Welcome!

The Penn State Sustainable Ag Working Group (PSU-SAWG) is a multi-disciplinary initiative, begun in 2002, that brings together interested Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences faculty and staff, farmers, and representatives from the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO), and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. PSU-SAWG promotes unbiased scientific inquiry, collaborative discussion, cooperative program development, and informed public engagement to support diverse pathways toward more sustainable agricultural and food systems.

What is Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture, as defined by Congress, is an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:

• satisfy human food and fiber needs;
• enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends;
• make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls;
• sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and
• enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.

Sustainable Ag Newsletter

The latest issue of the Sustainable Ag News can be found here.

Sustainable Ag Directory

A new Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management and Organic Agriculture Directory is now available on-line. The directory lists faculty and staff involved in sustainable ag activities in the College of Agricultural Sciences. It includes researchers involved in teaching, research, and field- and campus-based extension efforts supporting sustainable agriculture, natural resources management and organic agriculture.

Spotlight

• Organic Weed Management: Balancing Pest Management and Soil Quality in a Transitional System. The project focuses on crops that support transition to organic production in segments of agriculture appropriate to Pennsylvania and the northeastern U.S., and illustrates underlying principles broadly relevant to organic production nationwide. This field-based research project was initiated in October 2003, and is funded through September 2007 by USDA IREE Competitive Grants Program - IPM - ORG - 112.E. http://TransToOrg.cas.psu.edu.
  

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