More

    CWC farm incubator project receives SARE grant

    (Fremont County, WY) – With a focus on supporting rural, small farming, Central Wyoming College (CWC) is thrilled to have been awarded a Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant.

    SARE grants were created to improve the environmental quality and natural resource base on which agriculture industries depend and expand agricultural producers’ profitability.

    Weed management, while extremely important, often takes a lot of labor to achieve results. On small-scale farms, weed management can limit success by increasing costs, thus limiting profitability.

    Advertisement

    CWC’s farm incubator program will use research from the Northeast and Western SARE projects regarding cardboard layering weed mitigation. While neither was located in the semi-arid climate of the Rocky Mountain West, their results are promising for future applications. This SARE grant will allow CWC students to use cardboard weed mitigation technology to realize the benefits deep compost mulch might have on small-scale farming in Wyoming.

    By lowering labor and pesticide needs and increasing profitability, this SARE grant research will show that deep compost mulch may be used to advance small farming throughout Wyoming.

    Only 5% of Wyoming farms participate in direct-to-consumer sales. CWC and its agriculture students hope to demonstrate through this grant and their studies that direct-to-consumer sales in agriculture are profitable and that these investments create resilient communities. 

    “Agriculture has a rich legacy in Wyoming, and our support of this industry, particularly its small-scale farmers, is essential to ensure its future, “says CWC President Brad Tyndall. “Our students’ passion for farming coupled with the Western SARE grant will provide the next generation with processes, best practices and the economic benefits to keep this historic industry thriving.”

    Advertisement
    CWC crop observation. h/t CWC
    Advertisement

    Related Posts

    Have a news tip or an awesome photo to share?