Extracted from a SARE email received on August 1, 2024.
The North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) 2025 Partnership Grant Program Call for Proposals is now available online at: https://northcentral.sare.org/Grants/Apply-for-a-Grant/Partnership-Grant/.
NCR-SARE’s Partnership Grant Program is intended to foster cooperation between agriculture professionals and small groups of farmers and ranchers to catalyze on-farm research, demonstration, and education activities related to sustainable agriculture.
Individual grants are limited to $50,000 total funding request per application is allowed. A total of $1,000,000 is available to fund roughly 20 projects this year. Last year, NCR-SARE received 39 proposals for this grant program and funded 22.
Deadline
The deadline for Partnership Grant Program proposals is October 17, 2024, at 4pm Central. The call for proposals is online at https://northcentral.sare.org/Grants/Apply-for-a-Grant/Partnership-Grant/.
NCR-SARE will accept online submissions for the Partnership Grant Program. The call for proposals provides more information about the online submission system.
Partnership Zoom Session
A Partnership Grant Zoom webinar will occur on September 5 at 10 am Central. NCR-SARE intends to record the Zoom session and post it online. Register for the Zoom online at: https://umn.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2nvF1hdvTZyzBgIrtVqj8g
Funding Decisions
NCR-SARE administers each grant program with specific goals, audiences, and timelines. 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, farmer-rancher engagement in the project, and how well it aligns with NCR-SARE’s goals.
A regional Administrative Council (AC) makes funding decisions, with review from a grant review committee. The Administrative Council is a collection of producers, university representatives, nonprofit group interests, Extension and NRCS people, other government employees, and agribusiness representatives. This group sets research priorities and recommends projects for funding.
Each state in SARE’s North Central Region has one or more State Sustainable Agriculture Coordinators who can provide information and assistance to potential grant applicants. Interested applicants can find their state SARE coordinator online at https://northcentral.sare.org/state-programs/state-coordinators/.
Questions?
For questions or additional information regarding the Partnership Grant Program, contact Betsy Wieland at (612) 626-6556 or eliza003@umn.edu.