WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources

Take the guesswork out of grazing.

Our meetups teach you how to use StockSmart, a free online tool. Bring your questions and find out how others are putting the data to work.

🗓 First Wednesdays , 10–11 a.m. PT
🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/stocksmart

#Rangelands #Ranching #StockSmart #WSU

Two participants share a laugh.

Speaker with microphone and safety vest in a compost facility.

Two participants smile in front of a white barn.

Participants in class look at a laptop and their notes.

Participants from across WA and beyond are building piles, learning from CSANR’s Doug Collins and other experts, and touring sites like Silver Springs Organics at the Compost Facility Operator Training with WSU and WORC.
#HotCompost #WSU

SEAS+ lab members making bouquets from dry rangeland flora.

Curious black and brown beef cattle.

Rangelands expert Tip Hudson describes grass to researchers.

Brush and grass in eastern WA rangelands.

Rangelands field trip > spreadsheet

Last week, students, postdocs, faculty, and staff from SEAS⁺ and CSANR saw the system behind the models.

Swipe to see the view.
#KnowYourGrasses #Rangelands #WSU

Sign on board in front of school gym says Youth Farmers Market 2024.

Kid adds fresh produce to bag.

Kid inspects inside of fresh red bell pepper.

Kid peruses fresh produce in baskets on table with black WSU logo tablecloth inside school gym.

What happens when kids shop for their own produce? 🥕🍎

Researchers Annie Salafsky & Amanda Musser created a Youth Farmers Market with BIOAg funding—students chose local veggies over sweets!

🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/youth-farmer...

#FarmToSchool #LocalFood #WSU

Montage of recent and upcoming editions of CSANR e-newsletter, featuring stories about BIOAg projects, gardening books, and a call for proposals.

Get CSANR’s latest news and insights. Subscribe to News & Perspectives:
🔗 bit.ly/CSANRnewslet...

#OnceMonthlyAtMost #WSU

📸 Molly Sayles presents on IPM at the WSU Tree Fruit Extension Field Day, Sunrise Research Orchard (Photo: Scott Weybright).

🪰Why hesitate on IPM?

WSU PhD student Molly Sayles studies how people—not just insects—shape pear psylla management in Wenatchee Valley orchards.

🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/why-growers-...

#WSU #NeighborEffect #Wenatchee

📸CSANR's Teal Potter and Doug Collins in front of a triticale plot at the Puyallup research site. (Photo credit: Chad Kruger)

From fields to fuel: Cover crops like triticale + hairy vetch could become biofuel, cutting emissions 70%+.

🔗 Open access: bit.ly/CoverCropBio...

#WSU #VeryHairyVetch

WSU Extension's Rachel Wieme leads a demonstration in Tenino. Photo credit: Sarah Lemon (WSDA)

🐄 Bad Guts → Good Compost 🌱

With rendering plants closing and costs rising, slaughter byproducts are a problem. CSANR-funded research offers a solution.

🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/composting-o...

#GutFeeling #OffalNotAwful #WSU

Students gather for awards and a career discussion during the 2024 Whitman County Soil and Land Evaluation Day, hosted by the Pine Creek Conservation District, Palouse Conservation District, and other Whitman County Conservation partners. Photo credit: Palouse Conservation District

🌨️💰Get up to $5K for projects that teach soil conservation to K–college students in the Palouse & Inland Empire region.

WA/ID colleges, NRCS, and Conservation Districts: apply by Oct. 31.

🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/kaiser

#Palouse #Spokane #Moscow #Pullman #NiceDirt

Close-up of seedcorn maggot nestled in a root.

CSANR announces BIOAg awards!
Since 2020, researchers have turned $1.46M in investments from BIOAg grants into $20M+ in extramural funding.

Projects:🔗https://csanr.wsu.edu/news

#KillerROI #BIOAg #WSU

📸 Seedcorn maggot: Whitney Cranshaw, CSU, bugwood dot org

Dramatic scene from the confines of a truck cab: two-lane highway, lake with lighting, and steep mountains.

🚛 Transport, diet & food waste. Ag’s climate impact goes beyond the field.

A report from CSANR, @scc_gov & KR Creative Strategies calls for whole-system thinking.

🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/organic-clim...

#DontAskMeToPullOverSoYouCanTakeAPicture #WSU

Cover crops in Douglas County. Photo by Leslie Michel.

🌱 Ag tools for climate resilience:

✅Cover crops
✅ Compost & manure
✅ No/reduced tillage
✅ Perennial crops
✅ Biochar/soil amendments
✅ Double cropping/no fallow

🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/organic-climate-smart-report

📸 Leslie Michel #CoverCrops #SoilHealth #WSU

Pacific Northwest Gardener’s Handbook Growing for the Future WSU Extension’s new, definitive gardening resource, the expanded, modernized, and regionally focused Pacific Northwest Gardener’s Handbook: Growing for the Future is a multi-year culmination of expert...

📔 pubs.extension.wsu.edu/product/paci...

Pacific Northwest Gardener's Handbook cover image.

This free WSU Extension book now features a new chapter on Climate Change & Gardening, brought to you by CSANR.

#MyGardenIsOnFire #WSU

1999–2022: Nutrient Source Early studies explore how compost enhances soil fertility; nitrogen availability from compost is quantified. 2000–2003: Tackling Contamination Early work responds to concerns about clopyralid, a persistent herbicide affecting municipal compost. 2003–2010: Scaling Up Research on managing farm’s waste streams to improve soil health continues. 2011–2025 Resources Recovery Waste to Fuels Technology partnership shows compost is viewed as part of integrated organics management strategy. 2022–now: CSANR explores compost’s role in carbon sequestration, evaluates compost’s footprint, and informs legislative decisions.

On the compost scene since before compost was cool.

🔗https://csanr.wsu.edu/the-dirt-on-compost

#DecadesOfDirty #HotCompost #WSU

Darrin Morrison, Morrison Farms and Kim Matthews, Western Washington Agricultural Association chat while walking between presentations.

Sintayehu Daba, WSU Plant Pathology and Sanjaya Gyawali, Sakata Seed have a discussion while riding to the next presentation.

Diana Wisen, Skagit County Master Gardener, marvels at the health of the blueberry bushes.

Lindsey du Toit, WSU Plant Pathology Department Chair, Alfred Christianson Distinguished Professor of Vegetable Seed Pathology & Extension Plant Pathologist gives a presentation about Verticillium.

Mt. Vernon NWREC hosted its annual Field Day last week. Topics ranged from establishing tea production in WA to managing wilt in seed crops, sparking plenty of conversations between presentations.

#WSU #CropCurious #BringBackBuckwheat #PNWTea

Sweet lil' dairy calf folds in half to nap.

WA dairies can lead on climate action.

✅ Cut methane with digesters & feed additives
✅ Boost soil health with compost
✅ Keep farmland working = lower emissions

Read the new report on organic and climate-smart ag: csanr.wsu.edu/organic-clim...

#LessMethaneMoreMilk #WSU

Bowl of RoundUp and cherries from grandpa's backyard.

Raised on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, these cherries could be "climate smart."

Range of practices = more tools to fight climate change.

Read the "Organic and Climate-Smart Ag Report"
🔗 csanr.wsu.edu/news

#GrandpasCherriesTakeOnClimateChange #Organic #WSU

The sky is not falling—yet. Fig. 1. Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System study area. The aquifer system is outlined in yellow, encompassing portions of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. The Columbia River flows from the north to the south where it joins the Snake River and continues flowing west to the Pacific Ocean. The map shows different landcover classes, highlighting cropland areas in pink.

How long can the wells reach the water?
WSU's Sasha McLarty shows that in eastern Washington...it depends. The amount of accessible groundwater left in the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System varies depending on where you are.
📖bit.ly/44THlxw

Fancy Cat, Ph.D., talks down to Public Cat as Public Cat looks on.

CSANR's Alex Kirkpatrick shows that the knowledge deficit hypothesis (KDH) is not supported. KDH = If only they knew the facts, they would support xyz.

🔗 Read more: bit.ly/HowToShareSc...

#HardToShareWithThatPaywall #DialogNotData #WSU

AgWest gift to enhance capacity at WSU’s new Plant Growth Facility AgWest Farm Credit pledged $500,000 to help build WSU’s new Plant Growth Facility in Wenatchee, boosting research and innovation for the state’s $10 billion tree fruit industry.

AgWest gift to enhance capacity at WSU’s new Plant Growth Facility news.wsu.edu/news/2025/07...

New study from CSANR’s Alex Kirkpatrick shows video & audio are more effective than text for building trust. Surprisingly, video did not outperform audio alone.
📖 Publication: bit.ly/AgAIDcommunication
💻 Video used in study: bit.ly/AgAID_video
#WayMoreWork #WSU #AgAID

Is experimenting on baby trees even ethical? CSANR's Chris Benedict shares a summer update about the @wasoilhealth's long-term agroecological research sites. Read more: 📖 https://washingtonsoilhealthinitiative.com/2025/06/ltare-update-summer-2025 #MyDirtHasWorms #WSU #Wenatchee

Is experimenting on baby trees even ethical?

CSANR's Chris Benedict shares a summer update about long-term agroecological research sites.

Read more: 📖 washingtonsoilhealthinitiative.com/2025/06/ltar...

#MyDirtHasWorms #WSU #Wenatchee

An invitation to "form a mutual association" interacts with a root's rhizosphere.

Work on CSANR initiatives as WSU's Endowed Chair in Tree Fruit Soil and Rhizosphere Science.

🍒Details & Apply: bit.ly/TreeFruitSoil

#MyRootsHaveHairs #SoilScience #WSU

Orchard or army surplus? WSU cougar logo and "LTARE" spray painted with stencils on wood sign.

No awards for signage here, but WSU's Institute for NW Energy Futures is a finalist for the 2025 North American #Agrivoltaics Awards! 🍎☀️

At Sunrise Orchard, we’re testing solar arrays to shade trees and power operations.

Vote 👉https://agrivoltaicsawards.com/2025-plan-finalists

#MyApplesMakePower

Success kid makes a comeback in the Palouse, with text stating "Your idea—someone else's time and money."

SARE needs ideas for projects like fact sheets and how-to videos. Submit by June 30.

🔗 bit.ly/45R5xBN

MSU's Cheyenne Sloan and CSANR's Teal Potter (Climate Analogs Academy coordinator) pose for a selfie at a Stemilt Growers packing plant.

Michigan State University Extension's Cheyenne Sloan & CSANR's Teal Potter snapped this selfie on a tour stop at the Climate Analogs Academy. 📸

What are climate analogs—and why should growers care?
🔗 goodfruit.com/agricultural...

Find your analog:
🔗 agclimatechangetools.cahnrs.wsu.edu

StockSmart was named a @microsoft.com "AI for Good" winner! It’s a free tool that helps ranchers make grazing decisions.
🧠 Built by CSANR & partners
💰 Won $100K in @azure.microsoft.com credits
🔗 Try it: stock-smart.com
#BeefyBeef #WSU

screenshot of the save family farming interview with doug collins: new episode, WSU highlights compost research, benefits. Dr. doug collins, soil scientist at WSU's CSANR talks about the #DigIntoCompost campaign on the farming show. Doug is pictured in the center wearing a plaid shirt with tree branches in the background.

Dr. Doug Collins joined Dillon Honcoop on #TheFarmingShow to talk about our #DigIntoCompost campaign.

Dr. Collins and Dillion talked about the campaign and some best practices whether you are composting on a small or large scale. 🌱

🎧 savefamilyfarming.org/wsu-highligh...

#SustainableAg