Sustainable Agriculture News

Sustainable Agriculture Seminar Series kicks off with a look at legumes

March 21, 2013

On January 18th, North Carolina State University’s Julie Grossman kicked off the 2013 Sustainable Agriculture Seminar Series with a talk titled “Putting Legumes to Work.” Grossman shared the results of her research program that explores how management of leguminous crop residues and of rhizobia symbiont populations can enhance the outcomes of legume cover crop use.

From one pig to 255 organic acres: Spiral Path Farm founders share their story

March 21, 2013

Fifteen years into their farming career, Mike and Terra Brownback were torn. If they continued their farrow-to-finish hog operation, they’d be financially secure and could keep their family of five on the farm. But if they followed their dream, their original motivation to become farmers, they would get out of the hog business and start growing produce.

Cover Crop Innovations Webinar examines forage radish as a cover crop to facilitate organic no-till planting of early spring vegetables

March 21, 2013

Growing winter cover crops can be a challenge for organic vegetable growers who have to terminate the cover crops in time to seed their early spring cash crops. Since soils in spring are often too wet to allow for the use of heavy machinery, organic growers are faced with a dilemma of how to kill their cover crop. This “kill-till dilemma” is the impetus behind a SARE-funded study conducted by Ray Weil, a professor of environmental science and technology at University of Maryland, and Natalie Lounsbury, a graduate student in his lab. This study was the focus of the first webinar in Penn State Extension's 'Cover Crop Innovations Webinar Series,' which will be running through the end of March 2013.

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