$100,000 funding for Professional Development Program: United States

Deadline: 12-Nov-20

The Administrative Council of the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program announces the call for proposals for Professional Development Program competitive grants for 2021.

Professional Development Program (PDP) Grants are aimed at helping Cooperative Extension Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service and other agricultural professionals in the Western Region increase their understanding and proficiency in sustainable agriculture.

Proposals are evaluated by a Review Panel against the criteria outlined in this call and in comparison with other PDP grant proposals. The Western SARE Administrative Council – a board of agricultural producers, scientists, educators and business leaders – will then make the final selections of projects to fund. The council typically selects proposals diverse in subject matter and geography, and that demonstrate outcomes that farmers and ranchers in the region can successfully adopt.

SARE is a USDA competitive grants program that supports agricultural systems that are economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible.

Goals

Promote good stewardship of the nation’s natural resources by providing site-specific, regional, and profitable sustainable farming and ranching methods that strengthen agricultural competitiveness; satisfy human food and fiber needs; maintain and enhance the quality and productivity of soil; conserve soil, water, energy, natural resources and fish and wildlife habitat, and maintain and improve the quality of surface and ground water.
Enhance the quality of life of farmers and ranchers and ensure the viability of rural communities, for example, by increasing income and employment, especially profitable self-employment and innovative marketing opportunities in agricultural and rural communities.
Protect the health and safety of those involved in food and farm systems by reducing, where feasible and practical, the use of toxic materials in agricultural production, and by optimizing onfarm resources and integrating, where appropriate, biological cycles and controls.
Promote crop, livestock, and enterprise diversification.
Examine the regional, economic, social, and environmental implications of adopting sustainable agriculture practices and systems.

Funding Information

Funding limit is $100,000 per project.

Professional Development Program Grant funds must be budgeted in the following categories

Salaries and Benefits: compensating yourself and/or employees (including students) of your institution for performing work directly related to the project. Provide base salary, FTEs, fringe benefit rates, and salary/benefits amounts requested.
Subawards: paying project collaborators who are not at your institution and/or to cover costs associated with the sub recipient’s portion of the proposed project.
Contracted Services: includes paying for professional services (e.g., testing and analysis services, survey development and administration, computational services, website development or maintenance, professional production services (such as a videographer to produce educational electronic media), consultants, honoraria, speaker fees, producer labor, etc.
Supplies: Includes basic supplies and materials needed to carry out the project. Examples include: agricultural supplies (fencing, seeds, plants, fertilizer), field and lab supplies, minor equipment and tools (individual items that cost less than $5,000), paper/envelopes, in-house photocopying of materials for workshops/meetings, software, books, shipping materials, etc. Any shipping costs associated with the purchase of supplies/materials should be included as supply costs. The purchase of food/refreshments for meetings/field days is only allowed if it is necessary to maintain the continuity of a project activity/meeting It is considered a supply cost.
Communication: includes postage and mailing expenses (including shipping samples for analysis), printed materials (flyers, brochures, posters). This category also includes expenses for publishing articles in scientific journals or other types of field/program publications, or for commercial photocopying (Note: inhouse photocopying falls under supplies)
Travel: includes estimated mileage reimbursement, airfare, lodging, meal per diem; car rentals, taxi, bus, shuttle expenses and parking; conference fees and registrations, etc. [Please note, travel per diems and mileage need to align with your organization’s approved rates. If no rate is available, please use the Federal Government rate listed on the U.S. General Services Administration website. NOTE: foreign travel is typically NOT allowed under the SARE program except in cases where sufficient justification has been provided and requires Western SARE approval. All foreign travel must be directly related to the project, must be essential for project completion and well justified (e.g., explain why this activity cannot be done in the USA, relevance to Western agriculture sustainability, provide foreign institution and colleagues qualifications, etc.).USDA-NIFA requires that foreign travel be done on a U.S. flag air carrier.
Rent: includes fees associated with renting equipment, land, facilities (e.g., meeting rooms, lab space) and user fees.
Participant / Trainee Support: Participant Support costs are associated with conference, workshop, or symposium attendees who are not employees of the applicant or a subaward recipient institution(s). Trainee
Support costs are associated with educational projects that support trainees. Participants/Trainees can receive a set amount for participation in the above-stated functions. If participant/trainee travel expenses are itemized (not a lump sum payment), include those expenses in the Travel budget category.
Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs, also referred to as Indirect Costs (IDCs): Under the SARE program, NIFA states IDCs may not exceed 10% of the Total Federal Funds Awarded (TFFA); this calculates to roughly 11.111% of Total Direct Costs (TDC). Note: the 10% limit is a cap on the portion of an applicant’s budget that may be requested for IDCs; it is not an IDC rate. Additionally, some institutions may not be eligible to request IDCs or may be limited to the 10% de minimis. You must indicate the rate you are using on the Western SARE Budget Worksheet. Detailed information about Indirect Costs rates and calculations can be found on the Western SARE website.

More information about each budget category is provided on the Budget Categories and Guidance tab found on the Western SARE Budget Worksheet.

Professional Development Program Grant funds may NOT be used for the following purposes

Capital Equipment purchases – Defined as a single, autonomous piece of equipment that costs $5,000 or more and has a useful life of more than one year. Minor equipment under $5,000 is allowed – please include as a supply cost
Starting or expanding a farm or farm operation
Major renovations/permanent improvements to a farm or ranch, such as constructing or remodeling a building
Repair and maintenance of existing equipment/infrastructure
Providing meals during events that are not necessary to maintain the continuity of a scheduled meeting; breakfasts and dinners typically do not qualify
Testing of commercial products
Student tuition and fees

Key Points to Consider in Project Development

One project per year limit per PI: Western SARE’s long standing policy and practice is that is a Principal Investigator cannot receive more than one Western SARE grant award in the same year. For example Dr.Jane Doe cannot receive a 2021 WSARE Research and Education grant award AND a 2021 WSARE Professional Development program grant award. In such instances that two applications are submitted by the same Principal Investigator and both are of sufficient technical merit to be funded, the WSARE Administrative Council will only fund one application.
Institutional and collaborative participation: One goal of the program is to broaden the rainer/educator base of sustainable agriculture expertise. Multi-disciplinary, multi-state and multi-organizational efforts that include other private or public entities are encouraged. Agricultural producers and community leaders are encouraged to be part of the trainer/educator team.
Integrated training and education: Applications should emphasize an integrated or holistic approach with methods and outputs that support a broad-based educational effort. WSARE encourages applications that integrate multiple aspects of sustainable agricultural production, marketing, families, rural communities and quality of life.
Training and educational methodology: Projects must demonstrate enhanced knowledge and skills of participants, and trainer/educator teams are encouraged to develop new and innovative ways for learning to take place. Projects that create electronic or written educational products (e.g. manuals, web-based information or databases) should have an accompanying training component for use of that product, such as training sessions or tutorials.
Impacts and outcomes assessment: It is important to provide evidence that educational objectives have been fulfilled, with desired outcomes clearly defined, evaluated and documented. Grantees should build in a reasonable timeline and approach to properly complete the evaluation of project impacts. Use the WSARE
PDP logic model as a reference point as you develop your proposal. The logic model can be found under “Proposal Preparation Documents” on the Western SARE web site
Location: Proposed projects can be located at any institution in the Western region of United State, including nongovernmental organizations, that has demonstrated fiscal responsibility and expertise in sustainable agriculture, and is able and qualified to receive funds from the U.S. Government.
Letters of support: Please include letters of support from project co-operators. should be included in the proposal online submission form under “Supporting Documents/Optional-Letters of Support and References” section

Eligibility Criteria

Professional Development Program Grants are designed to educate agricultural professionals about sustainable agriculture so they, in turn, can educate and train farmers and ranchers.
Multi-faceted proposals are encouraged. Projects using multiple techniques or methods are recommended, as are efforts whose results can be applied to wide and diverse audiences.
Projects must improve the ability of agricultural professionals to conduct educational programs and activities in sustainable agriculture principles and systems and to respond to inquiries on the subject from farmers, ranchers and the public.
Approaches can include, among others:
- Workshops
- Conferences
- Development of materials or curricula
- Demonstrations
- Web-based courses
- Tours
Subject matter can include any sustainable agriculture endeavor, including animal agriculture, agronomic or horticultural crop production, or the effects of sustainable practices on quality of life for producers or rural communities.