Western SARE 2020 in Washington State

View the project final report

Commodities

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing management, manure management
• Crop Production: cover crops, cropping systems, crop rotation
• Education and Training: extension, technical assistance, workshop
• Energy: byproduct utilization
• Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration
• Pest Management: biological control, integrated pest management
• Production Systems: agroecosystems, integrated crop and livestock systems
• Soil Management: soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: ethnic differences/cultural and demographic change, social capital, sustainability measures, urban agriculture

The SARE PDP in Washington is designed to help Extension, Conservation Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other agricultural professionals increase their ability to respond to the needs of farmers, ranchers, and the public regarding sustainable agriculture concepts and systems.

In Washington State, SARE PDP is housed in WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources (CSANR), which has joint responsibilities for sustainable agriculture research and extension programming. The goal of our professional development program is to help WSU Extension, CDs, NRCS, and other agency personnel to gain knowledge and skills that will help them serve their constituents in these areas to promote the health of Washington’s people, land, and communities, including accessing available information from WSU researchers as well as the SARE program, and other venues. This is accomplished through mini-grants to attend conferences and workshops; mini-grants to host professional development events; regional and statewide educational events; and the development of webinars and other emerging educational and communication tools.

1. Facilitate knowledge gain for 100 agricultural professionals by providing mini-grants for attending and hosting professional development events. Topics will vary but will include priority areas described above and other sustainable agriculture areas of need. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis and events will be completed before the end of the grant period.
2. Facilitate knowledge gain for 100 agricultural professionals by providing funding to coordinate larger educational events. Events will be completed before the end of the grant period.
3. Facilitate knowledge gain for 50 agricultural professionals by providing sustainable agriculture presentations via webinar and other emerging technologies. Presentations will be online before the end of the grant period.