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Show Mt. Pleasant Pyramid Farm & Ranch September 2004 Page 5 Utah agricultural producers and researchers have been awarded six grants totaling $277,227 to sustain agriculture and the environment. The grants are from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, or Western SARE, administered through Utah State University. The USDA. program helps farmers and ranchers maintain profits and quality of life while being environmentally responsible. Kyle Christensen, a Moroni turkey producer, received a FarmerRancher grant to show how weed-eating goats and reseeding can refurbish farm, ranchette and grazing land infested with noxious weeds. Aviva Mailer, a Springdale organic farmer, was awarded a FarmerRancher grant to study organic methods of controlling the insects that transmit tomato curly top. In recent years, the disease has devastated tomato crops in Utah, Nevada and Arizona. Clark Israelsen, a USU extension educator in Logan, will use a grant to help dairy producers switch to organic production, demonstrating the transition tran-sition to other producers. Ken Olsen, associate professor and grazing livestock nutritionist at USU will harness a grant to study the nutritional aspects of forage kochia, a plant that adapts well to western rangelands. Forage kochia also competes well against noxious weeds, like cheatgrass and halogeton. USU range scientist Fred Provenza will use a professional development program grant to develop a network of western ag-support professionals. The network is to expand knowledge and research about livestock behavior and how ti can be modified and managed to enhance and maintain biodiversity, biodi-versity, restore lands dominated by invasive species and increase productivity produc-tivity and profitability of rangeland-based businesses. Ken Mills with the Utah Association of Conservation Districts in Ogden also received a professional development program grant. Mills will distribute " ' :v v .5-' A u r- t-l, . . jtj c--; to ranchers and government agencies information gleaned from 33 range demonstration projects funded by the Utah Legislature and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Although not funded directly through Utah, another western SARE grant will try to expand expertise in alternative marketing techniques among agricultural agri-cultural field agents in the Four Corners area. WIML Excellence in Animal Health We can help with your spring calving needs. 640 South Main St. Spanish Fork, Utah (801) 798-7347 (800) 333-1545 f Utah cattle and sheep needed for animal ID pilot project Utah Cattlemen's Association (UCA) is seeking producers interested interest-ed in participating in a pilot project to assess the ability to carry out a national animal identification program. pro-gram. UCA is part of the Northwest Pilot Project, which is a six-state pilot program that received funding from the federal government for this project. "We are seeking producer participants partici-pants that represent all segments of the cattle, dairy and sheep industries," indus-tries," reports Tim Munns, Utah's representative on the Northwest Pilot Project Board of Directors. "Our preferences is for cattle and sheep that potentially will stay in the state or the northwestern states for grazing, graz-ing, feeding and processing." The six states participating in the Northwest Pilot Project are Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Anyone interested in enrolling their livestock in this pilot project and want more details on the pro- r ' : s 5 i' gram, call Timm Munns at 435-279-4420 or the UCA office. They will begin enrolling livestock this fall. Calves and lambs marketed later this fall are eligible for the program. The Spanish Fork Press and the Mt. Pleasant Pyramid are proud to support agriculture in our communities |