Whether you grow food, sell it, cook it, or just eat it—we all have a stake in gaining a deeper understanding of the links between soil health, plant health, and human health.

The concept of nutrient-dense food has been growing in popularity for decades, but how do we actually define and quantify it? During this webinar, we explore the science behind on crop nutrient density, including how it can be measured, what new research is uncovering, and what we still need to learn. We examine how factors like growing climate, management practices, and variety have the potential to broadly impact nutrient density.

The Bionutrient Food Association founder and life-long farmer Dan Kittredge and co-founder of OurSci Dan TerAvest have been studying samples from farms across the country to help us better understand connections between the way food is grown and its nutrient content. Pasa partners with The Bionutrient Institute and OurSci to measure the nutrient content of crops grown by several farmers participating in our Soil Health Benchmark Study. Farmer Steve Groff of Cedar Meadow Farm shares insights he’s gained from participating in this study.

Recorded July 27, 2022

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Learn about the latest data from Pasa’s Soil Health Benchmark Study, get research updates from Rodale Institute, discover new soil health and decision management tools for your farm, and find out about funding opportunities to support soil health practices on your farm. Find a PDF version of our slides on Soil Health Funding Opportunities here.

Recorded March 29, 2022

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We studied 39 farms over three years to find out. Our study is the most comprehensive review of direct-market vegetable farm finances to date.

Vegetable farms that sell their produce through farmers markets, CSA programs, on-farm stores, and other direct-market channels are the foundation of local food movements everywhere. Yet there is surprisingly little information available to help answer a basic question: Can farmers make a middle-class income selling vegetables through direct-market outlets?

We launched an ongoing study in 2017 to help fill this critical gap in information and offer insights that could help vegetable farmers start and grow their businesses. Our report offers the most comprehensive review of direct-market vegetable farm businesses to date, sharing detailed financial benchmarks from 39 farms collected over three years.

Complete the form below to download our Financial Benchmarks for Direct-Market Vegetable Farms: 2021 Report. You can also read a summary of our findings here on our blog.

Complete this form to download the report

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Building and preserving soil health is a fundamental component of a secure food system that effectively protects ecosystems and communities. Our Soil Health Benchmark Study is designed to help farmers monitor and evaluate the nuanced soil health strengths and challenges that can exist simultaneously within their fields.

The study was developed and is administered by Pasa Sustainable Agriculture in collaboration with more than 100 vegetable, pastured livestock, and row crop farmers and partners including the Cornell Soil Health Laboratory, Future Harvest and the Million Acre Challenge, Penn State Extension, Rodale Institute, and Stroud Water Research Center.

The study, which began in 2016, is one of the largest and most diverse community soil health research projects in the nation, amassing data from a wide range of farm scales and management systems, soil types, and farmer experiences.

Download our Soil Health Benchmarks 2021 Report below for a detailed review of our study and findings to date. You can also read a summary of our findings here on our blog.

Complete this form to download the report:

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Fluid milk sales have been declining for decades in the United States, while milk production has nearly doubled over the same time period. This has made it exceedingly challenging for small dairy farms to remain financially viable in today’s markets.

In response, many small dairies are looking toward diversifying their revenue streams with direct-market, value-added dairy product enterprises. This could be a promising strategy: Though fluid milk consumption in the United States has fallen, consumption of value-added dairy products like yogurt and cheese has risen.

In this brief, you’ll read the stories of three dairy farms that enlisted the help of a consultant to take a hard look at their proposed or existing creamery enterprises. By reading these stories, you’ll gain perspective on what might be accomplished through a similar creamery consulting process for your own dairy operation.

The post The Farmstead Creamery: Consulting for Success appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

This booklet explores how agriculture has the potential to either degrade and deplete, or protect and enrich, our shared water resources.

By understanding the connections between specific farming practices and water quality and quantity, farmers, communities, and government agencies can more effectively work together to nurture a cleaner, more abundant water supply and a healthier, more secure food system.

While the geographic focus for this booklet is Pennsylvania, the core issues discussed—water, farming, and a sustainable future—are global.

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Click the “download” button to access this worksheet. Contact research@pasafarming.org for assistance & more information.

The post Pastured Livestock Efficiency Benchmark Worksheet appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

This is a complex problem, involving daunting challenges in production, marketing, and distribution. As a starting point, it’s important to understand just how much land it takes to produce pastured animals, and where some of the bottlenecks for more efficient production may lie.

In partnership with 10 diversified pastured livestock farms in Pennsylvania, we developed feed and land efficiency benchmarks for the most common meat animals. This research brief both documents those benchmarks, and uses them to consider implications for land use scenarios and the future of sustainable meat farming in our region.

Interested in benchmarking your pastured livestock farm’s land and feed efficiency? We can work with you using the methods outlined in this resource. Our worksheet for calculating benchmarks can be accessed at pasafarming.org/land-feed-benchmarks-worksheet, or contact research@pasafarming.org for more information. As more farmers contribute data using these tools, we can improve the accuracy of our benchmarks and help highlight more innovative practices that improve efficiency.

Complete this form to download the report:

The post Scaling Up Pastured Livestock Production: Benchmarks for Getting the Most Out of Feed & Land appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

Through our Soil Health Benchmark Study, we’re discovering common soil health problems farmers are facing. These soil health issues are happening for a variety of reasons that might include effects from severe weather, unintended consequences from production methods, or simply not having a practical way to implement effective soil-building strategies.

During this webinar, we’ll review several common soil health challenges and explore how farmers are working to fix them. We’ll also explain how you can contribute to the Soil Health Benchmark Study as a community scientist and connect with a peer-community of farmers advancing the art and science of sustainable farming.

Our landmark Soil Health Benchmark Study is the most diverse farmer-led soil science project in the nation.

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You understand the fundamentals of building healthy soils, but you’re struggling to put everything you know into practice as you try to balance the long list of demands that come along with running a farm business.

During this webinar, we’ll explain how you can participate in our Soil Health Benchmark Study, a citizen-science project that will help you not only implement more sustainable soil management techniques, but also maximize yields and profits. We’ll additionally share highlights from our findings so far that demonstrate common soil health problems farmers are encountering, and how they’re working to fix them.

Farmers who join our Soil Health Benchmark Study receive:

• three subsidized comprehensive soil tests from the Cornell Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (up to $330 value);
• a personalized soil health benchmark report;
• marketing resources to help you communicate your attention to soil health to your customers
• opportunities to connect to a learning community of your peers

The post Introduction to the Soil Health Benchmark Study appeared first on Pasa Sustainable Agriculture.

They say “What gets measured, gets managed.” Given that there is a lot to manage on a working farm, effective record-keeping tools are essential to the success of any farm business.

During this webinar, we introduce FarmOS: A free, flexible, and powerful web-based tool for managing farm records for everything from crop planning, to pest management, to livestock inventories.

Among other capabilities, FarmOS lets you map your crop fields, view soil maps, and use modules to track when to plant, cultivate your fields, and apply soil amendments. You can also use FarmOS to contribute to Pasa’s Soil Health Benchmark Study and our other farm-based research projects.

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In this webinar, you’ll learn:

• How you can participate in our 2018 Soil Health Benchmark Study
• What farm management activities study participants will be tracking
• How to submit soil samples to the Cornell Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health

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