Deadline: 3-Dec-21
The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) is seeking applications for On-Farm Research Grants Program to provide opportunities for agriculture professionals working directly with farmers and ranchers on sustainable agriculture efforts.
Focus Areas
- Beneficial Insect Habitat: Developing cover crops or other plant mixes and locations to provide habitat (refuges) that keep populations of native beneficial insects living on the farm ready to attack crop pests as they occur.
- Alternative Crops/Animals: Developing alternative crops, animals or products that help a producer’s operation become more economically sustainable. These projects must be at least as environmentally sustainable as the existing crops, animals or products they supplement or replace.
- Organic Agriculture: Projects that address the production, distribution, marketing and consumption of organic farm products. This includes farmers adding value to organic products. Research into farming systems and practices that make use of on-farm biological cycles for soil, plant and pest management are accepted.
- Sustainable Marketing Projects: Developing markets for existing or alternative crops, animals or products.
- Sustainable Grazing Systems: Use of native grass species and/or plant or animal management systems to make grazing systems more sustainable.
- Soil Organic Matter Building/Protection/Management: Projects that increase the sustainability of farming systems by developing soil organic matter and soil biota.
- Increasing Sustainability of Existing Farming Practices: Any practice or system that increases the sustainability of an existing farming practice. The results should be able to be used by other farmers.
- Appropriate Technology: Projects that develop a device or piece of machinery that promotes sustainable agriculture and can’t be purchased off the shelf. The device or machinery must have application for farmers/ranchers, be able to be built by them and enable them to operate more sustainably.
- Agroforestry: Projects that demonstrate and quantify the feasibility of establishing agroforestry in the region.
Funding Information
- On-Farm Research Grant Calls for Proposals open September and grants are awarded in February the following calendar year.
- On-Farm Research Grant project maximums are $20,000 for two-year projects. SSARE recommends two-year projects; it is difficult to extrapolate useable, replicable, practicable data from one-year research.
Allowable Expenses
On-Farm Research Grant funds may be used for the following purposes:
- Costs of sampling and sample analysis. This can include in-field data collection or lab data analysis.
- Renting equipment needed for the project. The rental must not extend beyond the project’s timetable.
- Materials and supplies needed for the project. The materials and supplies must remain within the scope of the project and be a reasonable request relative to the research being conducted. An example would be the amount of seed needed relative to the size of the research plots.
- Travel needed for the project, which can include lodging, mileage and meals. The travel must relate to the project’s goals/activities.
- Hiring labor needed to effectively conduct and complete the project within the proposed timetable. This can include hiring farmer/rancher labor beyond normal farming duties. Hired labor must remain within the scope of the project and be a reasonable salary request.
- Expenses related to the project’s outreach plan. This can include holding a field day, workshop, farm tour or demonstration program; the printing of educational materials, such as fact sheets, manuals or curriculum; or the development of other resources such as apps, webinars or videos.
- The educational materials developed for the outreach plan must remain within the scope of the work and be a reasonable request. An example would be the amount requested for the printing of educational materials relative to the size of the audience the resource is intended to reach during the life of the project.
- Refreshments at educational events, such as workshops or field days.
Grant Requirements
- On-Farm Research Grant proposals must meet the following basic requirements in order to be considered for funding:
- The proposed project focuses on sustainable agriculture practices and techniques to address a particular on-farm issue.
- Applicants must work directly with farmers/ranchers in their profession.
- Applicants must identify at least one farmer/rancher cooperator in the proposed project, and the work must be conducted on farm (either on the cooperator’s farm, or on a research farm with the cooperator’s involvement).
- The farmer/rancher cooperator’s primary occupation must be farming or ranching or they are a part-time producer. They run their own farm alone or with family or partners and have at $1,000 of documented annual income from their operation.
- The proposed project satisfies the requirements of allowable expenses.
- An outreach component is identified in the proposal.
Eligibility Criteria
- Agricultural professionals who currently and regularly work with farmers and ranchers are eligible to apply for On-Farm Research Grants.
- These can be extension specialists; university researchers; government agencies, such as NRCS; NGOs; community organizations; or other groups or individuals, such as ag consultants. An applicant may only submit one proposal per grant cycle.
- Southern SARE accepts proposals from applicants in the Southern region: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Note: On-Farm Research Grants are not open to farmers.
For more information, visit Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.
For more information, visit https://southern.sare.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/on-farm-research-grants/