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Grant funding is available for farmers and others in the North Central region to improve sustainable agricultural practices here. The North Central Region-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) program currently has four open grant programs to fund research and education projects that advance sustainable agricultural.
These grant programs are for farmers, ranchers, scientists, educators, institutions, organizations, and others exploring sustainable agriculture in the 12 states in the North Central region (Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Illinois, and Wisconsin).
“I think a great place to start is to go to projects.sare.org, and look at what projects have been funded in the past by SARE,” advised Associate Director, North Central Region SARE, Betsy Wieland. “We look for projects that have farmers and ranchers involved in the process, from designing to implementing and sharing the results of their projects.”
NCR-SARE’s Current Open Grant Programs
- Research and Education Grant Program – a competitive grant program for researchers and educators. Preproposals for this program must be received October 10, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET.
- Partnership Grant Program – a competitive grant program for cooperative projects between agriculture professionals and small groups of farmers and ranchers. Proposals for this grant program must be received by October 17, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET.
- Youth Educator Grant Program – a competitive grant program for youth educators to encourage youth to try sustainable practices. Proposals must be received by November 7, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET. NCR-SARE will host a webinar about this grant program on October 2, 2024 at 5 p.m. ET. Register for this webinar now.
- Farmer Rancher Grant Program – a competitive grants program for farmers and ranchers. Proposals must be received by December 5, 2024 at 5 p.m. ET. NCR-SARE will host a webinar about this grant program on Oct. 3 at 5 p.m. ET.
Funding considerations are based on how well the applicant presents the problem being addressed, its relevance to sustainable agriculture in the 12-state North Central region, and how well it aligns with NCR-SARE’s goals.
“We look for projects that are addressing one of the three aspects of sustainability and agriculture. That’s helping agriculture be more environmentally sound, more socially fair, and also more economically viable for farming operations and their communities,” Wieland said. “Another great spot to learn more about our programs is our website, which is northcentral.sare.org. We’ve got tons of information checking out the call for proposals for each of the programs. There’s a ton of information on what’s eligible. We’ve got all the details there.”
NCR-SARE has awarded more than $100 million worth of competitive grants to farmers and ranchers, researchers, educators, public and private institutions, nonprofit groups, and others exploring sustainable agriculture in 12 states. Project abstracts and reports can be found by searching the SARE project database.
CLICK HERE for more information about Indiana SARE.