The Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection (DATCP) provides funding to agricultural producers to focus on commercial nitrogen optimization activities through the Nitrogen Optimization Program (NOPP).
Donor Name: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection
State: Wisconsin
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant | Reimbursement
Deadline: 01/17/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program (NOPP) provides funding to agricultural producers to perform on-farm research pertaining to commercial nitrogen application. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) will collaborate with the Universities of Wisconsin (UW) with DATCP as program administrator and UW providing technical and data support. This formal partnership fulfills the statutory collaboration requirement, with up to 20% of each grant award designated for UW.
Reducing nitrogen (N) application rates while maintaining yield is one of the first things producers can do to address optimization. Reducing N application rates can result in cost-savings and less N leaching into groundwater. The project designs must follow standard research approaches, such as randomization and replication. Each study in each field is a standalone study that uses accepted statistical approaches to address the study question.
Funding Information
- $1.0 million is available for grants in this funding cycle. Funding for grant reimbursement will be available once both parties sign the contract and no earlier than January 1, 2025. Contracts will be for a minimum of two years.
- A single agricultural producer may apply for an award up to $40,000. Multiple agricultural producers may work together to submit a single application (for example, a project with two participating agricultural producers may apply for an award up to $80,000). Applicants DO NOT need to factor the UW System award for monitoring and research assistance into their proposed budget. The UW System award will be calculated based on the total of all approved project budgets and will be awarded directly from DATCP to the UW System.
Eligible Costs
Examples of Eligible Costs:
- Soil and plant tissue sampling and analysis
- Groundwater or surface water monitoring and analysis.
- Stipend payment for inclusion of zero-N strips into project, per the Application Spreadsheet.
- Incentive payments for participation in study, not to exceed $2,500 per producer.
- Consultant or producer costs for coordinating project including expenses for contract and consulting services, and mileage. Project management costs are capped at 25% of the total project cost. Mileage reimbursement is set by the state and is currently $0.51/mile.
- Materials and supplies directly associated with the project including inputs ONLY for the test strips/areas. Limited expenses incurred prior to contracting may be eligible for reimbursement if the activity and costs can be directly associated with the early stages of the project.
- County staff time at a rate of $25/hour is an eligible cost under this grant as long as the county staff position is NOT already funded by DATCP SWRM.
- Equipment purchases directly associated with the research project. DATCP preapproval is required for equipment purchases over $2,500. Equipment purchase requires a statement of ownership and intended use of the product after the NOPP project is finalized.
- Rental costs for equipment directly associated with research projects. DATCP preapproval is required, if not itemized on the grant budget application.
- Other costs deemed as consistent with the purpose of this grant program.
Eligibility Criteria
- An agricultural producer may be the grant applicant for one (1) grant project per cycle.
- The agricultural producer must operate an eligible farm (a farm that has produced at least $6,000 in gross farm revenues during the taxable year to which the claim relates or, in the taxable year to which the claim relates and the immediately preceding taxable years, at least $18,000 in the gross farm revenues).
For more information, visit DATCP.
