Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
(N/A)
BURLINGTON,VT 05405
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program offers competitive grants to farmers,educators, researchers, non-profit organizations, public agencies, and private business to address issues affecting thesustainability of agriculture throughout the 12 Northeast states and the District of Columbia. The SARE program is funded byannual, 5-year cooperative agreements between USDA/NIFA and the land-grant universities serving as host institutions in eachof the four USDA regions.Each SARE region is guided by an Administrative Council made up of a diverse set of agricultural stakeholders. The Councilhas the authority to approve funding for projects that are recommended by review teams, and it oversees the performance of theRegional SARE Director, who serves as PI on annual cooperative agreements with NIFA and must be an employee of the hostinstitution. The Council also reviews and recommends host institution applicants every 5 years.Northeast SARE offers 6 different competitive grant programs aimed at serving different audiences. Each program uses aunique set of criteria used during a review process conducting by stakeholder teams. SARE staff are responsible for managingfair, transparent and effective reviews, and they support grantees with project reporting. The results of SARE projects aredisseminated by regional and national SARE communications staff through educational products, web sites, a project reportdatabase, and other outreach tools.SARE projects have worked with a variety of farms, such as those engaged with aquaculture, bees, fruit, livestock, maple,ornamentals, vegetables and more. They address many audiences, including beginning farmers, conventional and organicfarmers, urban farms, and agricultural service providers. And the specific issues addressed are amazingly diverse, spanningeconomics, production, pest management, soil health and quality of life. Because SARE is so flexible with regard to the type ofprojects eligible for funding, it supports creativity, innovation, and responsiveness to emerging issues among its applicants andgrantees.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
This goal of this project, hosted by the University of Vermont, is to implement the USDA / NIFA Sustainable AgricultureResearch and Education (SARE) program for 12 northeastern states and the District of Columbia. The program offersgrants to promote research, outreach, and training that will help agriculture become more profitable,protect natural resources and the environment, and improve the quality of life for farmers and their communities.
Project Methods
Northeast SARE staff, administrative council and technical committee members work together to implement our grant prgrams, developing and distributing requests for applications, supporting applicants, reviewing and selecting proposals for funding, awarding contracts to projects, supporting project implementation, and reviewing project reports. Grant program meterials and procedures are customized for specific audiences and activities.Farmer Grants are for commercial farmers who want to test a new idea using a field trial, on-farm demonstration, marketing initiative, or other approach. A technical advisor (an agricultural service provider, or another farmer) is required to be part of the project to assist farmers with proposal development and implementation. Grants are capped at $30,000 and projects typically run for one to two years.Partnership Grants are for agricultural service providers (Extension, consultants, state and Federal agency staff, non-profit personnel, and other advisors in the farm community) who want to conduct on-farm demonstration, research, and/or marketing projects in strong collaboration with farmers. Grants are capped at $30,000 and projects typically run for one to two years.Graduate Student Grants are for students enrolled in a graduate program at an accredited college, university, or veterinary school who want to research a topic in sustainable agriculture. Proposals must be written by the graduate student, who also manages the project, though the PI for the grant is their advisor. Grants are capped at $15,000 and projects run for one to two years.Research and Education Grants are for people who want to conduct education for farmers based on completed research, and optionally, conduct additional related research. Applicants include the range of stakeholder groups identified in Figure 1. The focus of this program is to help farmers gain the knowledge and skills needed to make changes in practices and/or behaviors that will lead to greater sustainability. Grants are generally capped at $250,000 and run for three to four years.Research for Novel Approaches Grants are another type of Research and Education grant for investigations of agricultural practices that have strong potential for farmer adoption but need additional evidence of effectiveness, reliability, or affordability. The focus is to build on previous work using a 'proof of concept' approach aimed at enabling farmer adoption of new practices and/or behaviors. Grants are generally capped at $200,000 and projects run for three to four years.Professional Development Grants are for agricultural service providers to educate their peers in sustainable agriculture concepts and practices. The focus is on "train-the-trainer" projects that create new educational opportunities and technical support for farmers seeking to implement sustainable agriculture practices. Grants are generally capped at $150,000 and projects run for two to three years.State Program Grants support the plans of work developed by SARE SC at each of the 16 Land Grant Universities in the region. Each state identifies their subject matter needs and proposes education and, in some cases applied research, to address those needs. States may work on joint projects. State Program funding also supports outreach about SARE's grant programs and educational resources. Grants are capped at $47,000 per year and projects run for 3 years. This program is non-competitive, as stipulated in SARE's authorizing legislation.New grant programs may be authorized by the AC. As we implement our strategic plan for DEIJ, the AC may authorize a new grant program to respond to the needs of BIPOC communities. We have established a policy review schedule to make sure that the AC regularly evaluates our portfolio of grant programs, conducting a review of individual grant program metrics, funding levels, and funding caps.