Water Management

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.

Building Soils for Better Crops

The fourth edition of Building Soils for Better Crops—enhanced and expanded—explains how to use ecological principles to build soil health and boost fertility, yields and overall sustainability.

New “Cover Crops and Soil Health” Video from SARE

The newest episode of SARE’s "What is Sustainable Agriculture" animation series illustrates how producers can use cover crops to improve productivity and sustainability. In just a few short minutes, “Cover Crops and Soil Health” outlines how cover crops can build soil structure, protect water quality, suppress pests and improve a farm's bottom line. Combining cover […]

Smart Water Use on Your Farm or Ranch

As producers throughout the nation grow increasingly concerned about water scarcity, farmers, ranchers and agricultural educators are beginning to explore new, conservation-oriented approaches to water use.

Conservation Tillage Systems in the Southeast

This production manual provides comprehensive guidance on conservation tillage systems for farms in the southeastern United States. It covers the core components of conservation tillage systems and includes both regional considerations and producer experiences.

Free Fact Sheets Identify Broad Benefits of Cover Crops

Along with cutting costs and increasing crop productivity, cover crops provide various ecosystem services that benefit the environment both on and off the farm. For instance, adding cover crops to a rotation can significantly increase the portion of the year when living roots are present for soil organisms to feed on, which can have a […]

Cover Crop Economics

Cover crops can build soil health, control weeds, conserve moisture, provide grazing opportunities and more. But when do they start to pay for themselves? This analysis looks at the economics behind different management scenarios to determine if cover crops are likely to improve profitability in one, three or five years of use in corn and soybean rotations. 

Cultivating Climate Resilience on Farms and Ranches

This bulletin outlines the new challenges that changing weather patterns pose in agriculture throughout the United States, and what you can do to make your farm more resilient.

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

Conservation Generation

The Colorado River irrigates 15 percent of the nation’s crops, making the conservation efforts of Western producers crucial to the American food system. Conservation Generation is a new short film by the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) about four young farmers and ranchers in the arid West who are committed to conservation practices that conserve water and promote soil health.

2015/2016 Report from the Field

Read about SARE-funded work in the areas of sustainable dairy cropping systems, soil health assessments, nutrient management, cover crops, beginning farmers, pollinators, technical assistance programs for women farmers, and more. This edition includes highlights of projects funded through the graduate student program, and the highly regarded Sustainable Agriculture Fellowship, a professional development program coordinated by SARE and NACAA.

Water Management in Sonoma County Grape Production

The Challenge As in all of California, water is a scarce resource in Sonoma County, a region in Northern California with more than 400 wineries and almost 60,000 acres of vineyards. Wine grape growers face increasing competition for water from different interests, various regulations, and a need to protect threatened and endangered salmonids found in […]

Environmental Impacts of Cover Crops

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

Water Use Efficiency in Tomatoes

University of California at Davis graduate student Felipe Barrios-Masias and Professor Louise Jackson saw promise in alternative irrigation methods that could use less water but still produce high yields, leading to increased agricultural sustainability and efficiency. Until successfully obtaining Western SARE funds, they were finding it difficult to receive funding for the on-farm research. However, […]

Dryland Cover Cropping Boosts Yields

Every drop of water counts for farmers who practice dryland cultivation, a practice that relies on rainfall without the benefit of irrigation. So, when it comes to incorporating cover crops into a dryland rotation, many farmers hesitate, wondering: “How much moisture is the cover crop going to demand, and will I pay for it later […]

Kansas State High Tunnel Video Series

This video series was developed by Kansas State Research and Extension, and includes segments on the following topics related to commercial high tunnel or hoop house production: Overview | Design | What to Plant | Basic Management Considerations | Intensive Management | Resources

The Ogallala Aquifer of the Texas High Plains: A Race Against Time

As the drought in the Texas High Plains continues to intensify, a unique partnership of producers and researchers is working diligently to find economically viable alternatives to the region’s irrigation-dependent crop monocultures.

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).