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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · 3d

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

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.

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · 13d

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

SEAS+ lab members making bouquets from dry rangeland flora.

Rangelands expert Tip Hudson describes grass to researchers.

Brush and grass in eastern WA rangelands.

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · 25d

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

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

Kid inspects inside of fresh red bell pepper.

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · 27d

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

#OnceMonthlyAtMost #WSU

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Sep 16

🪰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

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

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Sep 15

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

🔗 Open access: bit.ly/CoverCropBio...

#WSU #VeryHairyVetch

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

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Aug 25

🐄 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

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

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Aug 18

🌨️💰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

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

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Aug 13

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

Close-up of seedcorn maggot nestled in a root.

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 31

🚛 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

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

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 23

🌱 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

Cover crops in Douglas County. Photo by Leslie Michel.

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 21

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

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

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 21

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

#MyGardenIsOnFire #WSU

Pacific Northwest Gardener's Handbook cover image.

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 17

On the compost scene since before compost was cool.

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

#DecadesOfDirty #HotCompost #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.

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 17

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 16

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

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.

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 14

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

Sweet lil' dairy calf folds in half to nap.

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 9

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

Bowl of RoundUp and cherries from grandpa's backyard.

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 9

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

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.

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 8

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

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

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 7

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

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.

news.wsu.edu

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 3

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

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jul 2

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

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

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jun 26

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

🍒Details & Apply: bit.ly/TreeFruitSoil

#MyRootsHaveHairs #SoilScience #WSU

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

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WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources @wsucsanr.bsky.social · Jun 24

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

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