Water conservation practices not only save water, they also save money and provide other benefits, such as reduced levels of pests and diseases, and improved crop productivity through their emphasis on soil health. One of the best ways to manage soil water is by producing crops in healthy, porous soil. Healthy soil with good tilth and soil structure acts like a sponge by soaking up water and retaining it for crop use, especially during times of heat and drought. Plants grown in dense urban areas are more prone to heat stress because buildings and roads absorb heat and raise the temperature of urban environments.

Plants grow more vigorous root systems in healthy soils, allowing them to access water from more of the soil surface. Wherever possible, incorporate living (cover crops and living mulches) and dead (crop residues, composts, mulches and manures) sources of organic matter into the soil and continually build soil health. These added organic matter materials help build soil structure, which in turn helps store water, which further encourages plant growth. Conservation tillage strategies like no-till, reduced till, and strip till are encouraged to reduce disturbance caused to the soil. 

You can also conserve water by managing the types of crops you grow. When planning crops for the upcoming season, consider the water requirements for each and aim to feed the crops optimally, or grow crops that are more suited for your environment or the season. Avoid growing water-intensive crops when access to water is unreliable or cost prohibitive. Low-water-use crops such as beans, mustard greens or lettuce may be better alternatives in this situation.

Recordkeeping is an important part of all farm management, and this applies to water management as well. Monitoring is the key to measuring and conserving water. Read your water meter and keep track of the amount of water your operation is using. Many urban producers rely on watering cans and garden hoses to water crops, but it’s hard to track your water use this way. To use and manage water more effectively, consider installing an efficient irrigation system and water meters to deliver only the necessary amounts of water to crops. Drip irrigation is one of the most efficient methods for this, as it avoids wetting crop foliage (which encourages plant pathogens) and minimizes water lost to evaporation. When long periods of extreme heat are a concern, drip irrigation combined with mulching is a good way to conserve water while reducing heat stress to plants.

Routinely inspect and maintain your irrigation system to ensure it’s working properly. NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides technical assistance and funding for producers transitioning to drip irrigation. Regardless of what watering system you use, schedule your irrigation activities earlier in the day or at night to reduce water loss to daytime evaporation.

If your farm includes many rooftops, for example high tunnels, greenhouses or other buildings, then rainwater catchment may be a viable strategy to supplement your farm’s water needs. However, certain areas may have safety concerns about heavy metals or pathogens contaminating harvested rainwater. GrowNYC, an environmental nonprofit, has released a Rainwater Harvesting How-To Guide that provides guidelines for safely planning and building rainwater harvesting systems. Be sure to check on local policies regarding rainwater harvesting and using stormwater runoff. Learn more about water conservation and smart water use in SARE’s bulletin, Smart Water Use on Your Farm or Ranch. 

Profile: Using Water Recapture to Save on Water Costs

Minnesota

FNC13-909: Water Capture from High Tunnel Diversion into Irrigation System Using Renewable Energy

At Holistic Health Farms, located in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, growers Cherry Flowers and Tim Page demonstrate how urban farms can be both sustainable and productive. Having over 18 years of combined experience with organic farming on lots across the Twin Cities, they produce a wide variety of high-tunnel-grown fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and peaches, and value-added products like specialty infused vinegars. Farming in a high tunnel allows them to plant a month earlier and harvest a month later than typical outdoor production. A common challenge for urban farms is inconsistent access to water and the often high cost to keep crops well irrigated. 

Considering their project a success, they estimate that for every inch of rain, their modified high tunnel system can divert as much as 600 gallons of water from the municipal water system. Other advantages of the system include erosion reduction and the use of alternative sources of power and water. The addition of the gutters protects crops near the high tunnel by directing rainwater into a collection tank rather than it pouring off sides of the roof and onto crops. As a result of their work, they were recognized by the Capitol Region Watershed District, which also provided funds in support of their project. Holistic Health Farms serves its community by producing healthy foods and providing education, training and consulting services on sustainable practices such as organic farming, crop rotation, cover crops, composting, and succession and companion planting, among others. From 2017 to 2019, Holistic Health Farms participated in a SARE Partnership grant project (ONC17-029) to develop hands-on high tunnel education and training for immigrant farmers in the Twin Cities area. As part of this grant, Holistic Health Farms demonstrated how cover crops like red clover, rye, peas and vetch are grown and managed in a high tunnel.

In 2013, Flowers and Page received a SARE Farmer/Rancher grant to develop a water conservation system for their high tunnel that collects rainwater and recycles it to irrigate their crops through a drip system. To do this, they collaborated with the University of Iowa State Extension and installed gutters along the sides of their high tunnel that would collect rainwater and store it in nearby 50-gallon rain barrels. They also installed a solar-powered water pump to pump rainwater from the barrels into the high tunnel drip irrigation system.

The post Water Access and Management appeared first on SARE.

Heavy metal contaminants, such as copper, arsenic and lead, are a main concern for urban growers. These and other contaminants remain in the soil for long periods of time in bioavailable forms, meaning they can be absorbed by humans. Contaminants may cause chronic health effects when ingested, often by inhaling contaminated soil dust or by consuming soil particles that remain on produce. Although chemical contamination is concerning, practical and effective solutions to reduce its negative impacts exist. If you’re considering an urban farming operation, research the land-use history and work with local commercial labs, conservation districts, USDA or Cooperative Extension to determine the contaminants your soil should be analyzed for and how to control them. This investigation should be done in addition to standard testing for nutrient levels, pH and organic matter. 

Soil Contamination

If you’re considering a site where soil contamination is a concern, consult with environmental specialists to identify a mitigation strategy that will be effective for the types and levels of toxic compounds that are present. A variety of remediation practices exist to reduce or remove contaminants from polluted soil. These practices work best at sites with fairly low levels of soil pollution. For heavily contaminated sites, remediation is impractical, expensive and requires long-term management to be effective. Removing contaminated soil and replacing it with clean soil is also expensive, but it may be an option for sites that receive some form of public funding.

Otherwise, a more practical option is to use raised beds filled with clean soil. For sites with low contamination levels, one of the best ways to build soil health and reduce the bioavailability of soil contaminants such as heavy metals is through the addition of composts and mulches. Organic matter binds to contaminants, diluting their presence in the soil and reducing the potential for human exposure. Use the right soil amendments to maintain neutral soil pH, and use optimal nutrient levels to reduce heavy metal bioavailability. Maintaining a soil pH between 5.8 and 7 is ideal for most vegetable crops and helps to minimize the amount of soil contaminants that plants take up. 

Practical safety steps you should also take on a regular basis: 

• Follow best practices around produce handling and personal hygiene.
• Thoroughly wash produce before storing or eating it to wash off traces of surface soil contamination.
• Peel away the outer layers of leafy vegetables to reduce the risk of surface contamination.
• Practice good habits such as using gloves and washing your hands thoroughly after handling soil.

Certain crop production and landscaping strategies can help too:

• Avoid growing food crops like rice or sunflowers that are known to be prone to taking up contaminants.
• Use mulches in growing areas to minimize the movement of soil onto the edible parts of crops.
• Use mulches on bare walkways, or cover them with stone or perennial ground covers.
• If certain areas of your site have particularly high levels of toxic compounds, consider using them for landscaping or buildings instead of for growing food.

Extend these safety protocols to your employees and to members of the community who might visit for activities like tours, classes or workshops. Pay particular attention to children, who are more at risk of consuming soil through their play and by eating unwashed produce.

For more information about soil remediation and safe gardening practices around contaminated soils, visit the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program. It provides technical assistance and funding to clean up and reuse contaminated sites. 

Soil Health on Urban Farms

Aside from the risks of soil contamination and poor soil quality at the outset, managing urban soil on an ongoing basis has additional challenges. While it’s common to allow cropland to rest and rebuild organic matter through practices such as fallowing or rotating into pasture, urban farmers typically can’t afford to rest their soils through a growing season. This is because they’re usually operating on much smaller plots that need to be under continuous production for the farm to break even. 

Urban producers rely on adding organic matter through composts, yard wastes and leaf litter in order to maintain healthy soil tilth and nutrient levels. Work with your community to source low-cost organic materials you can use to make your own compost. Local businesses like restaurants, grocery stores and breweries can be good sources of food waste. Municipal yard waste collection agencies, power companies and arborists may also have a source of mulch or organic matter to cover and feed your soil. Many urban producers invest in a vermicomposting system, where worms are used to speed up the breakdown of organic materials in compost piles. North Carolina State University Extension provides resources on vermicomposting.

The best practices for maintaining soil health and tilth on an urban farm are otherwise similar to farms in general:

• Use soil tests to match key soil nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) to the needs of your crops.
• Provide ample organic matter inputs to feed your soil.
• Incorporate cover crops like nitrogen-fixing legumes or nitrogen-scavenging species like oats and rye.
• Rotate crops in your planting areas to reduce the likelihood of pathogens building up.
• Minimize soil disturbance by practicing no-till or conservation tillage.

Like compost, cover crops are one of the most important soil health tools for urban farmers. They can be planted into beds during the off season to build organic matter and add nitrogen to the soil, as well as to help with weed control.

When it comes to tillage and bed preparation, smaller, in-ground lots can be worked with walk-behind cultivators and tillers. Although it’s labor intensive, many urban producers rely on tried-and-true manual tools to prepare beds, manage weeds and aerate the soil. Examples of these include broadforks, rakes and many types of hoes, including paddle hoes, wheel hoes and stirrup hoes. ATTRA provides a resource, Equipment and Tools for Small-Scale Intensive Crop Production, which discusses tools for small-scale production. SARE offers a Manage Weeds on Your Farm book as well as a video series on organic weed management. One video features urban farmers Shakera and Juan Raygoza demonstrating the equipment they use on their farm. For further information on soil health, explore SARE’s Building Soils for Better Crops, which includes a chapter on soil management strategies for urban farms. Managing Cover Crops Profitably provides an in-depth understanding of cover crops and profiles on dozens of cover crop species.

Profile: VINES (Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments)

New York

FNE19-942: Healthy Soil for Urban Farm Production: Building from Scratch

In south-central New York, staff and volunteers at Binghamton Urban Farm work together to grow more than 7,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables each year that are sold or donated to their community. At the same time, the farm serves as a classroom where people of all ages can learn about nutrition, agriculture and environmental stewardship. The goal of Binghamton Urban Farm, a project of the nonprofit Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments (VINES), is to bring together multicultural communities to grow healthy foods, beautify their neighborhoods and contribute to a more just community food system.

Binghamton Urban Farm started out on a half-acre lot in 2010 and benefited from an excellent growth opportunity in 2018. That year, 12 adjacent properties became available after they entered the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood buyout program. Because these properties were flood prone and no longer suitable for structures, the city of Binghamton agreed to lease them to VINES for the expansion of the Binghamton Urban Farm. Since this new land was previously residential, Kyle Rittenburg, the farm manager at the time, was concerned with toxic contaminants and poor overall quality of the soil. Importing organic matter to build the soil and create a buffer from toxic contaminants was cost prohibitive, so farm staff sought different styles of raised beds that were affordable, compatible with current farm management and could produce crops at a commercial scale. 

With support from a Northeast SARE grant, the farm compared two different strategies to build soil in the raised beds: a typical topsoil bed compared to a straw-bale-style bed. The approach in the typical raised bed was to use a 4-inch layer of topsoil with a 2-inch layer of compost over the topsoil. The straw bale raised beds were made by lining hay bales end to end and backfilling with a 6–8-inch layer of wood chips, a 2–3-inch layer of topsoil and a 2–3-inch layer of compost. Wood chips are often free and can help improve drainage and add organic matter. Over time, the straw bale structure and wood chips decompose and integrate into healthy, productive soil.

To test the productivity of these two styles of beds, the team at Binghamton Urban Farm compared the marketable yield of cucumbers and lettuce grown in each. Straw bale beds produced more than twice as many cucumbers as the topsoil beds but relatively equal yields of leaf lettuce. Although initial costs and labor were higher due to the cost of the straw bales, they reported benefits like improved soil drainage, which is especially important in the flood-prone area wherein they operate. Farm staff and volunteers also found that the straw beds were comfortable to kneel and work on. Others, however, found the footing to be unstable at first. This was no longer a problem after the beds settled in the second year. 

While there are some tradeoffs to the straw bale beds, the long-term benefits from added organic matter and deeper soils may be worthwhile. “After comparing the two different methods for building new beds, we’ve decided for new beds to add 8 inches of wood chips before layering on soil and compost,” says Executive Director Amelia LoDolce. This adjusted bed design allows for good drainage on sites that tend to be compacted while also saving labor and costs for the straw bale design. 

In addition to operating the Binghamton Urban Farm, VINES maintains a strong presence in their community by running community garden and youth education programs. They strive to keep their produce affordable and accessible to their community. For example, they offer microshares in their community supported agriculture (CSA) program for families that may not be able to afford a full share, as well as discount shares for folks who volunteer on the farm. Their recent expansion has also allowed them to expand their youth education program, Grow Binghamton, which hires teenagers and young adults to participate in food production in the spring, summer and fall.

The post Soil Remediation, Soil Health and Nutrient Management appeared first on SARE.

• There are two types of internal searches:
  • Whole site search searches all site content for articles, pages, products and publication text pages
  • Resources search searches products and publication text pages only.
• Some posts appear high in searches but have little content relevant to what the user is looking for. For example, searching for a book title often yields a publication text page that provides references and citations instead of the content within the publication. Consider excluding these posts from the resources search and whole site search indexes.
• Single Post Exclusion: 
  • To exclude a single post (articles, pages, products or publication text pages) from the resources search and whole site search, open the post and select the magnifying glass icon in the upper right hand portion of the screen:

• Select Exclusion from the drop down menu
• Click the checkbox “Exclude this post or page from the index.”
• Click Update

• Bulk Post Exclusion

• You can also exclude posts (articles, pages, products and publications) from the resources search and whole site search using the post type table view.
• Visit the respective all post type table, such as the publication text page posts table, from the left nav bar.
• Make sure you have inline edit turned on 
• Find or filter the post or posts you want to exclude from search 
• In the “Exclude Site Search” column, click edit and type “on” to exclude the respective post from the resources search and whole site search.

Note: Exclusion from search requires the site to be reindexed. Reindexing interrupts search performance for users, so it is scheduled regularly during periods of low use. It may take several days for the content to be removed from the search results. 

Note: When using table view, sorting filter results will remove all listings that include a null value in the filtered field. If you are searching for posts with a "not set" value in a specific field (ie, null or empty) and get zero results, try clicking “reset sorting.”

Other search exclusions:

This feature excludes a page from the resources search and whole site search only, not google or other search engine results.

• See Excluding Posts from External Search Engines for information on excluding content from external search engines
• See Exclude from Resources and Learning for information on excluding products from the resources search only.

Other search notes and best practices:

• Objects in search results are sorted by relevance. Relevance is only used to sort lists generated by searches. 
• Objects in filtered lists are sorted by date published- relevance is irrelevant in sorting filtered lists
• Best practice: Honor the user’s search intent as much as possible as opposed to trying to strong arm search results with weighted algorithms. Promote featured publications with cross promotions, feeds and widgets instead

Relevanssi

Relevanssi: Is a search engine plug in tool that improves upon the standard WordPress search tool. At this time, please ignore all the Relevanssi fields other than the "Exclusion -> Exclude this post or page from the index" field.

• Exclusion: Use to exclude a publication text page with little helpful content (such as the top level publication text page with no content or an appendix) from the whole site and resources search results to eliminate clutter. (Publication Text Pages only)  See more. 
• Other Relevanssi features: (These features are not built out, please don’t use them.)
  • How Relevanssi Sees this post: Displays the content that Relevanssi uses to index the page for search.
  • Pinning: Pinning lets you specify keywords for each post and whenever that keyword is used in the search, the post will appear as the first result. See more.
  • Related Posts: Uses titles, tags, categories or keywords to display related content. See more. 

The post Search Management appeared first on SARE.

You can control the image, title and snippet of information/description that shows up on social media feeds when sharing a page or article. 

• Find the Yoast, SEO data tab at the bottom of the post editor. 
• Choose the social tab
  • Select the image you want to use
  • Edit your description and title for social media here too

The post Social media appeared first on SARE.

Where Used?

The Where Used tool allows admins to search for and understand how objects are linked to and from other objects on SARE's national and regional sites. Access this tool from the left nav bar (Tools>WhereUsed).

The Where Used tool scans published SARE content (posts, files, post templates(?), most post metadata (ie, short description field), core and custom blocks, reusable blocks and category pages) hosted on SARE's national and regional domains only. It does not include references to our content from external websites or projects.sare.org. Where Used data also EXCLUDES internal references to SARE content on or in:

• Previous versions of posts or files
• Posts in the trash (Note: Where Used DOES scan and include references in published SARE content TO posts or files in the trash by design, allowing us to find and fix the resulting 404 error. References FROM posts or files in the trash are ignored because there is no point in updating links that can't be accessed by the public.)
• Posts in development or archive mode
• Draft, pending, or scheduled posts
• Contents of lists on category pages. (Note: Descriptive content in the headers of category pages is scanned when present.)
• Links embedded in files (pdf, doc, etc.)
• Network shared block being used on another SARE domain
• A post's template code (such as the download button on a product)
• Links embedded in some types of blocks, such as Call to Action buttons or Download buttons.
• Links on pages that require log in or are password protected (such as admin or help pages) A fix is pending for this issue.
• blocks embedded in groups embedded in other groups (e.g. blocks within blocks on complex pages like a home page) A fix is pending for this issue.

Note: This tool is being tested. If you identify internal references to or from content on SARE sites that is missing from Where Used reports and NOT on the exclusion list above, please report it to tech@sare.org. To scan every link on a single page, consider using a third party tool like Deadlink Checker.

Dashboard

Widgets on the Where Used dashboard provide the following shortcuts:

• Find Links to URL: Enter a url to find 1) content on SARE sites that links to or 2) rules on SARE sites that redirect to that url. Use this information to avoid breaking links when editing or archiving content at that url. See Link Management for more information.
• Attachments Not Referenced Use this tool to find images and files that are not referenced to (ie, linked to or used) by other content on SARE sites. Use this information to avoid breaking links when archiving the file at that url. See Attachment Management for more information.
• Overview: Use this tool to find links and redirection rules on SARE sites. Search by error code to find and fix links or rules with errors. Includes links to internal and external sites. See Link Management for more information.

Note: When using Where Used to archive or modify content, keep in mind that it will not find links/references 1) on external site content or 2) on SARE site content on the Where Used exclusion list (see above.) When in doubt, check analytics traffic prior to deleting content with no references to make sure it is not receiving traffic from those sources. See Archiving, Deleting, or Modifying Content for more information

Searching for Content

There are often many urls redirected to a page’s permalink. When searching referring content for links to a post or file, keep in mind that referring links may be embedded differently than the target page’s current url. For example, when searching referring content for a link to https://www.sare.org/about/, look for variations such as:

• http://www.sare.org/about/ (insecure, http vs https)
• /about (relative url, missing https://www.sare. url prefix)
• https://www.sare.org/about (missing backslash)

References

A "reference" refers to a link to (hosted internally or externally), redirection rule to or other usage (e.g. an image) of an object on another object. Use this tab to find content on SARE sites and understand how it is referenced/linked to and from other content.

• Search
  • Use the Search field to search by url for content, links or redirection rules on the SARE sites. Use exact search to limit your search to the exact text entered.
• Filters
  • From Column: Each cell features a single reference from content in this column to the content featured in the same row of the To column
    • Post Type: Filter by the type of post/content containing the reference
    • Where: Filter by where the reference is located in the post
    • Location:  Filter by the domain hosting the reference
  • To Column: Each cell features a single reference to content in this column from 1) content in the same row of the From column OR 2) a redirection rule in the same row of the Redirection column.
    • Post Type:  Filter by the type of post/content containing the reference
    • Type: Filter by the type of reference
    • Block: Filter by the type of block containing the reference
    • Status: Filter by the status of the reference
    • Location: Use to filter results by the domain hosting the reference
  • Redirection Column: Each cell features a single reference from a redirection rule in this column to the content featured in the same row of the To column
    • Type: Filter by the type of redirection
    • Location: Filter by the domain hosting the redirection rule

Note: See the icons listed next to each text reference in the report to understand the nature of the references or redirections to the content in the center column.

Archiving, Deleting, or Modifying Content

When archiving, deleting, or modifying content, it is important to address all internal references (links pointing to the content), as well as redirection rules and external references to the content to be deleted. Otherwise, those references (links) will break when the referenced post or file is archived, deleted or moved. See References for more information.

• Note: All references data is produced by the Where Used tool, which does not include 1) internal references from content on the Where Used exclusion list or 2) references from external sources. (See the list of Where Used exclusions for more information.)

Steps

• Address all references (links) to a post or file prior to deleting or archiving it. IE scroll down to the "where used" section of the page you are intending to delete and look at "references to this page/post" which will tell you where this content is linked from.
• Remove or update the links that exist on internal pages that point to the content you plan to delete.
• Set up a redirect to relevant content.
• Alternatively if there is no relevant content you can choose to let the content bring the user to a 404 if you want them to know the content does not exist.
• Watch the Where Used dashboard for a few weeks after deleting or archiving content to find and fix any links unintentionally yielding a 404 error.
• Note: Save archived media files in a permanent repository if appropriate. (ie, a copy of all national publication files should be retained in the Publication Source files on Google Drive.)
• For the removal of resources/products remove the associated media file IE a PDF of a guide but first, check views on the pdf to make sure it is not a high traffic resource because in that instance you will want to redirect that traffic somewhere relevant or keep the file.
  • If you go to the media library, search for the pdf, open the pdf and choose "Edit more details" it will take you to the media file where you can see "Web traffic analytics"
  • Or, under dashboard filter by the PDF > PAGE IS /wp-content/uploads/how-to-conduct-research-on-your-farm-or-ranch.pdf and look at data 
• Make sure there are no other links taking users directly to the media files.
• Redirect users to the project database

Addressing References

• Internal references and rules: Look at the edit form of the post or file you wish to archive, delete, or modify:
  • In the References To table, click on any internal references TO the post or file to be archived/changed. That link will take you to the referring content, where you can delete or modify the referring link as needed, then republish.
  • In the Redirection Rules table, click on any internal rules that refer to the post or file to be archived/changed. That link will take to you to the respective referral rule where you can 1) modify and save the rule to redirect the url to a new location OR 2) delete the rule to yield a 404 error at that url.
  • In the References From table, click on any internal references FROM the post or file to be archived/changed. Consider whether those objects will be orphaned if the post or file to be archived/changed no longer links to it, and modify or add links to them accordingly.
  • Refresh the post or file edit page as you modify/delete references and redirects. The tables should update in real time.
  • Continue until you have eliminated all known internal references TO the post or file to be archived/changed. (Internal references from the object to be archived/modified may remain so long as they are accessible from another location.)
• External References: When deciding whether to delete, redirect or retain posts or files, consider how much work the content is doing to attract traffic and gain authority from external sources. Then, prior to archiving or deleting the post or file, address all references (including unknown references from all external sources and from content on the Where Used exclusion list) to the post or file as follows. Note: Address all references PRIOR to deleting or archiving a post or file so you don't forget the post or file's url!
  • if the post or file is pulling zero to little traffic (eg, it was a temporary or little used page) do not redirect the url and do delete the post or file, letting it yield a 404 OR;
  • If the post or file is pulling significant traffic from and/or has backlinks from high authority sites AND we have other related content, redirect the post or files's url to the related content prior to deleting the post or file OR;
  • If the post or file is pulling traffic from and/or has backlinks from high authority sites AND we DON'T have analogous content AND:
    • it's NOT ok for the old content to remain, then redirect the post or files's url to the related content prior to deleting the post or file OR;
    • it's OK for the old content to remain, then retain the post or file as follows:
• Retaining a post or file: If a post or file is retained as per the instructions above:
  • Do NOT redirect the post or file's url.
  • Modify the content, leaving it at the same url, so it makes sense (e.g. remove ordering information from out of print products)
  • Exclude products from the Resources and Learning search
  • Modify the Relevanssi settings to exclude the post from the index and
  • Remove all indexing on the post or file (to prevent users from finding it using advanced search).
  • Note: Overuse of this option could result in older content cluttering up our site, so exercise it with caution. Retain posts or files only when they are attracting significant traffic or include backlinks from high authority sites (for example, .edu or .gov.) See https://www.sare.org/resources/the-new-farmers-market/ for an example of content that was retained, and then updated for this reason.

Note: Product and publication text pages can be temporarily archived by changing them to archive mode. Do this with caution, since all rules and/or internal or external references to content in archive mode will yield an inaccessible error until the object is returned to live mode. See Modes.

Attachments Management

A media file and/or image featured on articles, pages, products, and publication text pages will remain in the media library when internal references to it are deleted. These files and images will become orphaned (inaccessible via navigation/links) on our site unless they are referred to from another location. Keep in mind that orphaned media files will be accessible to users via links on external sites or search engines like google. Users that land there will not have a path to navigate to the rest of your site. Media files that you don't want users to access should be archived independently as necessary.

• Attachments Not Referenced: This Where Used tool identifies images and files that are not referenced on the site and could be archived IF they are not being used (see analytics) by external sources or internal content on the Where Used exclusion list. See Archiving, Deleting or Modifying Content for more information. (This feature is currently being tested.)

Link Management

Managing links and redirects is important to the user experience and search engine optimization. Links and redirections should be maintained on a regular basis.

Types of Links

• Incoming Links: Incoming links are links pointed at a page.
  • Example: sare.org/X links to sare.org/Y
    • sare.org/Y is being referenced by sare.org/X.
    • Page "Y" has 1 incoming link receiving traffic from page "X".
• Outgoing Links: Outgoing links are links pointed from a page to another page.
  • Example (sare.org/X links to sare.org/Y)
  • Page "X", it has 1 outgoing link because the page would be sending traffic to page "Y".
  • (The same link on page "X" is an outgoing link for page "X", but considered an incoming link for page "Y".)
• Internal Links: Links hosted ON sare.org pages or redirect rules that link TO sare.org urls. This could be a link that points from sare.org/x to sare.org/y or it could be sare.org/x to cnn.com/y.
• External Incoming Links or "Backlinks": Links that exist on other websites or offline documents that point to sare.org. These links are external since we cannot edit them, and incoming since we are receiving traffic from them. This could be a link that points from cnn.com/x to sare.org/y or a link in a Word document or PDF that is not hosted in our site.

Finding Links To URLs

Use the Where Used tool to find where and how content at a specific link is referenced (ie, REFERENCED) by objects and/or redirect rules on the SARE sites. Enter the URL of interest into the “Find Links to URL” field and click “Referenced URL” See Managing Broken Links for more information on managing links. Note: See Searching for content

Managing Broken Links

Broken references are broken links that yield an error rather than the intended location. Fixing broken links improves user experience and content ranking in search engine results, exposing more users to our content.  Broken links may be found on internal sare.org pages, externally on other web pages or externally in offline documents. A number of conditions can result in an error:

• The link points to a non-existent page 
• The link points to a forbidden page
• Server is temporarily unavailable
• User error (ie, user typo in browser address)

Locating Broken Links: Broken links can be found using the following tools:

• Where Used dashboard: This tool scans all internal links, with additional context on their location, destination, the nature of errors, and tools to fix errors. WhereUsed only scans our sites (sare.org), thus it will only display internal incoming and outgoing links. It does not show links from other sites pointed at sare.org (backlinks).
• WordPress 404 tool: Provides a sortable and filterable log of all sare.org urls generating errors on sare.org domains. Includes bot traffic.
• SEMRush reports: A list of sare.org urls generating errors, segregated by internal and external destinations.
• User reports: Users submit “this link doesn’t work” feedback

Note: Prior to fixing a broken link, test it to verify its status. Sometimes, links that consistently yield errors are not broken and should not be fixed. The following conditions may yield errors that should NOT be fixed:

• temporary conditions (correct urls that fail due to service disruption issues) errors or 
• one time errors (user generated typos) or 
• working urls that yield errors because the host server rejects the robot crawling the site to test the links
• working urls to pages that are private or otherwise require a user to log in
• pages that have been deleted (and not redirected) which SHOULD yield 404 errors

Tip: Focus link management efforts on broken links that occur with regular frequency. Test all broken links prior to fixing them. See Delete, Redirect or Retain for help deciding whether to redirect broken urls or allow them to continue to generate an error.

Tip: Where Used or SEMRush will not catch links yielding errors if the error is due to excessive or looping redirections. Watch the error message in the broswer for an indication that an error was caused due to excessive redirections. If that's the case, fix the relevant excessive or looping redirection rules.

Fixing Broken Links

Internal Links: Since these links are hosted on pages controlled by SARE, they can and should be fixed at the source when possible.

• To find broken internal links, use the Broken References widget on the Where Used dashboard.
  • Click View all 4XX References. The following page will yield a filtered report of all internal links that are currently yielding 400 level (ie, broken) errors.
    • The From column indicates the location of the broken link.
    • The To column indicates the nature and destination of the link and how the link is used on the page. (ie, embedded in textor an image.)
  • Click the error icon in the To column for more information on the nature of the error.
  • Click “Edit” or “View” in the From column to edit or view the page that hosts the link, and search for the link on the page.
  • Click "Recheck Status" to verify the current status of the link. A green flash indicates the check was completed. A red flash indicates the check was not completed successfully, please contact tech support. The results of the check (ie, link status) is indicated by the value in the error icon.
  • Click "Trace URL" for more information on the path from the link to its eventual destination. This is helpful in identifying (and shortening) the path from the url, through any urls that it has been redirected to, it's ultimate destination, and the status of that destination.
  • Fix the destination of the link OR remove the embedded link from the text and update the page.
  • Broken links that are referenced in redirect rules should be fixed using the redirection tool. Click the top value in the Redirection Rule column to be taken to the respective redirection rule. In the redirection tool, set the TARGET url to the correct url OR delete the redirection rule if no longer needed. 
  • Note: See Searching for content
• Tips:
  • Remember that Where Used and other site tools don't search the entire site. If you can't find and fix a broken internal link at the source, consider redirecting it. See the list of Where Used exclusions.
  • If a link is yielding a 403 response, but it works, leave it alone. The error is an indication that the host site is blocking robots from pinging the urls, but humans are allowed to access it. Focus on the 404 errors, intentional and inaccessible removals.
  • If the Broken Link URL and the Page URL values are identical in the broken link report, consider checking the redirect rules for the broken link.
  • If you delete the redirection rule, make sure to find and fix or delete any links prior to it in the redirection chain.
  • Bad links can also be found using SEMRush reports, WordPress 404 tool or user reports. When fixing links identified using these methods, use the Find Links to URL or Where Used Tool to find all instances of that url on the site and update at the source.

External Incoming Links: External links exist on other websites that are outside of our control. Since these links are hosted externally, redirect the url to an appropriate source.

• To identify EXTERNALLY hosted inbound links to our site that yield 404 errors for users, use user reports or the WordPress 404 tool and fix with redirections.
• Visit the redirection page rule at https://www.sare.org/wp-admin/tools.php?page=redirection.php on the same domain as the domain of the url yielding the error. (For example, if the link https://northeast.sare.org/x is yielding a 404 error, add the redirection rule on the NESARE domain.)
• Click “Add New.” Enter the url generating the 404 error into the Source URL field.
• Enter the correct destination for the url into the Target URL.
  • Note: If the correct destination is to a file in the media library, use the media file’s national domain.
• Click “Add Redirect”
• For more information on redirects, see Redirects
• Note: See Searching for content

Helpful Tips:

• Sometimes SEMRush reports a broken internal link is on a page that no longer exists. This is likely a redirection issue in which an external page is referencing a link on our site that had since been redirected. SEMRush reports the broken redirection rule as a broken internal link. Depending on what you want the user to experience, either fix the related redirection rule to redirect the url to another appropriate location OR delete the redirection rule to allow the link to generate a 404 errror.
  Sometimes SEMRush reports a broken internal link on a non-existent page with the value _wp_link_placeholder in the url. This is likely due to text on a page that is linked with no url value inserted. To fix it, go to the parent of the non-existent page reported with the broken link. (For example, if SEMRush reports a broken link on https://www.sare.org/news/grant-puts-good-crimp-in-farm-operations/_wp_link_placeholder, go to https://www.sare.org/news/grant-puts-good-crimp-in-farm-operations. Search that page for linked text without an associated url. Remove that link, then update the page. 
• Be careful not to assume that an admin archived a post and intended to allow its url to yield a 404 error just because it is non existent at the broken url's location. Its intended destination may be on another SARE domain, especially if it's a product. Check other SARE domains, the projects database or Youtube for a similar or identical post and consider redirecting to that location if one is found.

Redirections Management

To improve performance and search engine optimization, avoid creating chains of redirected links to reach a post. Internal links (links from one sare.org post to another sare.org post) and redirection rules should link directly to a target post’s permalink rather than a redirected url or a chain of redirected urls.)

For example, www.sare.org/covercrops redirects successfully to https://www.sare.org/resources/cover-crops/, but should not be used as a destination in redirection rules or on sare.org posts because it adds an extra step and reduces performance. Internal links and redirection rules should link directly to https://www.sare.org/resources/cover-crops/.

How to use this feature: This feature provides a list of working urls that have been redirected to a post or file on sare.org using the sare.org redirection tool. 

• Redirected link is referenced: Working, redirected urls that are embedded on other sare.org posts. These urls should be fixed on the referring page(s) to link to the target post’s permalink instead of the redirected url. The related redirection rule should be retained- it might have been replicated on an external location. 
• Good: Working, redirected urls that are NOT embedded on other sare.org posts. (For example, shortcut urls or urls from the old site.) Prior to deleting or archiving a post or file:
  • Update redirection rules that point to the post or file to be deleted or archived to point to a new destination or
  • Delete the redirection rule to create a 404 Not Found error

Values 

• Redirected Rule: Working URL that redirects to the related post or file. Click the link to visit the related redirection rule.
• Redirect Location: The sare.org domain where the url redirection rule resides.
• Reference: If specified, the post or file on sare.org that uses the redirected url. Visit this page to replace the redirected url with the target page’s permalink.
• Context: If specified, indicates where or how the redirecting rule is used on the referencing post or file. For example, in the text or embedded in a featured image.
• Reference’s Location: If specified, indicates the domain where the referencing post resides.

Redirecting References to Modified Content

This section addresses how to find posts and redirected links that point to a specific post to help administrators update related content when deleting, modifying or archiving a post or file.

Modifying content can result in missing context or broken links on content that references the content to be modified. When updating, deleting and/or archiving content, check (and update if needed) all:

• content that references the posts or files to be modified
• incoming redirects to posts or files to be updated, deleted, or archived. 

To use this feature:

• Products, pages, publication text files and articles: To access a list of content that references or redirects a post, see the References To This Post and Incoming Redirects section on the edit page of the respective post. 
• Media Files: To access a list of content that references or redirects to a media file, see the References and Redirects sections on the edit page of the respective media file. Click “Edit More Details” at the bottom of the right nav on the media file’s edit page.

PRIOR to deleting or archiving a post or file, check and update all referring content to:

• Delete or update links AND text that refer to the post or file to be deleted or archived and
• Redirect the url for the post or file to an alternate location if appropriate

When significantly updating a post or file, check and update all referring content to:

• Update links AND text that refer to the post or file to be updated (ie, if you plan to delete the product “Cultivating Corn,” delete all links AND text references to the product to be deleted on the referring content.)

Content Expiration Tool

On the left hand side of the dashboard navigate to tools > review content.

Here you will see a dashboard of content that needs review. Content highlighted red has "expired" and needs review. The review date is based on when the content was PUBLISHED and NOT last updated. After content has been reviewed it will be assigned a new review date based on the type of content it is. Alternatively you can set the review date to a date you choose.

• To review content select "edit" under a piece of content listed in the dashboard.
• Review the content for relevance.
• Scroll down to "review content" portion of post and mark the content "reviewed". A new expiration date will be set. Alternatively set your own date for review here.
• You can also choose who the content reviewer should be.
• Update the page.
• If you decide the content is out of date and needs to be removed, follow steps for archiving and deleting content.

Guidance for Content Review and Removal

For much of this content we are suggesting review periods. Whether the content should be removed is related to factors users should consider like how much traffic does the content draw? If users reach the content is it helpful or is the info outdated and cluttering the website?

Press Releases/News articles (news)
Review at 1 year from publish and update/remove if no longer relevant. Regions should attempt to use generic file names of news releases for grants and yearly news releases and update press/news yearly with updated news content

From the Field (news)
Review at 2 years from publish

Topic Overviews/Bulletins where format tag is Bulletins, Topic Briefs, Topic Rooms.
Review 5 years from publish date or last review OR at most recent reprint/revisions.

General Content Pages/Home pages
Home pages and lower tier pages review once a year from publish or last review.

SARE Promotional materials - Materials NOT in Resources and Learning - tagged “SARE Program materials”

Examples include: Report from the Field
Review 2 years from publish date or last review or at most recent reprint/revisions.

Removing Outreach Content from Resources and Learning

Delete content from the Resources and Learning section of the website if content is 10 years or older and receives less than 200 page views in the most recent year. Make sure a copy of the resource is in google drive. Discuss SARE produced outreach materials amongst the team, especially books and bulletins. Discuss if there is print inventory of the resource before removing. Lastly, discuss if a resource is linked to a topic overview page and what should be done with it.

The post Content Management Tools appeared first on SARE.

• i.e: there are more objects tagged “North Central” than there are objects tagged with “North Central” AND “Corn.”

Parent/Child Tags

If a user selects tag X to filter results, the results include objects tagged with tag X AND objects tagged with tag X’s children tags.

• Example: If an object is tagged only with “Indiana,” the object will
  • Display when users select only the NCR tag 
  • Display when users select only the Indiana tag
  • Display when users select both NCR and Indiana tags
• Example: If an object is tagged only with “NCR,” the object will
  • Display when users select only the NCR tag
  • Not display when users select only the Indiana tag
  • Display when users select both NCR and Indiana tags
• Example: If an object is tagged with BOTH “NCR,” and “Indiana,” the object will
  • Display when users select only the NCR tag
  • Display when users select only the Indiana tag
  • Display when users select both NCR and Indiana tags

Primary Tags

• Function: The primary tag field displays the selected tag as a text header for the content object if it is displayed in a widget.
  • If only one tag in a set of related tags is selected, the checked tag serves as the primary tag. 
  • The values in primary category tag fields plays no role in filtering searches. 
• Example: The widget below is pulling NCR SARE Stories from the Field. The widget is designed to display the object’s primary category tag as a label, the primary category chosen is Producing Quinoa in North Dakota is Crop Improvement and Selection.

Best Practices

• Geographical relevance: If an object is nationally relevant, select all four regions- there is no nationally relevant geographical relevance parent tag.
• Select at least one tag from each group of unrelated tags
• Within a group of related tags, select the most specific (ie, lower level) tag(s) that are relevant to the content
  • Avoid selecting too many tags within a related group. When more than 3-4 related children tags are relevant, select the related parent tag only.
• Examples:
  • If the content is relevant to many fruits, select the parent “fruit” category only. 
  • If the content is relevant to apples and apricots, select apples and apricots only, but not fruit.
  • Remember: If a more specific child tag is selected, users will find that object when they filter by that tag OR when filtering by any related parent tag.
• Note about articles: Category tags do NOT allow an article to be found using the advanced category search of products at https://www.sare.org/resources/. Category tags appear at the bottom of articles, allowing users to browse 1) to your article from related content or 2) from your article to related content.

Tag Pages

Tag pages are a set of posts associated with each of the index terms used to tag products and projects. Category pages display 1) content imported from the old site, if any, and 2) a list of products on the respective site related to that tag term. Tag pages are exposed to external search - long term plans are to develop these sites as landing pages with custom content optimized for search. 

See https://www.sare.org/search-filter-terms/ for a list of tag pages. See https://www.sare.org/sare-category/crop-production/forestry/agroforestry/ for a sample tag page. 

The national and regional domains have identical sets of tag pages. Consistency in tagging pages is important for proper searching. Do not add, delete, or modify tag pages without consulting with the national and regional web and projects database development team. 

Contact the development team to request access to edit tag pages as permissions are limited. To administer tag pages:

• Click Products in the left nav. 
• Click the relevant taxonomy under Products
  • Categories
  • Geographical relevance
  • Formats
  • Created by

Content Types and Tagging

The post Tags appeared first on SARE.

• Click a post type from the left navigation bar (Page, Product, Publication, News, etc)
• Click "Add New" from the respective drop down menu on the left nav or at the top of the post type listing page.

• Create a title 
• Type in the body of the text below the title. Each paragraph of text will make a separate block.
• Add additional blocks by selecting the plus icon from either the top nav or at the bottom of any existing block. See the help section for each block types settings for more information.
• Complete any additional fields as needed. See the help section for each post type's settings for more information.
• Click Publish
  • Note: Some user roles (for example, Authors) do not have publishing permissions. Users without publishing permissions should click "Submit" to have the post submitted for review and publishing by a content administrator. Submitted posts are available for administrator review on the post type's Pending page.

From the left nav, select from the following under each post type to add, search, or navigate posts of the same type:

• All posts: See a sortable list of all posts of that type
• Add: Add a post of that type
• Tree View: See all posts of that type organized by their navigation hierarchy on the site

Previews

Previews are generated in a variety of ways to display a snippet of a post's content in lists:

• Feeds or category pages (ie, lists that don't involve search terms) will automatically display the content in the post's short description (products and pages) or excerpt (articles). If the post does not have content in the short description or excerpt fields, the preview will default to the first few sentences of the content of the post.
• Internal search results will automatically display a dynamic preview (generated by Relevansii) highlighting the content of a post that is relevant to the search terms used. (If the search terms are relevant to the title only, the preview will be generated by the short description or excerpt fields. If the post does not have content in the short description or excerpt fields, the preview will default to the first few sentences of the content of the post.)
• Google search results will automatically generate a preview highlighting the content of a post that is most relevant according to the Google algorithm.

Apply Style Templates  

Apply the header and footer color styles and content from one domain to a post on another SARE domain by adding a variable to the end of the url. For example, add ?tid=2 to the url https://www.sare.org/

Then https://www.sare.org/?tid=2 displays the NCR style template. Note: If there already is a ? in the URL, you will need to use &tid=2. 

• tid=1 for National
• tid=2 for NCR
• tid=3 for NE
• tid=4 for S
• tid=5 for W

The post Creating a Post appeared first on SARE.

Create an Article/News/From the Field Story

In the left nav:

• Click News/FTF
• Click Add News

Article Fields

• Title: Enter the article title
• Text: Copy and paste article text from Word or Google or write the body of the article in the block below the title. Each paragraph of text will make a separate paragraph block 
• News Syndication: Leave the "Do not syndicate" box unchecked (the default value) to allow this article to display in the news feeds of other SARE domains that accept syndication from the hosting subdomain. Check this box to prevent this article from being shared to newsfeeds on other SARE subdomains. (See Article Syndication)
• Article's Authors: Enter the author(s) name
• Subheaders Nests a subheader directly below the article title 
• Pull Quote: See Define a Pull Quote
• Short Description used to describe the article in search results
• Related projects - Put in the project number. Search for the project in the database, copy and paste it into this field
• Review -Content review dates. Set the expiration date to be one year out. Select reviewer = person we will get email that the content needs to be reviewed. Last reviewed date - Change date and WHO reviewed it.
• Yoast YOAST SEO is search engine optimization. What google is going to see. The Only thing you may want to do in this YOAST SEO field is the canonical URL. IF two posts have the same content in multiple places, indicate where the PRIMARY source is.

Adding Images

• See Media Library Best Practices for how to best upload media.
• Choose a featured image in the right nav bar document settings. Always start with the featured image first. This featured image displays on the search results page.
  • Upload an image or search the image library. You can browse all images or do a search to find images
  • Make sure the image has  ALT text. If there is a caption this will be displayed ON the page. (Good alt text should describe the image so those who cannot see the image know what the reference is).
  • Add additional photos as content blocks.
    • Choose “ADD BLOCK” from the top right hand corner to add an image into the body of the article. 
    • Choose the “image” block and either upload the image or browse image library
    • Again, make sure the image has a good alt text. 
    • If you have a caption it will display it on the page. You can change the image caption when you put it ONTO the page. This will only change the image caption for this page, and not in other places where you have already put the image. 
    • Image fields:
      • Caption is displayed on the page. 
      • Description is used when searching the media library. 
      • Alt Text is for ADA.
      • Title is used for the backend - searching, and ordering.
    • When the image has been placed on the page, you can choose how large to display the image OR set the image size in pixels. 
    • Image and text alignment options are in the top left corner of the image block 

Define a Pull Quote 

Define a reusable pull quote about a post that can be used to promote that post elsewhere on the website. Only ONE reusable pull quote per article.  (you can add other standout pull quotes, but not additional reusable pull quotes). 

• Scroll down to the “pull quote field” add in the pull quote, author and image if you have one. What this does is it puts a reusable quote into the system. This does not yet display the pull quote on the page. See a database of available pull quotes at https://www.sare.org/help/blocks/all-pull-quotes/.

Adding Links

• Highlight the text you want to link and choose the link icon at the top of block
• Link to a page WITHIN our website by searching for the page name in the  “search or type URL” field OR
• Link to an external page by adding the url

Article Settings 

Access document settings in the RIGHT nav bar. If the right nav bar is not visible, click the gear icon, then select the News tab:

• Status and Visibility: Select public, private or password protected 
  • Public- default setting for content that is available to everyone
  • Private: Can only be seen by site admins and editors
  • Password protected: only visible to those with a password that you set that is specific to this post
• Published: The default option is "Immediately." Click “Immediately” to change the day you want the article to be published
• Pending Review. Post is not public. Needs the approval to be published
• Author: This is the website content author not the author of the article
• Permalink (Page URL) Choose SAVE DRAFT to assign the page a permalink. The link will automatically take on the post title by default. Once you publish the article to live, you do not want to change the permalinks. Get it right before you publish. (The ability to shorten URLS = URL slugs. This is where you can make the url shorter.) 
• Categories: Category tags appear at the bottom of each article, allowing users to browse 1) to your article from related content or 2) from your article to related content. You can use the search to find the tags you want to use. Category tags do NOT allow an article to be found using the advanced category search of products at https://www.sare.org/resources/.
• Geographical Relevance: Use this tag to indicate which region(s) your article is relevant to and control syndication to other SARE sites. See Article Syndication.
• News Formats: There are two types of news formats. Set the desired format using the News Format field in document settings using the News tab on the right nav bar. News is selected by default, but both formats can be selected
  • News: News articles about any topic. These appear in news feeds and the respective category tag page. Regional articles appear on regional feeds, and national articles appear on national feeds. See https://northcentral.sare.org/news/
    • News feeds: News articles are automatically organized in chronological order. If you want to change the order of your posts, you need to change the post date.
  • From the Field Profiles: Stories about SARE research. These articles appear on the respective category tag page only. See https://northcentral.sare.org/news_formats/from-the-field-profile/.
• Featured Image: See Adding Images
• Excerpts: Used to display a summary of an article in lists that don't involve a search, ie, in category pages or feeds. See Previews.

Article Syndication

Syndication enables news feeds to display news articles from other SARE subdomains.

To make a news article available for sharing on other SARE subdomain's news feeds: 

• Create an article on your site. 1) Set the article's format to "news" 2) leave the "Do Not Syndicate" field UNCHECKED (the default value) and 3) set the "Geographical Relevance" field to match all relevant receiving subdomains.
• Note: Choosing "Do Not Syndicate" excludes that specific article from being shared to all other SARE subdomain news feeds. All of your articles will be available for sharing unless you check "Do Not Syndicate."

To display news articles available from other SARE domains: 

• Settings: To allow ALL available and geographically relevant news articles from other SARE subdomains' news feeds to appear on a news feed, visit the WordPress dashboard of the domain that would like to receive the shared content. Go to "Settings" in the left admin column, then click the News tab. Choose the subdomains that you would like to allow to display news on the receiving site. For example, if you'd like to display national news releases on your site, click the sare.org box.
• Note: The most recent news article posted to any subdomain is pinned to the top of that subdomain's respective news feed to prevent syndicated articles from other subdomains from "burying" the most recent local content in that feed.
• Note: If you allow news articles from other SARE subdomains to be displayed in your subdomain's news feed, ALL of the news articles available for syndication with the appropriate geographical relevance from those subdomains will display in your subdomain's feed. Individual articles can only be excluded from appearing on a receiving feed by unchecking the News Syndication field (which turns syndication of that article to all other sites off) OR modifying the geographical relevance field (which defines the specific sites that the article is relevant and syndicated to.)
• Note: We recommend taking articles from your newsletters OUT of PDF format and putting the individual stories into the article post type. This makes them much easier to find, read and navigate. You can still post your newsletters as PDFs on one page, but it is better for SEO to pull out individual stories. 

Example: A news article from the Southern region will appear on the Western region's news page only IF all of the following criteria are met:

• The "southern.sare.org" box is checked in the western.sare.org syndication settings, allowing the Southern region to display news on the Western region's newsfeed
• The Southern article's "Format" field is set to "News".
• The Southern article's "Geographic Relevance" field is set to "West" or one or more western states.
• The Southern article's "Do not syndicate" field is UNCHECKED.

The post News/FTF/Articles appeared first on SARE.

The Economics of Sustainable Agriculture

“The Economics of Sustainable Agriculture,” the eighth episode in SARE’s “What is Sustainable Agriculture?” animation series describes how practices such as crop rotation and reduced tillage can improve an operation’s bottom line sustainably. This simple animation outlines basic ecological practices that form the economic foundation of resilient farm systems and is intended to complement more detailed training materials.

Sampler of Projects

Improving No-Till Cover Crop Systems with a Precision Planter

SARE project  FNC15-1018

Illinois farmer Ralph “Junior” Upton has decades of experience with cover crops and no-till under his belt, but like most farmers who prioritize sustainability, he’s still looking for ways to improve his system. Using a SARE Farmer/Rancher grant, he set out to tackle a problem that many no-till farmers face when adopting cover crops: how to maximize cover crop biomass in order to get the most benefit from the practice while also being able to plant effectively into the residue in the spring. His approach was to build a customized precision planter that could seed different species of cover crops in specific parts of his field rows. The idea was to seed species within the rows that are easier to manage during spring planting and to seed higher biomass, more difficult species, between the rows. While Upton and his collaborators saw some alignment issues, they felt the addition of an auto-steer system would improve efficiency.

Growing Rice in Upstate New York Using Traditional African Practices

SARE project FNE19-933

One might think that trying to grow rice, a tropical grain, in Upstate New York is an impossible task, but Nfamara Badjie and Dawn Hoyte are making it happen at Ever-Growing Family Farm. They’ve found a way around the short growing season by bringing practices used by farmers in Badjie’s native country of Gambia to their New York farm, located in Ulster Park. In particular, they used a SARE Farmer grant to compare two approaches to establishing seedlings: the established plug-tray method and the Diola-style field nursery. This is a centuries-old method used by the Diola (or Jola) people of West Africa, in which field nurseries are constructed as raised beds next to rice paddies. Badjie and Hoyte included in the study an heirloom rice from Africa known as Ceenowa. They found that the Diola method was successful; it resulted in more robust seedlings, reduced transplanting labor and allowed them to shorten the production cycle. It’s also simpler, lower cost and easy to adopt compared to the established approach.

Using Drones to Collect Data that Leads to Reduced Nitrogen Applications

SARE project FS20-321

New technology is constantly being developed and adopted in agriculture, and one area with huge growth potential is the use of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can serve many purposes on a farm, such as crop and field monitoring. Nolan Parker, a UAV flight technician, wanted to see if drones could be used to improve the sustainability of corn and cotton farms by helping farmers reduce their use of nitrogen without affecting yields. Using a SARE Farmer/Rancher grant, he set out to test the ability of different drone models to collect imagery data and to see if he could use it to reduce nitrogen applications early in the season. Conducting his research at his family’s farm in Lake Providence, La., Parker assessed the efficiency of two styles of drone: quad-copter and fixed-wing. He found that fixed-wing drones fly faster and cover more acreage, and that the quality of data collected by each is comparable. Furthermore, the data he collected did allow for more precise nitrogen applications.

Growing a Cooperative to Meet Strong Local Demand for Pork

SARE project FW19-339

In Hawai’i, pork is an important part of the cuisine and culture for Native Hawaiian, Filipino, Portuguese, Tongan and Samoan communities. At the same time, small-scale pig farmers in the state can have a difficult time meeting local demand and providing a consistent supply of pork products. This prompted farmer Atto Assi to use a SARE Farmer/Rancher grant to develop a cooperative that would help its members better serve local markets through economies of scale. Through the project, the Hawai‘i Swine Producers Cooperative held workshops on the inoculated deep litter system that its members use: a low-cost system for raising pigs that produces minimal odor and has a low environmental impact. The co-op also used the workshops to grow their membership. The co-op removes barriers to entry for small-scale pork producers by buying their piglets and raising them to market weight, then returning the sales revenue back to them minus feed and labor costs.

Farm Business Management Resources

Information for farmers, ranchers, educators and researchers on the economics of sustainable agriculture and farm business management.

Stories from the Field

Here are some of the ways SARE grantees improving farm economics.

Third-Generation Dairy Thrives in New Kansas City Markets

Missouri farmer Janet Smith used a SARE grant to determine which strategy gave a better return for her goat dairy products, a presence at the farmers' market or at local retail outlets.

Improving Nutrient Use Efficiency in Montana Wheat

"This was a landmark study because we knew we were losing nitrogen, we just didn't know how we were losing it," says farmer Curtis Hershberger. When nitrogen fertilizers are applied to the soil surface using certain application practices, a significant amount can be lost when the nitrogen converts to ammonia gas and enters the atmosphere. […]

Oregon Farmers Grow Winter Squash to Expand Off-Season Sales

" "I no longer lose money on squash. I have a winter CSA so I need profitable winter crops; squash is now a profitable winter storage crop." Laura Masterson, Oregon farmer " THE CHALLENGE Farmers in the Willamette Valley of Oregon with smaller, diversified operations and local markets are increasingly on the lookout for crops…

Resources and Learning

Browse all of SARE's resources on farm business management. Examples include:

Organic Transition

The profit potential of transitioning to organic production—along with other rewards—has farmers, ranchers and food business owners across the country considering the switch. But successfully managing your business through the multi-year transition process requires careful planning. Use Organic Transition: A Business Planner for Farmers, Ranchers and Food Entrepreneurs to develop an actionable business transition plan that is suitable for yourself, your management team or a lender.

Cover Crop Economics

Cover crops can build soil health, control weeds, conserve moisture, provide grazing opportunities and more. But when do they start to pay for themselves? This analysis looks at the economics behind different management scenarios to determine if cover crops are likely to improve profitability in one, three or five years of use in corn and soybean rotations. 

Baskets to Pallets Teaching Manual

The Baskets to Pallets Teaching Manual was written by Violet Stone, New York state SARE coordinator, as part of a state-based professional development program aimed at addressing the gap of tools to support farmers as they decide if, when and how to sell to a wholesale market. The Manual contains lessons plans and teaching resources that educators […]

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Sampler of Projects

Generating Income from Pollinator Habitat on an Urban Farm

SARE project FNC19-1156

Supporting beneficial insects such as pollinators and predators is important on all farms because of the services they provide. In urban areas, attracting beneficials can be particularly challenging because their natural habitat is highly fragmented. Also, urban farms typically operate on a very small land base and often need to extract as much production from their land as possible, perhaps making them hesitant to devote a significant amount of space to insect habitat. Mark Brannen of Benson Bounty in Omaha, Neb., used a SARE Farmer/Rancher grant to establish native plant habitat on his 0.75-acre urban farm and to assess what kind of revenue stream he could get by selling cut flowers. Brannen found that he could gross about $2 per square foot, which was $1 less than vegetable beds, but with considerably less labor involved.

Giving Maine Potato Growers More Crop Rotation Options

SARE project LNE17-358

The benefits of crop rotation are well known: They can break pest and disease cycles, help control weeds, reduce inputs and create new revenue streams. But many potato growers in Maine are pulling back from the practice because the typical rotation is with small grains such as oats and barley, and the regional market for these crops is poor. Motivated by this, Jack Dyer, an agronomist with the Maine Potato Board, used a SARE Research and Education grant to evaluate the potential of rotating potatoes with oilseed and pulse crops. After evaluating many crop species over two years, Dyer found that field peas, sunflowers, canola and condiment mustard are all viable options for potato rotations and, depending on market demand and currency exchange rates with Canada, can increase revenue. They also require low fertility and chemical inputs, and fit well into a reduced tillage system.

Diversified Agroforestry Systems for Small-Scale Growers

SARE project FS18-311

Many small-scale Kentucky farmers are seeking to move away from tobacco production, and one promising alternative is in diversified agroforestry. This is according to Matthew Wilson of Rindlewood Farm in Berea, Ky., who used a SARE Farmer/Rancher grant to explore a production system that incorporates fruit and nut trees, cover crops, sweet sorghum and pastured broilers while making use of old tobacco equipment. While perennial orchards come with many environmental benefits and income opportunities, growers need a source of revenue while trees are young, so Wilson experimented with alley cropping, or growing crops between tree rows. He took two approaches: one was cover crops and the other was sweet sorghum. Both of these crops served as a feed source for his flock of broilers and as a mulch to help the young trees establish. Wilson produced value-added syrup from the sorghum. In the end, he found that his diversified agroforestry system did provide a promising alternative to small-scale tobacco production.

Connecting the Dots Between Soil Health, Climate Resilience and Pollinators

SARE project WRGR19-03

The threat posed to agriculture by climate change is well known, as is the need to adopt practices that improve soil health, because healthy soil makes farms more resilient to extreme weather and has the potential to sequester carbon. What’s focused on less is how pollination fits into this picture. Honeybees don’t pollinate during rain, wind or extreme heat: all weather events that are becoming more frequent and intense. Native bees are better at pollinating in these kinds of weather, so their importance may increase in the near future. This prompted the nonprofit Our Family Farms to use a SARE Research to Grassroots grant to help Oregonian farmers learn how to promote climate resilience, soil health and native insects on their land. The group created a toolkit on some of the best practices, including reduced tillage, flowering cover crops, integrated pest management and establishment of permanent habitat for native beneficials.

Biodiversity Resources

Farming with Soil Life

This handbook, created by The Xerces Society, dives into soil biology. It provides a connection between healthy soils and healthy invertebrates found in temperate agricultural soils. Farming with Soil Life starts with a review of soil basics, including the functions, classifications and properties (physical, biological and chemical) of soil. It provides detailed methods on how […]

Cover Crops for Sustainable Crop Rotations

Cover crops are one of the best ways to improve soil health, reduce off-farm inputs and protect natural resources. Find a wealth of educational materials developed out of decades of SARE-funded cover crop research.

A Whole Farm Approach to Managing Pests

This 16-page bulletin helps producers—and the educators who work with them—use ecological principles across the entire farm to control pests.

Managing Alternative Pollinators

Managing Alternative Pollinators: A Handbook for Beekeepers, Growers and Conservationists is a first-of-its-kind, step-by-step, full-color guide for rearing and managing bumble bees, mason bees, leafcutter bees and other bee species that provide pollination alternatives to the rapidly declining honey bee.

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