Country Living Field Day: A Method to Educate Farmers About Sustainable Agriculture Alternatives

View the project final report

Commodities

• Agronomic: corn, oats, potatoes, sorghum (milo), soybeans, spelt, sunflower, wheat, grass (misc. perennial), hay
• Fruits: apples, berries (other), grapes, melons, peaches, berries (strawberries)
• Vegetables: garlic, sweet corn
• Additional Plants: herbs, ornamentals, trees
• Animals: bees, bovine, poultry, goats, rabbits, sheep, swine, fish, ratite, shellfish
• Animal Products: dairy
• Miscellaneous: mushrooms

Practices

• Animal Production: feed/forage, housing, parasite control, animal protection and health, feed rations, free-range, herbal medicines, homeopathy, inoculants, manure management, mineral supplements, grazing - multispecies, pasture fertility, pasture renovation, grazing - rotational, stockpiled forages, vaccines, watering systems, winter forage
• Crop Production: conservation tillage
• Education and Training: demonstration, display, extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, on-farm/ranch research
• Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, cooperatives, community-supported agriculture, marketing management, agricultural finance, market study, value added
• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, habitat enhancement, riparian buffers, wetlands, wildlife
• Pest Management: biological control, chemical control, cultural control, economic threshold, field monitoring/scouting, flame, integrated pest management, mulches - killed, mulches - living, physical control, precision herbicide use, row covers (for pests), weed ecology
• Production Systems: agroecosystems, holistic management
• Soil Management: composting, earthworms, green manures, organic matter, soil analysis, soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: analysis of personal/family life, social capital, sustainability measures