John Ikerd – Papers
John Ikerd is currently Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri. He has served in various university faculty positions, including the Head of Extension Agricultural Economics, University of Georgia, 1984-89. Since retiring from the University, Ikerd spends most of his time writing and speaking out on issues related to sustainable agriculture with an emphasis of the economics of sustainability.

Kansas Rural Center
The Kansas Rural Center is a non-profit organization that promotes the long-term health of the land and its people through research, education, and advocacy. The KRC cultivates grassroots support for public policies that encourage family farming and stewardship of soil and water.

Land Stewardship Project
The Land Stewardship Project is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture and to develop sustainable communities. LSP is a grassroots membership organization made up of farmers, rural and urban residents.

Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
The Leopold Center is a research and education center with statewide programs to develop sustainable agriculture practices that are both profitable and conserve the natural resources of Iowa. The center was established under the Groundwater protection Act 1987 with a three-fold mission: to conduct research into the negative impacts of agricultural practices; to assist in developing alternative practices; and to work with ISU Extension to inform the public of Leopold Center findings.

Mid-America Organic Association
The Mid-America Organic Association (MOA) is comprised of farmers, business owners and consumers with an interest in organic and sustainable agriculture.  Its purpose is to promote and share the knowledge of organic and sustainable farming, as well as to support solution-based philosophies of biological and organic growing practices, to help promote the health of our planet and our families and to support diversity in our independent food sources.

SARE Professional Development Program (PDP)
The Professional Development Program of the USDA’s Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) was established in 1993. The Southern Region of SARE represents: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and the US Virgin Islands. The Professional Development Program provides sustainable agriculture education and outreach strategies for Cooperative Extension Service personnel, Natural Resource Conservation Service staff and other who work directly with farmers and ranchers. Currently, the Kerr Center manages the program for the USDA.

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG)
The mission of SSAWG is to empower and inspire farmers, individuals and communities in the South to create an agricultural system that is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just and humane. SSAWG takes a regional approach to creating sustainable agriculture systems and is active on many fronts.  (SSAWG ceased operations in May 2020, but a limited version of its website remains available for the time being.) 

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center
AFSIC is one of several topic-oriented information centers at the National Agricultural Library (NAL). AFSIC specializes in locating and accessing information related to alternative cropping systems including sustainable, organic, low-input, biodynamic and regenerative agriculture. The center also focuses on alternative crops, new uses for traditional crops, and crops grown for industrial production.

American Farmland Trust
Founded in 1980, American Farmland Trust has helped win permanent protection for millions of acres of farmland. The AFT employs three strategies to combat farmland loss: 1. Protect the best land, 2. Plan for growth with agriculture in mind, 3. Keep the land healthy.

American Kiko Goat Association
The American Kiko Goat Association (AKGA), a non-profit association, is the official registry of Kiko breeders and owners in North America.

Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)
ATTRA provides information and other technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, Extension agents, educators, and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States. ATTRA services are available to farmers, ranchers, market gardeners, Extension agents, researchers, educators, farm organizations, and others involved in commercial agriculture, especially those who are economically disadvantaged or belong to traditionally underserved communities.

Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm and Resource Issues
Choices is an online peer-reviewed magazine published by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) for readers interested in the policy and management of agriculture, the food industry, natural resources, rural communities, and the environment.

Community Food Security Coalition
The Community Food Security Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people at all times.

Community Supported Agriculture and the Robyn Van En Center
CSA brings together community members, farmers and agricultural land in a relationship of mutual support based on an annual commitment to one another, a commitment that ensures the survival of local agriculture today and for future generations. The Center offers a variety of services to existing and new CSA farmers and shareholders nationally.

Cornell University Small Farms Program
The purpose of this web site is to provide easy access to information for small-scale farmers and those who work with them. The focus is New York State; however, most of the information is relevant throughout the northeast and in other regions.

Eat Well Guide
The Eat Well Guide is a free directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy and eggs from stores, farms and restaurants in your area. Entering your zip code allows consumers to find products in the United States and Canada that are healthful, humane, better for the environment and that support family farmers.

eXtension
eXtension is an interactive learning environment delivering the best, most researched knowledge from the smartest land-grant university minds across America. eXtension connects knowledge consumers with knowledge providers – experts who know their subject matter inside out. It’s a space where university content providers can gather and produce new educational and information resources on wide-ranging topics. Because it’s available to students, researchers, clinicians, professors, as well as the general public, at any time from any Internet connection, eXtension helps solve real-life problems in real time.

Farm Aid
The mission of Farm Aid is to keep family farmers on their land. Family farmers are our only guarantee for fresh, local food. The goal is to bring together family farmers and citizens to restore family farm-centered agriculture. Family farmers ensure safe, healthful food, protect natural resources and strengthen local economies.

Farm To School
The National Farm To School Network is a collaborative project with the goal of strengthening and expanding activities in states with existing programs and assisting others that do not yet have programs.

FarmEnergy.org
The 2002 Farm Bill started to tap the potential of rural America to provide clean renewable energy. Several programs in the 2002 Farm Bill helped to jump start growth in biofuels, biogas, wind power, solar and energy efficiency. This site is dedicated to helping farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses use these programs, to effectively implement the programs, and to work for a stronger Energy Title in the 2007 Farm Bill.

Farmers’ Market Coalition
The Farmers Market Coalition serves a rapidly growing industry with information and representation at state and federal levels. It helps to build networks, link peers, and connect farmers markets old and new with tools and resources for success.

FoodSafety.gov
FoodSafety.gov is the gateway to food safety information provided by government agencies. This site includes links to and information about federal and state agencies involved in food safety. It includes up-to-date listing of recalls and alerts, along with information on keeping food safe, food poisoning, and inspections and compliance.

Holistic Management International
Our mission is to educate people to manage land for a sustainable future. We accomplish this by delivering a variety of programs and services designed to educate and support farmers, ranchers and land stewards through Holistic Management, a Whole Farm/Ranch Planning System that addresses the environmental, economic, and social issues farmers and ranchers face today. In our eyes, people count, healthy land is essential, and money matters.

Hortideas
HortIdeas is a gardening magazine that reports on the latest research, methods, tools, plants, books, etc., for vegetable, fruit, and flower gardeners.

Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
The USDA has announced a new initiative – ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ – to begin a national conversation to help develop local and regional food systems and spur economic opportunity.

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
A research and education institute for biodynamic, sustainable, and organic agriculture.

Monarch Joint Venture
The Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) is a partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses and academic programs working together to protect the monarch migration across the United States.

National Agricultural Library
As the Nation’s primary source for agricultural information, the NAL has a mission to increase the availability and utilization of agricultural information for researchers, educators, policymakers, consumers of agricultural products, and the public.

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a national alliance of farm, rural development, and conservation groups that organized in 1988 to affect federal agriculture policy. NSAC member groups advance common positions to support small and mid-size family farms, protect natural resources, promote healthy rural communities, and provide nutritious and healthy food to consumers. By bringing grassroots perspectives to the table normally dominated by big business, NSAC levels the playing field and gives voice to sustainable and organic farmers.

National Catholic Rural Life Conference
Founded in 1923, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference has been a witness for hope in rural America. The Conference has clearly stood in favor and support of rural people, family farms and local businesses that promote sustainable community development. Their mission to support and empower rural people is made more necessary by globalization and world environmental issues.

Non-GMO Project
What started as a retailer-driven campaign to offer consumers an informed choice about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has blossomed into a successful industry-wide initiative. Supported by leading manufacturers, in the summer of 2008 the Non-GMO Project implemented North America’s first independent, third-party standard for production systems designed to avoid GMOs, and began enrolling products in a pioneering verification program.

Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association
NAREA is a professional association of agricultural and resource economists affiliated with the American Agricultural Economics Association. The purpose of NAREA is to stimulate and promote education and research on economic and social problems related to the production, marketing and consumption of agricultural products; natural resource use; the environment, and rural economic development; and the interrelation of the agricultural and rural sectors with the rest of the economy.

Northern Nut Growers Association
The Northern Nut Growers Association, Inc. (NNGA) is a national non-profit organization with members throughout the US and 15 foreign countries founded in 1911 to share information on nut tree growing. The NNGA brings together people interested in growing nut trees. Members include beginning nut culturists, farmers, amateur and commercial nut growers, experiment station workers, horticultural teachers and scientists, nut tree breeders, nursery people, and foresters.

Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots non-profit 501(c)3 public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The OCA deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children’s health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability and other key topics.

Organic Trade Association
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) maintains HowToGoOrganic.com, a web site for producers and processors transitioning to organic. The web site is designed as a clearinghouse of North American resources for farmers and businesses interested in becoming organic or in creating new organic enterprises. The site features a regional directory for the United States, and a searchable North American organic directory. It is primarily designed for conventional farmers and processors who want to get started or are navigating the transition to organic production, but also provides valuable information for established organic farmers, producers, and processors. The web site’s regional directories showcase transition resources unique to specific regions and states. Resource listings in the North American directory can be searched by topic and subtopic, by type of resource, or by state. The site also features profiles of farmers and businesses that have successfully become certified organic or that are working through the process.

Organization for Competitive Markets
The Organization for Competitive Markets is a multidisciplinary nonprofit group made up of farmers, ranchers, academics, attorneys, political leaders and business people. OCM provides research, information and advocacy towards a goal of increasing competition in the agricultural marketplace and protecting those markets from abuses of corporate power. OCM views the current consolidation of agriculture as market failure resulting in misallocation of resources and the destruction of rural economies and culture.

Pollinator Partnership
The Pollinator Partnership (P2) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. P2’s mission is to protect pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research. Signature initiatives include the NAPPC (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign), National Pollinator Week, and the Ecoregional Planting Guides.

Rodale Institute
The Rodale Institute offers many creative opportunities and solutions that contribute to regenerating environmental and human health worldwide. The mission of the Rodale Institute is to work worldwide to achieve a regenerative food system that improves environmental and human health. The Institute believes that healthy soil= healthy food= healthy people.

Small Farmer’s Journal
A small family-held company doing business in agriculture periodical and book publishing, natural farming and stock raising, alternative farm research/inquiry, horsedrawn implement research and development, horsedrawn equipment sales, and related education. The Small Farmer’s Journal is published quarterly.

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
Since 1988, the SARE program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. The program, part of USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems.

Sustainable Communities Network
The Sustainable Communities Network is for those who want to help make their communities more livable. Here a broad range of issues are addressed and resources are provided to help make this happen. This web site is being developed to promote the exchange of information to help create community sustainability in both urban and rural areas.

Wallace Center at Winrock International
The Wallace Center supports entrepreneurs and communities as they build a new, 21st century food system that is healthier for people, the environment, and the economy.

Wild Farm Alliance
Wild Farm Alliance (WFA) was established by a national group of wildlands proponents and ecological farming advocates who share a concern for the land and its wild and human inhabitants. WFA helps farms thrive by working with nature, and supporting farmers’ critical role in reversing biodiversity loss and climate change. It engages conservationists and consumers to support these efforts. To make our food systems sustainable in the 21st century, WFA envisions a world in which community-based, ecologically managed farms and ranches are seamlessly integrated into landscapes that accommodate the full range of native species and ecological processes.

Descriptions are taken from the individual websites.