Cover Crop Program

Urban Agriculture Grant Program is sponsored by Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA). This program supports new and existing urban producers to enhance their communities' access to fresh, healthy produce grown using environmentally sustainable farming practices. Funding can support capital improvements like cold storage, wash/pack stations, crop protection, food safety training, and educational materials.

Next Generation Farmer Fund is sponsored by National Young Farmers Coalition. Provides direct financial support and technical assistance to young and beginning farmers and ranchers (40 and under) to put one to four new conservation practices into action on their land, such as cover cropping, rotational grazing, improved irrigation, renewable energy infrastructure, or pollinator plantings.

NOSTRADAMUS Open Call 1 is EU-funded cascade funding (financial support to third parties) for developing, testing and validating open-source digital applications for farm decision-making. The call focuses on cereal-based systems and food security. Five projects will each receive up to EUR 50,000, about US$58,000, paid as lump sums over four sprints of 10%, 25%, 40% and 25% across a 12-month programme. The grant covers 100% of project costs, including a 25% flat indirect rate. Applicants choose one topic: sustainable crop production; nutrient and soil health; water efficiency and drought resilience; predictive pest and disease management; or an open topic combining at least two of these. Solutions must start at TRL 4 or higher and reach at least TRL 7. They must use the NOSTRADAMUS data infrastructure, which combines Earth Observation, IoT and edge/cloud computing, and demonstration sites are in Cyprus, Germany, Serbia, Slovenia and Switzerland. The call opened on 29 September 2026 and closes on 2 December 2026 at 17:00 CET. Note that the call describes data-driven and predictive decision support and does not explicitly mention AI.

Advancing promising results from Pillar II collaborative research through the innovation journey is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: Research and Innovation (R&I) solutions funded under Horizon Europe Pillar II are further advanced along the innovation pathway towards uptake and deployment in the EU and/or Associated Countries, including their translation into high value products, services, processes or business models, strengthening the capacity of European public and private organisations to use innovative solutions. End users [1] and market actors actively co-develop and validate highly innovative solutions in real-world settings, ensuring demand-side needs are integrated, helping to de-risk the innovation journey. The EU and Associated Countries benefit from accelerated commercialisation, adoption and deployment of Horizon Europe results, thereby reinforcing societal benefits, sustainable competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy of the Union. Scope: Projects funded under Horizon Europe’s Pillar II generate a wealth of high potential innovative results. Even though such results are many times successfully translated into used solutions, there is a need to increase the efficiency of the R&I investments and foster more uptake of promising results into innovative solutions. If more results [2] were converted into innovative products, processes, services, practices, business models or other novel solutions, they would strongly contribute to European societal benefit, sustainable competitiveness, prosperity, clean transformation, wellbeing or strategic autonomy. This topic aims at supporting actions that bring solutions generated by Pillar II closer to production and adoption by testing and validating them in real world settings, taking into consideration societal needs, cultural diversity and responsible innovation. Consortia do not necessarily have to include beneficiaries from the previous grant(s) but must own or have access to the knowledge assets, including intellectual property, where relevant, as stipulated in the specific conditions of this topic. Applicants should justify the proposed composition of the consortium and how it brings the necessary expertise and results ownership. Proposals may also build on complementary background results from closely related EU actions or national/regional projects contributing to the same innovation pathway, provided that these complementary results strengthen the market-readiness and deployment potential of the main result of the Horizon Europe project. Applicants should evidence that the proposed activities start beyond the laboratory or research environment and should focus on prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication under real-world conditions. Proposals should focus on innovation activities that cover the later stages of development, including the use of research and technology infrastructures [3] where relevant, should cover more than one of the following activities: Validation and Testing activities: This could include refining or piloting of prototypes through iterative testing, ensuring they meet the required regulatory or other standards before moving forward; testing to gain approval from potential users, or trial in real-world settings, including to understand user preferences and/or optimise outcomes; stress testing for technical feasibility to ensure the robustness of solutions at scale. Commercialisation aspects: This could include activities around regulatory compliance standardisation or certification, development of business or pricing strategies and planning for market entry. Scaling and Operations: This could include activities around large scale validation such as interoperability and/or standardising processes for quality assurance and control; preparations for supply chains and operational readiness; planning for ramping up manufacturing or delivery. Stakeholder, User and Market Readiness: This could include activiti Programme areas: Culture, creativity and inclusive society, Civil Security for Society, Digital, Industry and Space, Climate, Energy and Mobility, Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, Health, Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Keywords: Aeronautics, Agricultural biotechnology, Agricultural engineering, food safety, Agriculture related to crop production, soil biology and cultivation, applied plant biology, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Agro-forestry, Agroecology, Agroindustry, Agronomy, Alternative fuels, Animal and Dairy science, Animal health, Architecture, smart buildings, smart cities, urban engineering, Artificial intelligence, Arts (arts, history of arts, performing arts, music), Audiovisual Festivals / Events / Markets / Training - Media, Audiovisual and media, Automation, Automation and control systems, Automation, Telepresence & Robotics, Aviation, BTT5 unmanned aircraft (Drone), Basic medicine, Behavioural sciences, Big data, Bio-based products (products that are manufactured using biological material as feedstock) bio-based materials, bio-based plastics, biofuels, bio-based and bio-derived bulk and fine chemicals, bio-based and bio-derived novel materials, Biodiversity conservation, Bioeconomy, Biofuels, Biological sciences, Biomedical engineering, Biotechnologies, Biotechnology, Blue Bioeconomy, Border and external security, Business management, Cardiovascular system, Chemical engineering, Chemical sciences, Civil engineering, Climate change adaptation, Clinical medicine, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cloud, Edge and Virtualisation, Communication technology, high-frequency technology, Computer and information sciences, Computer sciences, information science and bioinformatics, Control and track cross border goods and materials, Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), Cultural and creative economy, Cultural heritage - Culture, Cultural heritage, cultural memory, Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Research Domains , Data analytics technologies, Decarbonisation, Democratic engagement and civic participation, Design and applied arts - Culture, Diagnostic and implantable devices, environmental monitoring, Digital Services and Platforms, Digital technonlogies and deep tech innovations, Digital twins, Digitalisation/ICT and cultural heritage, Disaster resilience and crisis management, Disease prevention, EME Electronics & Microelectronics for on-board systems, Earth Observation / Services and applications, Earth and related environmental sciences, Ecological intensification, Economics and Business, Ecosystem-Based Approach, Educational sciences, Electrical and electronic engineering: semiconductors, components, systems, Electrical engineering, Electronic engineering, Information engineering, Electronics, photonics, Emerging Epidemics, End-users, Endocrinology and metabolism (including diabetes, hormones), Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy systems (production, distribution, application), Energy systems, smart energy, smart grids, wireless energy transfer, Environmental biotechnology, Environmental biotechnology, bioremediation, biodegradation, Environmental engineering, Environmental health, Environmental monitoring systems, European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS), Farm machinery, Fertilisation, Fight against crime and terrorism, Financial & Investment management, Fishery, Food and drink processing, Food biotechnology, Food crops, Forest resilience, Forestry, GM technology (crops and livestock), livestock cloning, marker assisted selection, diagnostics (DNA chips and biosensing devices for the early/accurate detection of diseases) biomass feedstock production technologies, biopharming, Gastroenterology and hepatology, Gene therapy, cell therapy, regenerative medicine, Genomics, Geo-information and spatial data analysis, Geographical and positioning technologies, satellites, Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) / Services & Applications, Hardware technology (RFID, chips, sensors, networking, etc.), Health data, Health promotion, Health sciences, Health services, health care research, Healthcare system, Heritage preservation, History and Archaeology, Horticulture, viticulture, Human Machine Interface (HMI), IPR management, In vitro culture of plant material, In-Situ Instruments / sensors, Inclusion, Industrial Automation and Robotics, mechatronics, Industrial bioengineering, Industrial biotechnology, Industrial dynamics, Innovation management, Internet of Things, Investigations of computer crime (cybercrime) and security violations, Irrigation management, Languages and Literature, Law, Local/wide area observation and surveillance, Low emission technology in transport, Machine learning, statistical data processing and applications using signal processing (e.g. speech, image, video), Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Manufacturing and processing, Marine Biotechnology, Marine Ecosystems Restoration, Marine biodiversity conservation, Marine biorefineries, Marine, Coastal And Ocean Pollution, Maritime transport, Market-creating innovation, Marketing management, Materials engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical engineering, Media and communications, Medical biotechnology, Medical devices, Medical engineering, Medical statistics, Mental health, Metabolism, biological basis of metabolism related disorders, Migration, Mobile devices, Modelling, Databases and Risk Analysis, Nano-technology, Nanotechnology, nano-materials, nano engineering, Nature-based solutions, Neurosciences (including psychophysiology), New participatory democracy models, Nuclear, Nutrition, Dietetics, Obstetrics and gynaecology, Oncology, Optical engineering, photonics, lasers, Other agricultural sciences, Other engineering and technologies, Other humanities, Other medical sciences, Other natural sciences, Other social sciences, Personalised medicine, Pharmacology and pharmacy, Philosophy, Ethics and Religion, Photonics, Physical sciences, Plant breeding and plant protection, Plastics, Marine Litter and Circular Economy, Political science, Precision agriculture, Production technology, process engineering, Psychology, Public administration innovation, Public health, Public health and epidemiology, Public participation, Public sector innovation, Quantum Technologies (e.g. computing and communication), Rail infrastructure, Regenerative medicine, Regulatory affairs, Remote Sensing Instruments / Sensors, Remote sensing, Remote sensing: satelliteborne sensors, airborne platforms, radar and lidar systems, Renewable energy sources, Rheumatology, Robotics, Robotics and automatic control, Robotics and autonomous systems, Robotics, Tele-Robotics & Autonomous Systems (RTA), S5 - Emergency response (Copernicus service), Safety and Security, Satellite systems and applications, Scientific computing, simulation and modelling tools, Security, Social innovation, Social issues, Social structure, inequalities, social mobility, interethnic relations, Soil improvement, Soil science, Space, Space Situational Awareness, Space technology domain, Sustainable transport, Synthetic biology, chemical biology and new bio-engineering concepts, Technologies involving identifying the functioning of DNA, proteins and enzymes and how they influence the onset of disease and maintenance of well-being (gene-based diagnostics and therapeutic interventions (pharmacogenomics, gene-based, Technology management, Telecommunications, Tomography, Transportation, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles), Urban transport, Vaccines, Veterinary science, Waste, Water management, eHealth, STEP-Digital/deep tech, STEP-Biotech, STEP-Cleantech