• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Search Projects
  • Help
  • Log in

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

Grants And Education To Advance Innovations In Sustainable Agriculture
  • Grants
  • Project Reports
    • Search Projects
    • Search Project Coordinators
  • Learning Center
  • Professional Development
  • State Programs
  • Events
  • Newsroom
  • About SARE

Project Overview

LNE07-252
Project Type: Research and Education
Funds awarded in 2007: $99,108.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2011
Region: Northeast
State: New York
Project Leader:
Julie Grossman
Email
Cornell University
Co-Leaders:
Laurie Drinkwater
Email
Cornell University

Learning from farmer innovation in nitrogen fixation for improved nutrient management on organic farms

View the project final report

Annual Reports

  • 2007 annual report
  • 2008 annual report
  • 2009 annual report
  • 2010 annual report

Commodities

  • Additional Plants: trees

Practices

  • Crop Production: cover crops, nutrient cycling
  • Education and Training: on-farm/ranch research, workshop
  • Production Systems: organic agriculture
  • Soil Management: green manures, soil microbiology

Proposal abstract:

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the major source of new nitrogen in organic agriculture and conventional growers are also becoming increasingly interested in cover crops due to the increasing costs of purchased fertilizers. However, there has been almost no research devoted to determining how soil management practices impact this process on working farms. This project will benefit vegetable growers in two main ways: 1) We will conduct a survey of BNF on working farms to provide farmers with rates of N-fixation in their fields; and together with Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY), 2) we will develop two farmer learning opportunities – a workshop series and a newsletter column. For the survey, we will conduct in-depth interviews with 25-30 collaborators from whose farms we will sample BNF using natural abundance stable isotope methodology to learn about their cover crop management. The farmer learning opportunities will be designed together with NOFA-NY. We will develop workshops for growers to learn about BNF from both basic and advanced perspectives. The first workshop will be designed to share the current state of knowledge about green manures in the Northeast region, while the second will address advanced topics of cover crop management for BNF. We will also develop a newsletter column to be published in NOFA-NY quarterly newsletter. Combined, it is expected that of the 50-60 farmers involved as workshop attendees or survey collaborators, 25 will plan to adjust their management of green manures within 6 months of workshop and survey completion. Over 2000 growers are expected to learn about cover crop BNF in our column. We will verify the changes in management practices through personal phonecalls.

Performance targets from proposal:

Performance Target Pyramid

Our performance target has three tiers, very similar to a pyramid. The bottom tier is the activity that impacts the largest grower stakeholder group, while the top tier is a more focused activity with a smaller group of stakeholders. For a diagram of our performance targets that was included in our original proposal, please contact the Project Coordinator, Julie Grossman. email: jmg225@cornell.edu Bottom Tier: Over 2000 growers and those working as grower educators will read answers to farmer questions on green manure management for BNF in our column Middle Tier: Overall, the 60 farmers trained in green manure management for BNF will act as informal educators to another 60 farmers who were not directly trained Top Tier: Of the 50-60 farmers involved as workshop attendees, collaborators, or advisors, 25 will adjust their management of green manures within 6 months of project completion.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.

Primary Sidebar

Footer

SARE - Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education USDA
1122 Patapsco Building | University of Maryland | College Park, MD 20742-6715

This site is maintained by SARE Outreach for the SARE program and features research projects supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreement award No. 2018-38640-28731 with the University of Maryland to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education © 2019
Help | Contact us