DB-Un««tef Farming,* Saturday,’ lUy, 6, ,1995,.
Program Helps Farmers Test,
WASHINGTON, D.C. The
Northeast Region Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Educa
tion (SARE) Program has award
ed $97,398 to 39 producers to test
alternate fanning practices.
Through these grants, SARE is
helping producers conduct their
own farm-based experiments to
answer their own production and
marketing questions. Many of the
projects involve several producers
who are working cooperatively to
solve common problems.
The goal is to develop systems
and practices that promote ste
wardship of natural resources,
prevent agricultural pollution and
improve farm profitability.
The 39 projects that were se
lected for funding aim at diversi
fying farms, developing direct and
alternate markets for producers,
reducing purchased inputs; build
ing, adapting and testing innova
tive equipment; and using benefi
cial biology to control pest prob
lems.
The Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education Program
is a USDA competitive grants pro
gram. Its mission is to develop
farming practices and systems that
are environmentally sound, eco
nomically viable and that contri
bute to the quality of life of farm
ers and society as a whole. The
Northeast region includes Con
necticut, Delaware, Maine, Mary
land, Massachusetts, New Hamp
shire, New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Ver
mont, West Virginia and Wash
ington, D.C.
The following list provides a
brief description of each project
For more information about any of
these projects, please contact
SARE at (802) 656-0471.
Connecticut
• Peter Jacquier of East Canaan
will work with four other farmers
to organize a cooperative, multi
farm manure storage, solid separa
tion, composting and digester sys
tem. The goal is to help these
farms improve manure manage
ment and disposal practices, and
adapt new technologies to the size
of their farming operations. Grant:
$6,000.
Maine
• Gloria and Gregg Varney of
Turner will research, document
and evaluate the production and
economic feasibility of once daily
milking on a certified herd used
for a raw milk bottling operaion.
The Varneys, who operate a small,
diversified farm, will examine
how once daily milking, in com
bination with rotational grazing
affects labor, overhead, feed pro
duction, herd health and overall
farm profitability. Grant: $4,990.
• George James of Easton will
demonstrate that a virtual waste
material which is a burden to a lo
cal vegetable processing plant,
can be a value added product, by
dehydrating the waste and incor
porating it into feed used for hors
es. In addition, he will develop
and expand markets for alternative
crops of carrots, oat hay, alfalfa
and timothy. Grant: $4,350.
• Michael Macfarlane of Ells
worth will attempt to establish a
commercially viable, organic
cranberry bog, focusing on ways
to promote maximum rooting,
runner and upright growth with
mulches, innovative planting me
thods and use of liquid seaweed as
a rooting agent. Grant: $2,080.
Maryland
• Eric Rice of Middletown and
Bill Hastings, organic growers in
different climates in Maryland,
will investigate the feasibility of
growing annual organic strawber
ries and organic fall vegetables us
ing sustainable practices. The pro
ject builds on a 1994 annual straw
berry production demonstration at
the University of Maryland’s Wye
Research and Education Center,
and work being done by ARS.
Grant: $3,150.
Massachusetts
• Peter Konjoian of Andover
will test the use of ethylene, a na
turally occurring plant hormone to
stimulate branching and control
flowering of floricultural green
house crops. The project seeks to
find alternatives to synthetic
chemical growth regulators and to
reduce labor costs. Grant: $3,700.
• Tim Coppinger of Montague
plans to compost waste from a lo
cal supermarket with horse man
ure and sawdust. His project in
cludes experimentation with com
posting techniques and chemical
analysis to determine if there are
pesticide residues in the compost,
and evaluate whether there are any
environmental and safety issues to
be addressed during the compost
ing process. Grant: $1,169.
• Clifford Hatch of Gill, along
with another strawberry grower,
will demonstrate alternative plant
ing systems designed to reduce
herbicide use, mechanical cultiva
tion, hand hoeing and weeding.
The two-year project is geared to
respond to consumer and neighbor
pressure to reduce pesticide use in
Connecticut Valley operations,
and will compare the systems ef
fectiveness at weed control, total
expense and yields. Grant: $6,215.
• Susan Minnich of Washington
will evaluate a woodland system
for growing New England wild
flowers and medicinal plants such
as goldenseal, blue cohosh, maid
enhair fem, Solomon’s seal, tril
lium and trout lilies. The project
attempts to respond to growing
demand for these plants, and to
develop a sustainable production
system. Grant: $1,850.
• David Stanley of Belchertown
will rear, release two naturally oc
curring caterpillar predators of
major sweet com pests, and ex
amine their effectiveness at con
trolling European com borer, fall
army worm and com ear worm in
organic com. He also will attempt
to collect a third predator, a Coc
cinellid beetle that masses in late
season tasseling com, store it over
the winter and use it the next sea
son against Colorado potato bee
tles and European com borers.
Grant: $3',525.
New Hampshire
• Klee Dugan of Hillsboro will
test whether recirculating tank
systems with solar domes can ex
tend and prolong the growing sea
son for New Hampshire fish farm
er. Grant: $3,936.
• David Thimble of Frances
town will examine the most eco
nomically feasible way to grow
greens, lettuce, spinach, flowers
and herbs during the early spring
and late fall. The purpose of the
project is to explore long-term
solutions to the issue of season ex
tension. Grant: $1,570.
New Jersey
• Kay Magilavy of Union City,
together with nine other fanners in
New York, will establish a farmcr
to-farmer mentoring program to
assist fanners in the start-up of an
organic operation. The advisory
service will provide assistance to
new (and transitioning) fanners as
they create a farm plan and during
the first growing season. Grant:
$5,400.
• Ed Lidzbarski of Jamesburg,
working with other fanners. Rut-
gcrs University personnel, and a
local wholesaler, will develop an
organic tomato production and
marketing manual. This project
builds on a previous New Jersey
Agriculture Department and
NOFA New Jersey initiative that
successfully developed a uniform
packaging system and established
a market for organic tomatoes.
Grant; $4,935.
New York
• George and Heidi Kollias of
Freeville will test the feasibility of
using predator scents to control
deer damage to Christmas trees.
The predator scents will be com
pared to conventional chemical re
pellents and soap sprays. For
small-scale Christmas tree grow
ers, deer damage can be signifi
cant, and the cost of conventional
controls is high. Grant: $960.
• Robert Schultz of Jamestown
will use chopped newspaper as a
mulch in tomato production sys
tems. The project aims to recycle
waste and reduce the use of pesti
cides and plastic mulches. Grant:
$612.
• Klaas and Mary-Howell Mar
tens of Penn Yan will use soil con-
serving, organic production me
thods to establish trellised plant
ings of hardy kiwi, a smaller-fruit
ed, fuzzless relative to the kiwi
fruit Grant: $1,078.
• Marion Kise of Clyde will
pasture raise chickens and build a
small on-farm poultry processing
plant. Grant $1,862.
• Carole Corcoran of Wcst
hampton will build and test modu
lar row-cover structures aimed at
extending the growing season and
reducing flea beetle damage to
arugula and other leafy greens.
Grant $633.
• R. Peter Childs of Humphrey,
experiment with harvest and mar
keting methods to expand and de
velop a cottage industry for Chin
ese chestnuts. Grant: $2,400.
• James P. Barney of Sherman
will examine the economics of
growing and feeding grass-based
forage crops as an alternative to
alfalfa/corn rotations for dairy
farmers in the southern tier of
western New York. Barney’s two
year project will track yields, feed
quality and costs. Grant: $3,050.
• Jeanne L. Giambrone of Little
Valley will explore ways to ex
tend the growing season for vege
table crops grown for sale at far
mers’ markets. The project, aimed
at increasing income for producers
who sell at farmers markets, will
examine early and late protection
methods, choice of varieties, tim
ing, and pest management consid
erations us.ing IPM methods.
Grant: $1,200.
• Jim Lucey of Belmont, will
build and assess a “cover crop un
dercutter” for use in three small
vegetable crops. The undercutter
will be based on a design develop
ed at Ohio State University but not
being commercially manufactur
ed. Grant: $1,150.
• Craig Kawasaki of E. Mori
ches will test a predatory mite for
control of two-spotted spider
mites in his greenhouse. His pro
ject is designed to help green
house growers of ornamental
plants leant about using beneficial
biology to control pests. Grant:
$5OO.
• Aaron Gabriel of Schaghti
coke will test two alternate
methods for controlling flea beetle
damage to spring broccoli. He will
use nematodes which are commer
cially available and labeled for
controlling flea beetle larvae in
the soil, and Chinese cabbage as a
trap crop for controlling adult flea
Share Innovations
beetles. Grant: $B5O.
• Elizabeth and Peter Ryan of
Staatsburg will evaluate an alter
native method fra 1 controlling leaf
hoppers in apple production sys
tems. They will test the use of a
single thinning application of car
baryl shortly after petal fall. Pre
liminary trials at die New York
State Agricultural Experiment
Station suggest this strategy can
significantly reduce egg laying
adults and second generation
nymphs, thus reducing the need
for additional pesticide applica
tions later in the season. Grant:
$2,275.
• Sue Smith-Heavenrich of
Candor will evaluate methods for
encouraging spiders through the
use of mulch in potatoes and other
crops. This project continues a
1994 study which suggested that
mulch does influence spider popu
lations, which in turn may control
leafhopper populations. Grant:
$938.
Pennsylvania
• Harry Karl Zimmerman of
Kintnersviile will evaluate the
economic feasibility of producing
greenhouse strawberries for the
local (southeastern Pennsylvania)
market. This project continues a
1994 SARE-funded project.
Grant: $1,075.
• Edgar H. Rits of Honey Grove
will expand direct sales of sustain
ably produced beef in the Harris
burg area, and offer customers the
opportunity to visit the farm on
which their food was produced.
Grant: $1,304.
• Jim Weaver of Wellsboro will
develop and test a quick, inexpen
sive method for determining pro
tein content of pastures used for
rotationally grazing cows. The
goal is to provide graziers with in
formation on pasture quality to
make timely management deci
sions that will enhance grazing
performance. Grant: $2,610.
Vermont
• John Williamson of N. Ben
nington will evaluate the produc
tion and marketing feasibility of
growing sweet sorghum in south
ern Vermont and processing it into
syrup using maple sugaring equip
ment. The goal is to determine
whether sorghum syrup could be
an additional cash crop for maple
producers. Grant: $1,750.
• Todd Pinkham of Johnson will
build and test a facility integrating
an existing heifer barn and mo' 5
‘Year Of The Dairy Cow* To
Be Celebrated
Increased premiums, butter
sculpting, milking demonstra
tions, and educational exhibits
highlighting the dairy industry will
be some of the. many activities
planned for the 1995 Montgomcry
County Agricultural Fair —Aug.
18-25 — when the Year of the
Dairy Cow is celebrated.
The annual Gaithersburg, Md.,
event, which draws more than
400,000 spectators, recognizes an
animal species each year as the
Animal of the Year.
“There are so many dairy
related activities and educational
programs that we are able to offer
to our visitors,” said Fair President
Robot Pack. “We hope that the
dairy exhibitors will also see this
em greenhouse, with the aim of
using heat from the heifer bam to
warm the greenhouse. The project
seeks to demonstrate energy and
nutrient-savings as a result of the
integration and diversification.
Grant; $779.
• Rob Litch of New Haven will
assist other poultry growers with
economically viable methods to
transport birds to a regional pro
cessing plant The project is aimed
at providing small-scale growers
with improved access to process
ing plants, reducing damage, dis
ease and mortality, and enhancing
profitability for poultry producers.
Grant $3,025.
■ Joseph Klein of Plainfield will
test the use of pastured chickens to
control Colorado potato beetles.
Grant $B2l.
‘ Jonathan Blumberg of East
Thetford will develop an environ
mentally benign and cost-effec
tive method of hop production
through a soil improvement and
fertilization program, use of le
gume cover crops and secondary
intercrops, and efficient hop cul
tural techniques. Grant: $5,970.
• Chuck Armstrong of Browns
ville will evaluate two bacterial
biofungicide seed treatments in
vegetable crops, comparing them
to chemical fungicide and no
treatment. The project aims to ex
plore an alterantive to chemical
fungicide treatments, particularly
for crops that are susceptible to
poor performance in cool spring
soils. Grants: $1,250.
• Judith Hall of Belmont will
evaluate low-maintenance turf
grass and various mulches as al
ternatives to cultivation in cut
flower production systems. Grant;
$2,482.
• Jack Lazor of Westfield will
develop low-cost machinery to
overseed clovers and other green
manure crops into existing plant
stands. His goal is to provideprac
tical. economical methods for
farmers to maintain build soil
health and productivity. Grant;
$4,348.
West Virginia
• • Pam Talley cf Caldwell will
evaluate a living mulch system fa
cut flower production. Talley’s
goal is to explore alternative weed
control methods that reduce
chemical herbicide use and contri
bute to soil quality and conserva
tion. Grant: $1,605.
Fair
Happenings
year’s fair as a special opportunity
to compete with other top-notch
breeders. The increase in the pre
miums offered for our dairy shows
will hopefully draw those who
don’t normally exhibit at our fair.”
Activities to be included at the
1995 fair are a butter sculptor, a
milking parlor, calf judging and
milking contests.
A one-ton replica of a Holstein
cow will greet fair visitors at the
Perry Parkway entrance to the fair
courtesy of Turkey Hill Dairy of
Conestoga, Pa., while a cluster of
cows grazing atop a platform will
highlight the fair’s circle display at
Chestnut Street
Complete rules and regulations
for exhibiting at the Montgomery
County Agricultural Fair can be
obtained by calling the fair office
at (301) 926-3100.