Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (Western SARE) is soliciting applications to lead a consultative process and create a Sustainable Agriculture Action Plan to document the research, regulatory, area infrastructure, and educational needs and priorities required to increase sustainable agriculture practices in a specific industry/commodity or a specific area of the West.
Donor Name: Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (Western SARE)
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
U.S. Territories: American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 08/15/2022
Grant Size: $15,000
Details:
The Sustainable Agriculture Action Plan (SAAP) is a new type of publication designed to document important stakeholder-derived information about the sustainable agriculture needs and priorities of specific industries and specific areas in the Western United States. This information can then be used by university researchers and Extension specialists, regulators, elected officials, the USDA, and other potential funders and partners to address the stakeholder-identified needs.
Proposals should address each of the following:
- Focus of the Project: Identify whether the plan is industry-focused or area-focused and define the industry or area. Area-focused projects must be based in Western SARE’s region. For area-based projects, describe the area, the crops, and agricultural systems within it and why the specific area chosen makes sense from a planning perspective. Explain the need for an analysis of that industry or geographic area and describe the potential benefits and impacts.
- Stakeholder Identification and Input: Describe a process for identifying and engaging stakeholders and gathering their input. Stakeholders may include producers (farmers or ranchers), processors, commodity organizations, university researchers and Extension educators, government officials, regulatory agencies, conservation districts, consultants, and others. Area-based projects will naturally have a broader stakeholder base than industry-based projects. Stakeholder input should be gathered through live or virtual meetings (or a series of meetings) and may be supplemented through surveys, phone calls or other means. Applicants should describe their plan for preparing and facilitating this process.
- Document Preparation: The goal of this funding is to create written Sustainable Agriculture Action Plans that are useful to producers, commodity organizations, researchers, Extension educators, regulators, and other officials by documenting specific stakeholder-identified needs and priorities. These stakeholder-documented needs can then become the basis for new research or Extension activities, regulatory changes, investment, collaboration, funding proposals, or other activities to increase sustainable agricultural practices in an industry or area. These documents should clearly define the industry or area, the participants and the consultative process used to gather stakeholder input. The bulk of the document should describe the research needs, regulatory issues or barriers, local-area infrastructure needs, and educational or training needs and priorities identified by stakeholders that limit broad adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Western SARE will post final Sustainable Agriculture Action Plans on its website.
- Best Practices: Because Sustainable Agriculture Action Plans are a new type of document, applicants to this RFA are asked to assist Western SARE staff in the preparation of guidelines andbest practices for developing future Sustainable Agriculture Action Plans. Applicants should indicate their willingness to participate in the development of best practices guidelines at the conclusion of their project.
Funding Information
Each successful proposal will be funded for a maximum of $15,000, which will be awarded as a contracted services agreement by Montana State University, the Western SARE Host Institution.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants include private individuals and institutions, faculty, and qualified staff of twoand four-year universities, businesses, commodity organizations, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The applicant must be in the Western Region, which includes the following states and territories: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
For more information, visit Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.
