Progress 08/01/08 to 07/31/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: December 2012 marked the completion of the nineteenth year of Utah State University hosting the Western Regional SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) Center (with Philip Rasmussen as the Director). The USDA-NIFA-SARE program advances farming systems that are profitable, environmentally beneficial, and good for communities. This takes place through a nationwide competitive grants program. SARE is a program within USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). SARE's line-item funding is authorized under Subtitle B of Title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA). This project is one of ten ongoing Utah Agricultural Experiment Station (UAES) or Utah Cooperative Extension Service (UCES) projects that comprise the complete portfolio of the Western Regional USDA-NIFA-SARE program for the thirteen states and four Pacific trust territories. Each year, a new five year UAES cooperative agreement (SARE Research and Education at approximately $3.1 million/year); AND, a new five year UCES "USDA-3-d" Extension agreement for SARE's Professional Development Program (PDP at approximately $1.0 million/year) are initiated with USDA-NIFA. Thus, two separate Cooperative Agreements are initiated each year with a five-year lifespan. Two separate Cooperative Agreements are closed each year as they end their five-year lifespan. Hence, the Western SARE Center, at any one time, is overseeing ten agreements (two agreements per year, each with a five year life). Every one of these agreements is guided by a complex plan of work. This report covers the Research and Education (Experiment Station) cooperative agreement, INITIATED IN 2008, which supports approximately 12 Research & Education projects, 11 Graduate Fellowships, 18 Farmer/Rancher projects, and 12 Professional + Producer projects. To see a listing of all SARE funded projects, go to the SARE website at http://www.sare.org (National USDA-NIFA-SARE site). Regional emphases, measurable outcomes, and research results, are available at the Western SARE website at http://www.westernsare.org, via the internet worldwide web. PARTICIPANTS: USDA-NIFA, NSAC (National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), APLU (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) , US-EPA, USGS, USDA-NRCS, State Departments of Agriculture, USDA-ARS, USDA-FSA, Western SAWG, California Association for Food and Fiber, National Center for Appropriate Technology, and all Land and Sea-grant programs in the Western States (13) and island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands). TARGET AUDIENCES: All farmers, ranchers, agribusiness professionals, researchers, extension professionals, USDA employees, and cooperating agency employees in the 13 Western states and Island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Western SARE has continued to contract with WSU's SESRC (Social and Economic Sciences Research Center) to obtain an impartial third party evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of SARE-funded projects. 2012 marks 19 years of continued funding to research/education projects throughout the Western Region. We have evaluation data from a regional Western SARE Infrastructure Conference, held December 3-5, 2012. HOWEVER, THESE DATA ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR THIS 2012 REPORT. They will be included in any further reports. Previous WSU-SESRC evaluations have shown that: 1) 64% of Farmer/Rancher Research (FR) grantees indicated an INCREASE IN NET INCOME as a result of the SARE project (up from 52% reported 5 years ago); 2) over 86% of all FR grantees reported INCREASED yields, production per unit (such as a cow), and/or sales resulted from the research/education grant; 3) over 77% of FR grantees reported costs of inputs (such as fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, or see costs) DECREASED as a direct results of the research/education grant; and, over 67% of farmers/ranchers involved in Professional + Producer (P+P) research/education grants indicated "increased farm/ranch efficiencies;" Overall, INDIVIDUAL Farmers/Ranchers who implemented operational changes (suggested by SARE research/education grants) increased their net income per farm per year by $6,000 to $30,000. The yearly dollar impact ratio, calculated using total contracted grants per state/protectorate is now over 21.1, impacting 50.33 million acres of total 279.76 million farm/ranch acres in the Western Region (this estimate based on data in the WSU-SESRC reports).
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/01/10 to 07/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: December 2011 initiates the nineteenth year of Utah State University hosting the Western Regional SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) Center (with Philip Rasmussen as the Director). The USDA SARE program advances farming systems that are profitable, environmentally beneficial, and good for communities. This takes place through a nationwide competitive grants program. SARE is a program within USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). SARE's line-item funding is authorized under Subtitle B of Title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA). This project is one of ten ongoing Utah Agricultural Experiment Station (UAES) or Utah Cooperative Extension Service (UCES) projects that comprise the complete portfolio of the Western Regional USDA-NIFA-SARE program for the thirteen states and four Pacific trust territories. Each year, a new five year UAES cooperative agreement (SARE Research and Education); AND, a new five year UCES "USDA-3-d" agreement for SARE's Professional Development Program (PDP) are initiated with USDA-NIFA. Thus, two separate Cooperative Agreements are initiated each year. Hence, the Western SARE Center, at any one time, is overseeing ten agreements (two agreements per year, each with a five year life). Every one of these agreements is guided by a complex plan of work. Each cooperative agreement represents oversight of approximately four million dollars per year per region. This report covers the Research and Educations (Experiment Station) cooperative agreement, INITIATED IN 2008, which supports approximately 12 Research & Education projects, 11 Graduate Fellowships, 18 Farmer/Rancher projects, and 12 Professional + Producer projects. To see a listing of all SARE funded projects, go to the SARE website at http://www.sare.org (National USDA-NIFA-SARE site). Regional emphases, measurable outcomes, and research results, are available at the Western SARE website at http://www.westernsare.org, via the internet worldwide web. PARTICIPANTS: USDA-NIFA, NSAC (National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), APLU (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) , US-EPA, USGS, USDA-NRCS, State Departments of Agriculture, USDA-ARS, USDA-FSA, Western SAWG, California Association for Food and Fiber, National Center for Appropriate Technology, and all Land and Sea-grant programs in the Western States (13) and island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands). TARGET AUDIENCES: All farmers, ranchers, agribusiness professionals, researchers, extension professionals, USDA employees, and cooperating agency employees in the 13 Western states and Island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Western SARE has continued to contract with WSU's SESRC (Social and Economic Sciences Research Center) to obtain an impartial third party evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of SARE-funded projects. 2011 marks 18 years of continued funding to research/education projects throughout the Western Region. Western SARE has received commendations from USDA-CSREES for its extensive efforts to reach out to underserved populations in the far Pacific basin, Alaska, California, the Native American populations in the West, and the historical Hispanic populations in the four-corners area of the Southwest. Final evaluation of this effort was completed in 2011 by this investigator and USU-SARE personnel and assisted by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and Washington State University's Social and Economic Sciences Research Center (WSU-SESRC). This included an evaluation of the data from subregional conferences in Alaska, Guam, New Mexico, Hawaii, Wyoming, Washington, and California. 2011 also was marked by a SARE/WSU-SESRC publication that detailed survey results gleaned from grant recipients and participants who reflected on their SARE project results and impacts (publication reference is noted, below). Some of the data gleaned, analyzed, and tabulated in this new publication include the following: 1) 64% of Farmer/Rancher Research (FR) grantees indicated an INCREASE IN NET INCOME as a result of the SARE project (up from 52% reported 5 years ago); 2) over 86% of all FR grantees reported INCREASED yields, production per unit (such as a cow), and/or sales resulted from the research/education grant; 3) over 77% of FR grantees reported costs of inputs (such as fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, or see costs) DECREASED as a direct results of the research/education grant; and, over 67% of farmers/ranchers involved in Professional + Producer (P+P) research/education grants indicated "increased farm/ranch efficiencies;" Overall, Farmers/Ranchers impacted by SARE research/education grants reported SPECIFIC dollar increases in net income per farm per year ranging from $6000 to $30,000. By taking the number of farms/ranches, average farm/ranch size, total farm/ranch acres and value of commodities from the USDA Census of Agriculture (NOTE: the 2007 USDA Census of Agriculture enumerates each state and the island protectorates save Micronesia which was estimated using the CNMI values) a weighed farm/ranch impact was calculated. Using the survey's conservative 18% adoption rate, this calculates to a REGION-WIDE IMPACT OF $938 MILLION per year (a low of $151,372 in American Samoa-and a high of $525,093,840 in California). The yearly dollar impact ratio, calculated using total contracted grants per state/protectorate is now over 21.1, impacting 50.33 million acres of total 279.76 million farm/ranch acres in the Western Region (according to the WSU-SESRC report).
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/01/09 to 07/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: 2010 marks the 17th year that Utah State University has administered the Western Regional USDA-NIFA SARE Center with Philip Rasmussen as the Director. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, or SARE, program advances farming systems that are profitable, environmentally beneficial and good for communities. This takes place through a nationwide competitive grants program. SARE is part of USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. SARE's funding is authorized under Subtitle B of Title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA). This project is one of ten ongoing UAES or Utah Extension projects that comprise the complete portfolio of the Western Regional USDA-NIFA-SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education) Program for the 13 states and 4 Pacific trust territories. Each year, a new 5-year AES cooperative agreement (Research and Education, R & E); and, a new 5-year Extension "3-d" agreement (Extension Professional Development Program, PDP) are initiated with USDA-CSREES. The Western SARE Center, at any one time is overseeing ten agreements (two agreements per year, each with a 5 year life), each of which have a complex plan of work. Each cooperative agreement represents oversight of approximately $4 million per region. This report covers the R&E cooperative agreement, initiated in 2006, that supports approximately 12 Research & Education projects, 11 Graduate Fellowships, 15 Farmer/Rancher, and 11 Professional + Producer projects. To see a listing of all SARE funded projects, go to the SARE Website at http://www.sare.org (National USDA-NIFA-SARE site). For regional emphases, measurable outcomes, and research results, go to the Western SARE Website at http://wsare.usu.edu, via the World-Wide Web. PARTICIPANTS: USDA-NIFA, NSAC (National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), APLU (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) , US-EPA, USGS, USDA-NRCS, State Departments of Agriculture, USDA-ARS, USDA-FSA, Western SAWG, California Association for Food and Fiber, National Center for Appropriate Technology, and all Land and Sea-grant programs in the Western States (13) and island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands). TARGET AUDIENCES: All farmers, ranchers, agribusiness professionals, researchers, extension professionals, and allied professionals in the 13 Western states and Island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa) are addressed in this Plan of Work. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Western SARE has continued to contract with WSU's SESRC (Social and Economic Sciences Research Center) to give an impartial third party evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of SARE-funded projects. 2010 marks 17 years of continued funding to research/education projects throughout the Western Region. Western SARE has received commendations from USDA-CSREES for its extensive efforts to reach out to underserved populations in the far Pacific basin, Alaska, California, the Native American populations in the West, and the historical Hispanic populations in the four-corners area of the Southwest. These efforts reached their pinnacle in 2010 when Western SARE completed subregional outreach conferences in Alaska, Guam, New Mexico, Hawaii, Wyoming, Washington, and California. The data gleaned from these subregional conferences and associated surveys indicated that farmer/rancher clientele felt that Western SARE ranked as #1 in site-specific, environmentally-sensitive, farmer-lead research/education programs among all federal, state, and private efforts. 69% of SARE research/education projects reported finding new ways to effect positive impacts on the land, water, communities, and environment of the West. 74 % of farmers and ranchers who participated in SARE projects reported positive impacts that also improved their bottom line. The $52 million invested over the 17 years of the Western SARE program have yielded an estimated impact of over $998 million. This yields an impact ratio of over 19 to 1, for every dollar invested in Western SARE, or, an average increase in profits of approximately $9 for every one of the 123 million acres impacted.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/01/08 to 07/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: 2009 marks the 16th year that Utah State University has administered the Western Regional USDA-NIFA SARE Center with Philip Rasmussen as the Director. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, or SARE, program advances farming systems that are profitable, environmentally beneficial and good for communities. This takes place through a nationwide competitive grants program. SARE is part of USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. SARE's funding is authorized under Subtitle B of Title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA). This project is one of ten ongoing UAES or Utah Extension projects that comprise the complete portfolio of the Western Regional USDA-NIFA-SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education) Program for the 13 states and 4 Pacific trust territories. Each year, a new 5-year AES cooperative agreement (Research and Education, R & E); and, a new 5-year Extension "3-d" agreement (Extension Professional Development Program, PDP) are initiated with USDA-CSREES. The Western SARE Center, at any one time is overseeing ten agreements (two agreements per year, each with a 5 year life), each of which have a complex plan of work. Each cooperative agreement represents oversight of approximately $4 million per region. This report covers the R&E cooperative agreement, initiated in 2008, that supports approximately 10 Research & Education projects, 15 Farmer/Rancher, and 13 Professional + Producer projects. To see a listing of all SARE funded projects, go to the SARE Website at http://www.sare.org (National USDA-NIFA-SARE site). For regional emphases, measurable outcomes, and research results, go to the Western SARE Website at http://wsare.usu.edu, via the World-Wide Web. PARTICIPANTS: USDA-NIFA, NSAC (National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition), APLU (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) , US-EPA, USGS, USDA-NRCS, State Departments of Agriculture, USDA-ARS, USDA-FSA, Western SAWG, California Association for Food and Fiber, National Center for Appropriate Technology, and all Land and Sea-grant programs in the Western States (13) and island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands). TARGET AUDIENCES: All farmers, ranchers, agribusiness professionals, researchers, extension professionals, and allied professionals in the 13 Western states and Island protectorates (Guam, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa) are addressed in this Plan of Work. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
As part of this 2008 USDA-NIFA Plan of Work, Western SARE funded 10 Research & Education Grants totaling: $1.49 million, 15 Farmer/Rancher Grants for $245,350, 13 Professional + Producer Grants for $321,350, 6 Professional Development Program Grants totaling $457,900, and 6 Graduate Student Grants for $113,290. Funding was approved for 50 grants totaling $2.63 million in 2008. This report specifically addresses ALL but the 6 funded Professional Development (Extension) projects. Western SARE has continued to contract with WSU's SESRC (Social and Economic Sciences Research Center) to give an impartial third party evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of SARE-funded projects. 2009 marks 16 years of continued funding to research/education projects throughout the Western Region. Western SARE has received commendations from USDA-CSREES for its extensive efforts to reach out to underserved populations in the far Pacific basin, the Native American populations in the West, and the historical Hispanic populations in the four-corners area of the Southwest. These efforts reached their pinnacle in 2009 when Western SARE completed subregional outreach conferences in Guam, New Mexico, Hawaii, Wyoming, Washington, and California. The data gleaned from these subregional conferences and associated surveys indicated that farmer/rancher clientele felt that Western SARE ranked as #1 in site-specific, environmentally-sensitive, farmer-lead research/education programs among all federal, state, and private efforts. 69% of SARE research/education projects reported finding new ways to effect positive impacts on the land, water, communities, and environment of the West. 74 % of farmers and ranchers who participated in SARE projects reported positive impacts that also improved their bottom line. The $52 million invested over the 16 years of the Western SARE program have yielded an estimated impact of over $985 million. This yields an impact ratio of over 19 to 1, for every dollar invested in Western SARE, or, an average increase in profits of approximately $8 for every one of the 123 million acres impacted.
Publications
- Daines, R.J., J. Keck, V.P. Rasmussen, and J. Freeburn. 2009. Simply Sustainable: Agricultural Sustainability Applies to All. Western SARE Quarterly Newsletter (Vol. 3 No. 4) 3 -- #4:8 pp.
- Daines, R.J., J. Keck, V.P. Rasmussen, and J. Freeburn. 2009. Simply Sustainable: A Tangable View of Sustainability. Western SARE Quarterly Newsletter (Vol. 3 No. 3 -- August 2009) 3 -- #3:12 pp..
- Daines, R.J., J. Keck, V.P. Rasmussen, and J. Freeburn. 2009. Simply Sustainable: Working to Sustain Western Agriculture. Western SARE Quarterly Newsletter (Vol 3. No. 2 -- August 2009) 3 -- #2:8 pp.
- Daines, R.J., J. Keck, V.P. Rasmussen, and J. Freeburn. 2009. Simply Sustainable: Subregional Conferences in Wyoming and Washington. Western SARE Quarterly Newsletter (Vol. 3 #1 -- April 2009) 3 -- #1:8 pp.
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