In conjunction with the state of Connecticut's 375th anniversary celebration, Governor Jodi Rell announced the first-ever Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week, September 26 to October 2. More than 80 restaurants, farms, and cafeterias participating in the event will offer special Farm-to-Chef menus that week, showcasing a bounty of Connecticut-grown ingredients.

Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service will offer a fifteen-week course designed for people who have purchased or inherited a small farm, but don't know how to work the land. Living On the Land: Stewardship for Small Acreages is a beginner's course in soils, machinery, crops, livestock, management and more, conducted through a combination of streamed Internet and live presentations. Nine Purdue Extension county offices and a Purdue agricultural research farm will host the Monday evening sessions through November.

The Calvert County Sustainable Agriculture Workgroup is seeking nominations for the Calvert County, Maryland, Board of County Commissioners’ new Sustainable Agriculture Awards program. Awards in this annual program will be offered in three categories:the Sustainable Farmer of the Year, the Green Grocer of the Year, and The Buy Local Restaurant of the Year. The award is designed to recognize the contributions that local agriculture makes toward a more sustainable community. Nominations will be accepted until September 20, 2010.

Side-by-side comparisons of organic and conventional strawberry farms and their fruit, conducted by Washington State University researchers, found the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier and more genetically diverse. The research was published in the peer-reviewed online journal, PLoS ONE. The study is among the most comprehensive of its kind, analyzing 31 chemical and biological soil properties, soil DNA, and the taste, nutrition and quality of three strawberry varieties on 13 conventional and 13 organic commercial fields in California.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a significant expansion of Indiana's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), a federal/state conservation program that addresses targeted agriculture-related environmental concerns. CREP is part of the Conservation Reserve Program, a private land conservation program with more than 31 million acres enrolled nationwide. Through Indiana's CREP, producers voluntarily restore riparian buffers and wetland areas through financial aid and technical assistance, reducing sediment and nutrient run-off and enhancing wildlife habitat. The original goal of Indiana's CREP was to enroll 7,000 acres in three watersheds. With this expansion, CREP will now be available to include landowners in 11 Indiana watersheds located in all or portions of 65 counties with a total enrollment goal of 26,250 acres. Sign-up for enrollment under the expanded CREP agreement will begin Aug. 27, 2010, and is scheduled to continue until the goal of 26,250 acres is complete.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell to formally open a state-of-the-art, energy efficient Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. The new lab's three very specialized labs, which will support critical research on climate change, air quality, forest ecosystem adaptation processes and water resources, were partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). The remarkable laboratory capabilities will not only support policy decisions and management actions, research from the new lab will help forests mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Efficient fans are essential for proper ventilation of poultry production facilities. A new publication from Iowa State University Extension explains the factors farmers should consider to address energy efficiency when selecting or upgrading fans. “Energy Efficient Fans for Poultry Production,” addresses considerations when selecting a fan, such as air delivery, static pressure, fan efficiency and ratings by independent laboratories. It also describes factors that affect fan performance.