants. They have one objective in common: making American agriculture stronger, more sustainable and better equipped to face the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Economic and Environmental Aspects of Cover Crops

Economics of Cover Crops Business Opportunities with Cover Crops and Soil Health Environmental Impacts of Cover Crop Systems

Cover Cropping for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects

This 16-page bulletin will help you use cover crops to encourage populations of pollinators and beneficial insects on your farm while you address your other resource concerns.

Environmental Impacts of Cover Crops

Speakers in this session discussed both local and off-site environmental impacts of using cover crops.

Cutting Edge Research: Helping Bees Help Themselves

Diseases, pests and the mysterious phenomenon of colony collapse disorder pose a dire threat to the U.S. beekeeping industry and, in turn, to the $20-billion-a-year crop industry that relies on insect pollination. Because of these increasing pressures, the ranks of managed bee colonies have plummeted in recent years: On average, beekeepers are losing 30 percent […]

Managing Alternative Pollinators

Managing Alternative Pollinators: A Handbook for Beekeepers, Growers and Conservationists is a first-of-its-kind, step-by-step, full-color guide for rearing and managing bumble bees, mason bees, leafcutter bees and other bee species that provide pollination alternatives to the rapidly declining honey bee.

Applying for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

This plain language guide discusses eligibility and the application process for the USDA-NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

Applying for Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

This plain language guide introduces readers to the USDA-NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and explains eligibility for EQIP, how to apply and how the money can be used.

Rangeland Management Strategies

Features innovative SARE-funded research on creating and sustaining a healthy range.

Manage Insects on Your Farm

While every farming system is unique, the principles of ecological pest management apply universally. Manage Insects on Your Farm highlights ecological strategies that improve your farm’s natural defenses and encourage beneficial insects to attack your worst pests.

Diversifying Cropping Systems

This bulletin describes some of the many agronomic crop alternatives to use in rotations, with plentiful examples of on-farm successes.