UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Global Teach Ag Network at Penn State is partnering with the University of Tennessee at Martin on a new project to help empower small-farm owners with sustainable agriculture practices.
Supported by a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the project will include new research on sustainable forage and vegetable production, a producer field school exchange program, and the promotion of global engagement and cultural awareness among students.
Co-investigator Daniel Foster, associate professor of agricultural and extension education in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, said the project is an opportunity not just to benefit farms, but also prepare the next generation of educators.
“Our hope as the Global Teach Ag Network is to continue to find ways to encourage synergy across our educational continuum to advance understanding of global issues in agriculture,” Foster said. “We think this opportunity will be wonderful for secondary students in agricultural education, current secondary agriculture teachers, university pre-service educators and agricultural producers in our community.”
According to the USDA, farms with an annual gross income of $250,000 or less are categorized as small farms. About 90% of U.S. farms, usually owned and operated by families, fall under this category, making them a vital part of the country’s agriculture industry.
These farms also face significant challenges, according to the researchers, such as people leaving rural areas for cities, an aging population managing the farms, farm consolidation and climate change.
To help these farms survive and stay profitable, project leaders will aim to increase awareness of sustainable agriculture strategies and practices. For example, the grant will fund new research led by Elsa Sánchez, professor of horticultural systems management, at Penn State’s Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center. The study will explore the ability of different cover crops to absorb excess salts in the soils of high tunnels as a sustainable way to manage the problem.
“Through a survey of farmers across Pennsylvania, we learned that high levels of soluble salts in high tunnel soils is a significant problem,” Sánchez said. “Through this project, we will examine the ability of different cover crops to bioaccumulate these salts. This sustainable solution can potentially help farmers avoid or alleviate the issue while improving high tunnel soils.”
The results of this research will be used in future workshops held for smallholder farm communities by Penn State Extension and Farmers’ School for Agricultural Sustainability, as well as compiled in a fact sheet to be posted on the Penn State Extension and University of Tennessee at Martin websites.
The results also will be incorporated into a new undergraduate course on agricultural sustainability that both Penn State and University of Tennessee at Martin will develop as part of the grant.
“It is vital to develop the next generation of leaders in agriculture to have a sustainability mindset,” said Melanie Miller Foster, associate teaching professor of international agriculture.
The course will take place both on campus and abroad. An international travel component will include a trip to Belize, where students will learn about Mayan perspectives of sustainability and how sustainable agriculture practices vary based on culture, climate and context.
“Learning about sustainability from the experience of another culture can widen our viewpoint of what sustainability looks like in practice,” said Miller Foster.
More information about the Global Teach Ag Network, its programs and partners is available on the network’s website.