The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (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.
Donor Name: Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/12/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
Farmer Rancher Grants provide opportunities for farmers to solve problems on the farm using innovative sustainable agriculture practices.
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.
Funding Information
Approximately $850,000 has been allocated to fund projects for this year’s Farmer Grants. Awards typically range from $5,000 to the maximum amount of $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.
Grant Period
Projects typically run from 1-3 years. All projects must be completed by November 30, 2028.
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 typically 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 can apply if 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.
- Proposals are limited to one per farm per year.
- A technical advisor is required for each project.
For more information, visit Northeast SARE.
