August 20, 2024

2025 USDA Sustainable Agriculture Farmer Grant Project Information

Farmers in the Northeast can apply for up to $30,000 in funding for sustainable agriculture projects starting in 2025. These projects can range from experiments to on-farm events and demonstrations or other educational activities.

The Call for 2025 Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Farmer Grants is now available. Approximately $850,000 has been allocated to fund projects. Awards of up to $30,000 are available. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on November 12,2024.

Q&A Sessions are taking place alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays in October. Register once to attend any of the sessions.
Sessions will take place on: Oct 8, 16, 22, 30. from 12 to 1 EST

To register see https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlcO-qrjguGtSNrOemAOP7pZWbUCcl5GqN#/registration

To see the call for proposals https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/Northeast-SARE-Farmer-Grant-Call-for-Proposals.pdf

To learn more about the SARE Farmer Grants https://northeast.sare.org/grants/get-a-grant/farmer-grant-program

For More Information contact USDA NESARE or your State Coordinator: Stephen Komar at komar@njaes.rutgers.edu

Filed Under: Agrivoltaics, Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Organic Production, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: ,
September 20, 2022

SARE Farmer Grants for 2023 – Webinar on October 4th

Truck spreading fertilizerMultiple Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) grant recipient Tommye Lou Rafes, of T.L. Fruits and Vegetables in West Virginia, is sharing her experiences to help other farmers experiment with new ideas through the Farmer Grant program.

At noon on October 4th, 2022, Rafes will join Northeast SARE Grant Coordinator Candice Huber for an informational webinar to assist farmers interested in applying for up to $30,000 in funding for projects beginning in March 2023. Registration is required and participants are encouraged to submit questions ahead of the event. The Call for Farmer Grant Proposals is currently available and the online system for submitting applications is opening soon. Applications are due November 15, 2022.

Northeast SARE Farmer Grants are perfect for farmers looking to grow through new practices. Rafes first learned about SARE while attending a Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training. One of the professors hosting the meeting was a SARE reviewer who invited the attendees to apply for a grant. Rafes knew sustainable practices like using renewable-powered high tunnels to extend growing seasons could be good for business as well as the planet. “Growing in the winter months is a completely different way than you do in the summer months,” she said. “I decided to test varieties that were successful during the winter months as well as growing conditions that could be improved so that people would be more successful.”

Grant Coordinator Candice Huber says Farmer Grants are an opportunity for farmers to try things that could improve their operations. SARE funds can cover the farmer’s time on the project, any farm workers time spent on the project, supplies that are not capital purchase, technical support, soil testing and other budgeted items. Farmer grant projects generally are for one year.

If you have an idea and you need resources to really explore it, a Farmer Grant can connect you with those resources. This webinar will be a good starting point and participants must pre-register. See below.

To sign up for the October 4th webinar at 12:00PM go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/6516611235851/WN_RoG_IkMmSDGsduZwmFgKkA

For information about the application for SARE Farmer grants see https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/Northeast-SARE-Farmer-Grant-Call-for-Proposals.pdf

For general information about Northeast SARE go to Northeast SARE Home Page – SARE Northeast

Filed Under: Blueberry, Christmas Trees, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Disease Forecasting, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Plant Diagnostic Lab, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: ,
August 23, 2022

2023 Farmer Grant Proposals from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)

Do you hGrapevinesave an idea you would like to try on your farm that is related to sustainable agriculture? Stephen Komar, Rutgers SARE Coordinator and Sussex County Agricultural Agent, would like to announce that Northeast SARE will open the website for 2023 applications for Farmer Grants on October 1st. Approximately $750,000 has been allocated to fund projects for this grant cycle. Individual awards typically range from $5,000 to $30,000, depending upon a project’s complexity and duration. Projects must be related to sustainable agriculture and results are to be shared through a final report to SARE along with some type of outreach by the farmer as part of the project. 

The online system for submitting proposals will open on Oct 1, 2022. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on November 15, 2022. Go to Northeast-SARE-Farmer-Grant-Call-for-Proposals.pdf for more information. 

Northeast SARE Farmer Grants provide the resources farmers need to explore new concepts in sustainable agriculture conducted through experiments, surveys, prototypes, on-farm demonstrations or other research and education techniques. Projects address issues that affect farming with long-term sustainability in mind. Northeast SARE funds projects in a wide variety of topics, including marketing and business, crop production, raising livestock, aquaculture, social sustainability, climate-smart agriculture practices, urban and indigenous agriculture and more.

The goals of SARE Farmer Grants are to help farmers try new things that could improve their operations and to share that information with others. There are also some other restrictions for budget items. Funds can be used to conduct the research project including paying farmers for their time, for project-related materials, for project costs like consulting fees or soil tests, and any communications or outreach expenses associated with telling others about project results. This grant program is not meant to help start or expand farm businesses. Farmer Grant funds cannot be used for capital costs associated with building a barn, greenhouse, or other major farm fixture, nor can funds be used to start a farm, purchase durable equipment like tractors or computers, or for any utility, telephone, or other costs that would be there in the absence of the project.

Farmer and employee wages can be included in a Farmer Grant budget for work done specifically on the grant project. Applicants should include a reasonable wage for their work on a grant project. In New Jersey, the current adverse wage rate used for the H2-A farm worker program is currently $15.54 per hour and could help gauge wages for employees time on the project. For farmer/project manager) wages, the rate to use would be higher and could be based on the complexity of the tasks on the project. 

In addition, each project must include a technical advisor to assist with the project. Technical advisors can be anyone who is an agricultural service provider, such as your local cooperative extension agricultural agent, USDA personnel, an agricultural consultant, etc. In New Jersey and other states, SARE Coordinators are not eligible to be technical coordinators due to a conflict of interest of leadership in the program. Therefore, Agricultural Agents, Stephen Komar (Rutgers SARE Coordinator) and Michelle Infante-Casella (Rutgers SARE Assistant Coordinator) are not able to be technical advisors to grants. However, if you have questions about the grant process, they both can help answer questions or point farmers in the right direction to identify technical advisors. 

A SARE Farmer Grant informational webinar featuring Tommye Lou Rafes, who has received multiple SARE Farmer Grants, will take place at 12:00 p.m. on October 4, 2022. This webinar information will help farmers thinking of applying for a SARE grant to learn about the process and types of projects that fit this program. To register for the webinar go to northeast.sare.org/farmergrantwebinar

The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. Like other SARE Grants, Farmer Grants are competitive and will be judged against other applicants in the region.

To learn more about SARE project in New Jersey see New Jersey State Fact Sheet (sare.org) 

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Cranberry, Disease Forecasting, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Nursery, Organic Production, pesticide credits, Plant Diagnostic Lab, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Turf, Uncategorized, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: ,