The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education is accepting applications for its Farmer Grant Program.
Donor Name: Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/14/2023
Size of the Grant: up to $30,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
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 ideas and techniques or apply known ideas in new ways or with new communities.
A wide variety of topics can be funded by Northeast SARE, including marketing and business, crop production, raising livestock, aquaculture, social sustainability, climate-smart agriculture practices, urban and Indigenous agriculture and much more.
Funding Information
Farmer Rancher Grants provide opportunities for farmers to solve problems on the farm using innovative sustainable agriculture practices. Projects can focus on research or education and demonstration. Grant requests can be up to $30,000 and projects must be completed within 3 years. A technical advisor is required and should be enlisted at the early stages of the proposal development.
Eligible Expenses
Eligible Expenses Funds may be used for the following expenses if they are specific to the project:
- Labor, including wages, stipends, salary and fringe benefits for individuals working on the project
- Materials and supplies, including research and education supplies, outreach materials, and project-specific software
- Travel and per diem expenses necessary for the project
- Expenses to produce publications, like fact sheets, guides, flyers, etc., as well as copies, postage and other project communication expenses
- Compensation for services like farmer stipends, presenter fees and other services rendered, lab fees, as well as research incentives and compensation for interviewees, and subscriptions for project specific services, e.g., for video conferencing or online data storage
- Meeting and training expenses, including facility rental and participant support costs
- Equipment purchases and fabrication necessary for, and specific to, the project; Equipment with general uses, like a computer or tractor, are not eligible
- Rental or operating charges for farm equipment, land, or greenhouse space
- Subawards for portions of the project conducted by other organizations
- Indirect costs up to 10 percent of total direct costs. Please note that for-profit businesses generally cannot include indirect costs in the budget.
Geographical Areas
The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply for a farmer grant, you must be a commercial farm business owner or farm employee:
- Located in the Northeast region
- A commercial farm from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year.
- 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.
- Current grant recipients who are behind in their reporting cannot apply. If you have a grant project that has ended or is near completion, finish it and file your final report; if your project is still in progress, make sure you have submitted a recent annual report.
- Proposals are limited to one per farm per year.
For more information, visit Northeast SARE.
