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Project seeks sustainable farmers, ranchers



Greetings:

The news release below describes a new project I'm working on under the direction of John Ikerd from the University of Missouri.  It's funded by the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Apologies for cross-postings.

Craig Cramer
mailto:cdcramer@clarityconnect.com

1,000 Ways to Sustainable Farming
http://1000ways.baka.com

Sustainable Farming Connection
http://sunsite.unc.edu/farming-connection

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NEWS RELEASE -- For immediate release -- September 17, 1998

Project seeks 1,000 sustainable farmers, ranchers

Real-life stories will paint a clearer picture of sustainable agriculture

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Know any good sustainable farmers or ranchers?  If so,"1,000 Ways to Sustain U.S. Agriculture," a pilot project funded by the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program, wants to hear from you.

SARE and project partners hope to paint a clearer picture of sustainable agriculture by profiling successful farmers and ranchers.  While the case studies will describe production and marketing practices, they also will detail how these practices improve profitability, the environment, rural communities, and the families' quality of life.  

"Sustainable agriculture defies simple definition," says Dr. John Ikerd, an agricultural economist at the University of Missouri-Columbia and coordinator of the "1,000 Ways" project.  "The best way to communicate the meaning of sustainable agriculture is through real-life stories of people who are developing these systems in their own fields."  

"To be sustainable, these operations must be profitable," adds Ikerd, who is also coordinator of the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Program at the University of Missouri.  "But these producers aren't maximizing profits at the expense of family, community, and the environment."

Craig Cramer, former editor of The New Farm magazine and author of the Sustainable Farming Connection web site, will research and write the profiles.  By gathering information directly from practitioners, he believes the case studies will reflect a true from-the-fields perspective.

If you would like to recommend a farmer or rancher for the case studies, have other suggestions, or want more information about the project, contact Cramer (cdcramer@clarityconnect.com or 607-753-8925), or visit the project's web site (http://1000ways.baka.com).

"Our goal is to take sustainable agriculture out of the abstract and show a thousand different ways that it works in reality," says Ikerd.  "When you have that many examples, it's hard not to find at least a few strategies that will work on your own operation."

For more information, contact:  

Craig Cramer, Project Manager
(607) 753-8925, cdcramer@clarityconnect.com

Valerie Berton, SARE Communications Specialist
(301) 405-3186, vberton@wam.umd.edu