Nominate sustainable ag award candidates

Nominations are now being accepted for an award that recognizes a Western farmer or rancher who exemplifies the best concepts of sustainable agriculture.

The USDA's Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (Western SARE) will present the Patrick Madden Award to a producer whose practices are profitable, good for the environment and benefit the wider community.

The award is presented in memory of Patrick Madden, the first national director of SARE, which was initiated under the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1988. It comes with a $1,000 cash award and an expense-paid trip Aug. 15-17 to the national SARE conference, "A Midwest Homecoming: Sharing a New Tradition of Sustainability," in Oconomowoc, WI.

The most recent Madden Award recipient in the West was Peter Kenagy, who grows wheat, beans and corn on 325 acres near the Willamette River of Oregon.

Nomination forms can be found on the Western SARE Web site at www.wsare.edu. For more information, contact Al Kurki, Western SARE Professional Development Program associate training coordinator, at (406) 449-0104.

Send nominations by April 5, 2006 by email to wsare@ext.usu.edu, by fax to (435) 797-3344 or by mail to Western SARE, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-4865. Self-nominations will not be considered