The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program has released calls for preproposals for three grant programs—Research and Education, Professional Development and Research for Novel Approaches in Sustainable Agriculture.
The preproposals—for projects to start in 2020—are due online by June 25 at 5 p.m. ET. Applicants selected to submit full proposals will be contacted in mid-August with proposals due by Oct. 29. Projects awards will be made in late February 2020. More information on how to apply, including instructions for developing a preproposal, may be found at www.northeastsare.org/getgrant.
To decide which grant program is the best fit for their project, applicants are encouraged to use Northeast SARE’s grant decision tree (www.northeastsare.org/grantdecisiontree). Questions about the different grant programs should be directed to northeastsare@uvm.edu.
The Research and Education Program funds applied research and farmer education projects on sustainable farming and food system topics. Projects must engage farmers as cooperators; aim for specific, measurable change in farm practices; and have a plan to verify results. Awards typically range from $30,000 to $250,000.
The Professional Development Program awards funds, ranging from $30,000 to $150,000, to train-the-trainer projects involving sustainable agriculture concepts and techniques for Cooperative Extension educators, non-profit organization personnel and other agricultural service providers. Projects must specify measurable changes in service providers’ education and training of farmers.
Projects for the Research for Novel Approaches in Sustainable Agriculture grants use applied research (social science investigations and/or field and laboratory experiments) that test the feasibility of new practices and approaches that have high potential for adoption by farmers. Recipients will be awarded from $30,000 to $200,000.
Northeast SARE offers competitive grants and sustainable agriculture education in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The program is one of four regional SARE programs funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.