Northeast SARE Farmer Grant Program

Northeast SARE Farmer Grant Program is sponsored by Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). This program supports farmer-led projects and research that aim to improve farming and food systems. It focuses on sustainable agriculture and can include social science research and education projects that strengthen agricultural communities.

Farmer Grant Program - SARE Northeast Farmer Grant Call for Proposals Closed The Call for Proposals has Closed. Join our mailing list to stay up-to-date on future callls.

Farmer Grant Commitment Form Northeast SARE's Definition of a Farm Tips for Writing a Strong Proposal How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranch Conducting Online Outreach for Northeast SARE Farmer Grants How to Submit Your Proposal in the Online Grant Management System Program Informational Webinar Recording Northeast SARE offers grants to farmers to explore new concepts in sustainable agriculture conducted through experiments, surveys, prototypes, on-farm demonstrations or other research and education techniques.

Farmer Grant projects address issues that affect farming with long-term sustainability in mind. Competitive proposals explore new techniques. Reviewers look to fund projects that are well-designed meet our legislative priorities, and serve to benefit sustainable agriculture in the Northeast For guidance on how to design your project, refer to SARE’s bulletin, How to Conduct Research on Your Farm or Ranch .

To see examples of funded Farmer Grant projects, visit the national SARE project database at projects. sare. org/search-projects/ .

The Farmer Grant program is open to all commercial farm business owners and farm employees in the Northeast region. This grant program accepts applications from all scales of farms (large, small, organic, etc.) To be eligible, you must meet the U.S. Census of Agriculture definition of a Farm: “Any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year.

” For more information see, “Northeast SARE’s Definition of Farm ”. Farm employees are eligible to apply. If you are applying as a farm employee, you must complete a Grant Commitment Form and ensure that it includes both your signature and the farm owner’s signature verifying they will be financially responsible for the project.

Farmers on farms affiliated with an institution or a nonprofit organization are also eligible to apply as long as the farm produces and sells agricultural products that meet the farm definition above. For these proposals, you must use the name of the 501(c) organization in the proposal and complete a Grant Commitment Form. Northeast SARE grants are paid on a reimbursement basis.

Therefore, your farm must have the legal structure and financial capacity in place to receive and execute a Northeast SARE contract, including expending funds needed for the project prior to receiving reimbursements from Northeast SARE; advance payments are not possible. Projects must take place within the Northeast region. Proposals are limited to one per farm per year.

Current grant recipients who are behind in their reporting cannot apply. Northeast SARE will not fund proposals that appear to duplicate work that has been approved for funding by another grant program (within or external to SARE). Northeast SARE is committed to accessibility for all eligible applicants.

We encourage you to reach out to us regarding any challenges you experience as you plan and submit your proposal. To do so or to specifically request a disability-related accommodation, please contact Northeast SARE as soon as possible at 802-656-7650 or northeastsare@uvm. edu .

Funding available and timeline Awards typically range from $5,000 to $30,000, depending upon a project’s complexity and duration. Projects that are more complex include multi-farm collaboration, intensive education for other farmers and/or service providers, and/or replicated research over multiple years or locations. Simpler, straightforward proposals with modest budgets are equally encouraged.

Applicants should only request the amount of funding that is clearly necessary for the success of their project. What funds can be used for Funds can be used to conduct the research project including paying farmers for their time, for project-related materials, for project costs like consulting fees or soil tests, and any communications or outreach expenses associated with telling others about project results.

What funds cannot be used for This grant program is not meant to help start or expand farm businesses. Farmer Grant funds cannot be used for capital costs associated with building a barn, greenhouse, or other major farm fixture, nor can funds be used to start a farm, purchase durable equipment like tractors or computers, or for any utility, telephone, or other costs that would be there in the absence of the project.

What is expected of grantees Farmer Grant recipients are expected to collect and manage reliable data about their project and convey this information clearly through annual and final reports. Learn more about Managing Farmer Grants here . Northeast SARE Farmer/Rancher Grants projects funded since 1988 Totals reflect available data.

Complete information may not be available for all grant programs prior to 2016. Organizational Definitions All Northeast SARE grants must fit within one or more of SARE's Legislative Priorities that encourage research to increase knowledge concerning agricultural production.

These priorities include: ● maintaining and enhancing the quality and productivity of the soil; ● conserving soil, water, energy, natural resources, and fish and wildlife habitat; ● maintaining and enhancing the quality of surface and ground water; ● protecting the health and safety of persons involved in the food and farm system; ● promoting the well-being of animals; and ● Increasing employment opportunities in agriculture.

Projects having a significant impact/impression on farmer's and farming communities is also critical. Impact can be economic, social, environmental etc. For example: How does the research support farmer/farming community livelihoods? How does the research build strong economies through local and/or regional trade?

How does the research improve crop production? For impact, replicability is important. Replicability is the ability of another farmer or farming community to obtain similar results when applying the same method (s).

In other words, another farmer can utilize the results of the research to benefit their farming practices of behavior. "Northeast agricultural communities honor the holistic connection among land, water, air, and all living beings. Agriculture in the Northeast is sustainable so that all farmers and farm employees can steward resources to ensure sustainability, resilience, economic viability, and a high quality of life."

Innovation is defined as the development or adoption of new concepts or ideas and the successful exploration of new ideas. Ideation is the basis of creativity. The process of creative ideation develops new concepts; Innovation applies them.

Creativity can only emerge when an innovator takes the idea and puts it into practice. Innovation can also be social and develop and implement novel and effective solutions to meet social and environmental challenges. The results should improve the welfare and well being of individual farmers and farming communities and reproducible.

Within the scope of Northeast SARE, examples can include, but are not limited to: ● The introduction of a new behavior/practice, one with which farmers are not yet familiar ● The introduction of an improved or better agricultural behavior/practice, which may not be new, but is an improvement upon what occurred before. ● The opening of a new market that has not been entered previously, whether this market has existed previously.

● A new source of supply of materials or goods, again irrespective of whether this source already exists or whether it has first to be created. ● Improved organizational structure and/or capacity.

Northeast SARE encourages innovative solutions to challenges in farming and food systems in the Northeast USA, including but not limited to the areas of: Economic and social sustainability Northeast SARE does not support: Educational programs for the general public General public awareness campaigns about agriculture and nutrition Community or school gardening initiatives