Cooking Up a Story

Posts By: SARE

Growing Biodiesel Crops: Some Good Advice (video)

Roger Rainville’s biodiesel production system didn’t come out of an instruction manual or textbook, it developed over a number of years through trial and error.

Total Mix Ration Feed for Dairy Cows (video)

How can Tom Trantham’s cows graze alfalfa and not be susceptible to bloat?

Energy Independence: On Farm Biodiesel Fuel Production (video)

Roger Rainville is plowing ahead on meeting his own energy needs. His fuel costs about $1.70 per gallon to make.

Trantham’s Sustainable 12 Aprils Dairy Grazing Program

Tom Trantham was one of South Carolina’s top producing dairymen back in the 1980s. But he wasn’t making much money. He ran a typical confined feeding operation and his feed bill alone ate up 65 percent of his gross income. Then something happened that changed his life. One day in April 1989 his cows broke [...]

Growing Cover Crop with a Cash Crop (video)

Dan Forgey, of Cronin Farms, describes his ongoing research with cover crops, this time looking at how they might be grown in sync with a cash crop of corn.

The Next Step: Adding Cover Crop to a No Till System (Video)

As manager of the 8,500-acre Cronin Farms in Gettysburg, S.D., Dan Forgey strives to build soil health—and yields—sustainably.

Thermal Banking: Cold Storage (video)

The thermal banking technology that Steven Schwen uses in his innovative greenhouse (see Sustainable Energy: Thermal Banking Greenhouse Design) applies not only to conservation of heat, but to cold storage and refrigeration. In this short companion video, Schwen discusses his plans for an ice house at his farm in Minnesota, and how this project is [...]

Sustainable Energy: Thermal Banking Greenhouse Design (Video)

A MN farmer builds an innovative greenhouse that allows him to extend his growing season and reduce energy costs.