Rancher Ingenuity Improves Range, Increases Profit

Beltsville, MD When federal environmental regulators cut his herd sizes to protect an endangered fish, Arizona rancher Rich Collins got busy. With three other ranchers and armed with a USDA SARE farmer / rancher grant, Collins installed new irrigation pipe, built fences and developed rotational grazing plans. Intensive monitoring helped them document improvements to the rangeland and riparian areas.

The riparian areas have come back amazingly and the uplands have improved,Collins says. Monitoring showed we were in compliance and helped us make management decisions, too.

Rangeland Management Strategies, a free 16-page bulletin published by the Sustainable Agriculture Network, features innovative SARE funded research on creating and sustaining a healthy range. Throughout, researchers and ranchers like Collins share goals and successes in winter and multi-species grazing, managing forage and other vegetation and protecting riparian areas.

Rangeland Management Strategies is the latest of a series of publications that feature the most creative research funded by SARE. Preview or download the entire publication at Visit SARE Publications.

To order print copies, visit www.sare.org/Webstore, call (301) 504-5411 or email san_assoc@sare.org. Agricultural educators may place orders for print copies in quantity at no cost.

"Rangeland Management Strategies", was published by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. SARE is a program of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), USDA, and works with producers, researchers and educators to promote farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities. SAN operates under a cooperative agreement between CSREES and the University of Vermont and the University of Maryland to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture. For more information about SARE grant opportunities and other SAN resources, Visit SARE.

Free 2008 MWPS Catalog Now Available

The 2008 MWPS (MidWest Plan Service) Catalog is available at the MWPS website. Visit MidWest Plan Service or call 1-800-562-3618 or 1-515-294-4337. The catalog is free and contains more than 175 low-cost and free agricultural publications, some downloadable, plus a list of more than 100 free building plans available from the MWPS web site. Seventeen new publications as well as sale items are featured.

MWPS publications are the work of experts from major U.S. universities. MWPS materials are used by agricultural producers, businesspersons, educators, regulators, homeowners, and gardeners around the world.

Located at Iowa State University, MWPS is a publishing consortium of 12 U.S. agricultural universities and the USDA. Since 1932, more than 3.3 million MWPS publications have been used worldwide. Many MWPS publications have won the American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers (ASABE) Blue Ribbon Award.

Topics in the 2008 MWPS Catalog include: Building or remodeling a home. Living on acreages. Constructing and wiring rural buildings. Raising and housing livestock (dairy, beef, swine, sheep, horses). Natural resource conservation. Manure management (including the new, free LPES Small Farm Fact Sheets plus the new Ag EMS Package). Soil, air, and water management. Agricultural ventilation. Storage of grain, forage, and silage. Farm business management (including free lease and agreement forms). Agricultural marketing. Greenhouse management. Farm and home safety. Water quality determination and maintenance. Construction and remodeling of agricultural buildings, commercial greenhouses, and houses. Information on 100 free building plans for agricultural buildings and facilities plus other buildings (greenhouses, townhouses, garages) downloadable from the MWPS web site.