Boots on the ground innovation. That’s what can make the difference in a sustainable farming business, not just for the environment, but your bottom line. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, otherwise known as SARE, has been helping farmers since the 1980s with grants and education that can turn on-farm ideas into real-world solutions.
Cindy Bartel joins us from Hurtgenlea Holsteins in Elkhorn. She’s also a researcher with Iowa State University. Bartel first learned about the SARE grant at a field day. Now, she’s putting it to work in her own research.
“What we received from SARE was a reimbursement for two years of production, plus we get to keep the crop we produce,” she says. “I think that’s a really important point when we’re trying to produce enough feedstuffs on the farm.”
Bartel’s project compares five treatments: standard 30-inch corn, 60-inch corn, both of those planted with alfalfa between the rows, and an alfalfa-only control.
“What we wanted to test was whether we could produce more total overall forage and do that profitably while we keep the soil in place,” she explains, emphasizing that the overarching goal is efficiency. “We’re going to be land limited… and we’re going to be expected to do more with less. What we really want to achieve is land use efficiency off the land, doing that profitably.”
The work is research by farmers for farmers, designed to create continuous living cover while making financial sense. Bartel also evaluates cropping costs and Farm Bill opportunities for NGOs, universities, and industry. She says she wants to relieve some of the risk for producers to try practices that have been “road tested.”
One major question raised was how alfalfa handled shade beneath the corn canopy.
“The alfalfa rebounded spectacularly after that corn crop was removed,” Bartel says.
Because the alfalfa was seeded six days after planting corn, it was established before the canopy closed. After harvest, she says you could not tell the difference between the alfalfa that was between the 30-inch corn, 60-inch corn, or the alfalfa-only control.
Learn more about applying for your own SARE grant at https://northcentral.sare.org/.
