Environmentally Friendly Production

*Each resource within the Four Corners region will be marked with an asterisk

See also:

Four Corners Marketing Programs & Services listings of regional resources applicable to a variety of topics.
An Organic Producers’ Resource Guide to the Four Corners States for more regional organic production and marketing information.

Arizona Resources

*Fresh, Local & Sustainable Foods of Canyon Country
The Center for Sustainable Environments of the Northern Arizona University has published the fourth edition of a sustainable foods directory for Canyon Country, otherwise known as the Colorado Plateau or Four Corners region. The directory includes a listing of restaurants that serve local agricultural products.
http://www.environment.nau.edu/Publications/FoodDirectory/Localfoodsdirectory.pdf

*Northern Arizona University: Center for Sustainable Environments: Sustainable Agriculture and Food ResearchThe Center for Sustainable Environments is currently involved in several projects focused on sustainable agriculture and promoting local food security.
http://home.nau.edu/environment/food.asp

Colorado Resources

*Colorado Organic Producers Association
Provides education, information, and networking services to promote and facilitate the production, distribution, and consumption of Colorado organic food products. COPA members represent all segments of agriculture-production, processing, wholesale, retail, and consumer. http://www.organiccolorado.org/

*Sustainable Agriculture in Colorado
A new website developed by Colorado State University focusing on sustainable agriculture and the ways its can help improve Colorado's economy, communities, and livelihoods.
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/sustag/

New Mexico Resources

*New Mexico Organic Producers Marketing GuideThis guide is designed to help you explore which markets might work best for you and give you some ideas about how to access those markets. Marketing topics include Farmers’ Markets, CSAs, Selling to Retail Outlets, Selling to Restaurants, and Selling to Wholesalers.
http://nmocc.state.nm.us/pdf/MarketManual.pdf

Regional Resources

Simply Sustainable: People & Projects Sustaining Western Agriculture
The projects in this book reach deep into Western agriculture, ranging from conventional to organic to alternative production. The stories are of creative and ingenious farmers, ranchers and their professional and nonprofit supporters who have applied Western SARE dollars to sustainable solutions.
http://wsare.usu.edu/pub/

Simply Sustainable: WSARE Newsletter
This newsletter from the Western Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program of the USDA highlights funded research projects in the western region of the

. There are several examples of innovative sustainable agriculture operations.
http://wsare.usu.edu/news/?sub=news&n=arc

Marketing Environmentally Friendly Produced Products

Adding Value through Environmental Marketing: Opportunities for Food Producers, Processors and Retailers: Conference Proceedings
Proceedings of the Environmental Marketing conference that took place December 6-7, 1999, in Madison, Wisconsin. Provides links to a number of papers that discuss agriculture marketing strategies and related topics.
http://www.iatp.org/labels/envcommodities/index.htm

Diversity Crops to Boost Profits and Stewardship
This article explains how producers can mix new crops into a rotation to not only make money from an alternative crop, but also raise yields of the traditional crops in the rotation.
http://www.sare.org/publications/diversify/diversify04.htm

Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture
"Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture" defines sustainable agriculture by providing snapshots of different producers who apply sustainable principles on their farms and ranches.
http://www.sare.org/publications/exploring.htm

“Green Markets” for Farm ProductsATTRA-National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, January 2001.
This publication addresses the topic of raising food for customers seeking organic or otherwise identifiable "earth-friendly" products.
http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/greenmarkets.html

Sustainability in Agriculture: National Agricultural LibrarySustainable food systems integrate many disciplines, goals and agricultural practices. Find guides and links to sustainable agriculture information related to economic and social issues as well as food choices and food security.
http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?tax_level=1&info_center=2&tax_subject=292

Efficiency and Alternative Energy on the Farm

Ethanol Opportunities and Questions: ATTRA Publication
This publication offers a brief and non-technical description of how ethanol is made, explains some of its uses and advantages, discusses several common questions about ethanol, and offers suggestions for further reading.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/ethanol.html

Global Climate Change
This article from the Economic Research Service of the USDA addresses the impacts of global climate on the agricultural setor.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/GlobalClimate/

NCAT: Farm Energy Search Tool
Developed with funding from the USDA Risk Management Agency, this search tool makes it easy to find energy-related equipment, funding, and technical assistance in your state. Businesses are generally listed under the state where they are physically located, although many provide regional or national service. Contact businesses to see if they serve your area.
http://attra.ncat.org/farm_energy/farm_energy_main.php

USDA Rural Development: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program
The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program, through USDA-Rural Development, offers grants, guaranteed loans, and combination grant/guaranteed loans to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements in rural areas.
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ia/rbcs_RE-EE_Fact_Sheet.pdf

What Alternative Energy Options are Available for Farms?
This resource provides an overview of information sources for alternative energy options for farms available from the United States Department of Energy.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/altenergy.shtml

Wind Energy: ATTRA Publication
The publications and links on this page offer information on choosing and putting up a wind turbine of your own, as well as leasing arrangements, funding opportunities, and other factors to consider.
http://attra.ncat.org/farm_energy/wind.html

Environmentally Friendly Production Methods

Diversifying Crop Systems
Diversifying can soften impacts on environmental resources, spread farmers' economic risk, exploit profitable niche markets and-by creating new industries based on renewable agriculture resources-strengthen rural communities. This bulletin describes some of the many agronomic crop alternatives, with plentiful examples of on-farm successes.
http://www.sare.org/publications/diversify/index.htm

Diversity Crops to Boost Profits and Stewardship
This article explains how producers can mix new crops into a rotation to not only make money from an alternative crop, but also raise yields of the traditional crops in the rotation.
http://www.sare.org/publications/diversify/diversify04.htm

Feasibility Study for Energy-Efficient on Farm Poultry and Small Ruminant Processing Plants
The study will evaluate the potential energy savings from reducing transportation for processing at remote sites, constructing a state-of the- art, energy efficient facility, and using innovative methods such as composting.
http://www.cadefarms.org/pdf/Feasibility%20Study.pdf

Greenbook 2000: Marketing Sustainable Agriculture
The Greenbook discusses farm marketing and its impact on communities, with several thought-provoking essays on the creation of regional food systems, with examples from around the state and around the globe. While these systems require producers to take on additional responsibilities for processing, distribution and marketing, they also may provide producers with greater profit – a key component of sustainability.
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/protecting/sustainable/greenbook2000.htm

Success Stories and Case Studies

Greenbook 2000: Marketing Sustainable Agriculture
The Greenbook discusses farm marketing and its impact on communities, with several thought-provoking essays on the creation of regional food systems, with examples from around the state and around the globe. While these systems require producers to take on additional responsibilities for processing, distribution and marketing, they also may provide producers with greater profit – a key component of sustainability.
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/protecting/sustainable/greenbook2000.htm

The New American Farmer: Profiles of Agricultural Innovation
The profiles in The New American Farmer, 2nd edition hail from small vegetable farms and ranches and grain farms covering thousands of acres. There are success stories from farmers all over the United States using alternative and environmentally friendly production methods to ensure financial and environmental sustainability.
http://www.sare.org/publications/naf2/naf2.pdf

Simply Sustainable: People & Projects Sustaining Western Agriculture
The projects in this book reach deep into Western agriculture, ranging from conventional to organic to alternative production. The stories are of creative and ingenious farmers, ranchers and their professional and nonprofit supporters who have applied Western SARE dollars to sustainable solutions.
http://wsare.usu.edu/about/docs/simplysustainable.pdf

Simply Sustainable: WSARE Newsletter
This newsletter from the Western Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program of the USDA highlights funded research projects in the western region of the

. There are several examples of innovative sustainable agriculture operations.
http://wsare.usu.edu/news/?sub=news&n=arc

Funding Resources

Please see:

Financing for general resources to help fund agricultural marketing ventures.