Agriculture Research Guide: Farming Resources - OA
This is a general guide to finding information on agricultural subjects including crops, soils, forages, farm management, agricultural and biosystems engineering, and sustainable agriculture (SARE).
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) offers farmer-driven, grassroots grants and education programs. SARE has practical information on soil health, ecological pest management, organic production, farm-to-table, season extension, pollinators, social resilience, and many other important topics in sustainable agriculture.
ATTRA - DocumentsATTRA is a program developed and managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT). We are committed to providing high-value information and technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, Extension agents, educators, and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States.
Farmland Information CenterThe FIC is a clearinghouse for information about farmland protection and stewardship. It is a partnership between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and American Farmland Trust
AgEcon Search: Research in Agricultural and Applied EconomicsThis link opens in a new windowAgEcon Search is a free, open access repository of full-text scholarly literature in agricultural and applied economics, including Working papers, Conference papers and Journal articles. Includes sub disciplines such as agribusiness, food supply, natural resource economics, environmental economics, policy issues, agricultural trade, and economic development.
HathiTrust Digital LibraryContains the books digitized by Google from the CIC/Big Ten university libraries, University of California system, many American East coast university libraries and others, Full texts with full text searchability for items published prior to 1924, and some after 1924 that have Creative Common License permissions.
All of the identified MAC/MSU Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service documents that are in HatiTrust have been made open access through a Creative Commons license. This collection is searchable at this link.
National Agricultural Law CenterThe National Agricultural Law Center, a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, is the only agricultural law research and information facility that is independent, national in scope, and directly connected to the national agricultural information network. As a result of the expanding scope of agricultural law and its convergence with related areas, the Center also includes food law in the scope of its coverage.
State (some county) - level Resources
National Agricultural Statistics ServiceNASS conducts hundreds of surveys every year and prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture. Production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, farm labor and wages, farm finances, chemical use, and changes in the demographics of U.S. producers are only a few examples. All states and Puerto Rico.
NASS - Annual Statistical Bulletin / NationalProvides the annual recap of the national rankings of a states top crops, yields, chemical usage, and county rankings. Reports accessible online in pdf format from the current year back to 1886.
Note - each state will have an ASB linked from the State's NASS page.
Census of Agriculture, 2017 - State & National TablesThe 1840 Census was the first to include statistics on agriculture. Since then, each subsequent census has continued to gauge the overall picture of U.S. agriculture. Site covers 1840 to current census.
NASS - Quick Stats (Searchable database)Dynamic database of census and survey data for agricultural information in the categories of Animals and Products, Crops, Demographics, Economics, Environmental. National, State, and County level data; timeframe coverage potentially 1997-2020.
ERS State Fact SheetsProvides an overview of per capita income, poverty rates, employment percentages, farm income and value-added data, and farm financial indicators including the cash receipts of the top 5 commodities, exports, and counties. Tables are copyable to a spreadsheet.
State Climatologist Office - State ProgramsThe climatologist’s office of each state is great place to identify a region’s growing season, degree-days, precipitation levels, and temperature measurements over the last few years to decades. This information can help plan for climate change, new crop needs, and selling dates for harvested crops and associated food products
PubAgPubAg is a portal to USDA-authored and other highly relevant agricultural research. At launch, it delivers over 42,709 full-text journal articles by USDA staff and includes nearly 1,346,186 citations. The Library will add about 20,000 citations each month. The new release also previews its directions for intended functionality and will serve as the foundation for further enhancements. Note that there is both citation-only and full-text content. Many of the citation-only items can be found at the MSU Libraries in subscribed content.
Trends and Trending Resources
USDA Agricultural Marketing ServiceThe Agricultural Marketing Service includes six commodity programs--Cotton, Dairy, Fruit and Vegetable, Livestock and Seed, Poultry, and Tobacco. The programs provide standardization, grading and market news services for those commodities. They enforce such Federal Laws as the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and the Federal Seed Act. AMS commodity programs also oversee marketing agreements and orders, administer research and promotion programs, and purchase commodities for Federal food programs.
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP)The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program provides grants to organizations for education, mentoring, and technical assistance initiatives for beginning farmers or ranchers.
New Farmers (USDA)Portal to guide persons new to farming to the ins and outs of business practices, licensing, permits, tax regulations, food safety, etc. Open to all who want to start a new gardening or faming business, a CSA, ranching, animal husbandry or other related opportunity.
Farm Answers—the Largest Source of Information for Beginning FarmersFarm Answers is the USDA-NIFA beginning farmer and rancher (BFRDP) clearinghouse, providing resources to help people started farming and tools to help more seasoned producers succeed. Library of documents on all aspects of farm management, ownership, production and labor concerns.
Agritourism
Farming for Profit and SustainabilityFrom the NRCS – Alternative Enterprises and Agritourism – “This Resource Manual contains 2,300 pages of reference material and is divided into 20 chapters and 37 subchapters to guide you to a subject of interest. Designed with ag entrepreneurs in mind, the chapters contain articles, short publications, technical notes, etc. Contact information is provided, but as this is older that information may be out of date.
Agritourism 101Produced by Colorado Dept of Ag. And Colorado State Univ. Extension, this webinar provides over 20 documents on all aspects of providing agritourism. Provides instruction on business plans, marketing, liability and other issues that need to be considered when offering an agritourism event or program.
Industrial Hemp
Michigan Crops Research Guide: Industrial HempThis guide identifies current and historic information and documents on Michigan-grown industrial hemp. Just one example of many library guides consolidating resources for students, growers and researchers on this crop.
Urban Agriculture
USDA's Urban Agriculture siteThis USDA site, compiled by the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, gathers informative documents and links to other federal agency information on establishing and maintaining urban farms and gardens.
Urban Farm Business Plan HandbookGuidance for developing a business plan for the startup and operation of an urban farm. Source: EPA.
Grant Opportunities & Agencies
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)EQIP provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, increased soil health and reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, improved or created wildlife habitat, and mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility.
FACT publication: Get Your Farm Funded[scroll on page to get to the pdf link] Get Your Farm Funded: Guide for farmers that provides tips for finding and applying for grants and other financing opportunities. Released in 2017, updated in 2018.
Farm Service Agency-USDA - Farm Loan ProgramsThe Farm Service Agency offers loans to help farmers and ranchers get the financing they need to start, expand or maintain a family farm. Explore our programs below or visit our Farm Loan Discovery Tool to find the loan that’s right for you.
Section Topics: Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loans, Microloans, Minority and Women Farmers and Ranchers, Native American Loans, Youth Loans
SBA microloan programThe microloan program provides loans up to $50,000 to help small businesses and certain not-for-profit childcare centers start up and expand. The average microloan is about $13,000. Microloans can be used for a variety of purposes that help small businesses expand. Use them when you need less than $50,000 to rebuild, re-open, repair, enhance, or improve your small business.
WWOOFWorldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is a worldwide movement to link visitors with organic farmers, promote a cultural and educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming and sustainability practices.
