The North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program has announced projects recommended for funding for the Farmer Rancher, Partnership, and Youth Educator competitive grant programs. NCR-SARE awarded more than $1.34 million to 82 farmers, ranchers, youth educators and ag professionals across these grant programs.

Farmer Rancher grants

A total of 55 grant projects were selected to receive more than $718,000 through NCR-SARE’s Farmer Rancher grant program, which supports those who want to explore sustainable solutions to problems through on-farm research, demonstration and education projects. 

Sarah Longstreth of Good Stead Farm in Hope, Mich., was awarded $7,604 for the project, “Organic IPM for Swede Midge on Small-Scale, Diversified Vegetable Farms.”

Filiberto Villa-Gomez of Michigan Food and Farming Systems in East Lansing, Mich., was awarded $9,000 for the project, “The Organic Production of Traditional Crops by Mixteco Farmers.”   

Partnership grants

NCR-SARE awarded more than $582,000 to 15 projects in the NCR-SARE’s Partnership grant program, which 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. There were no Michigan winners for these grants.

Youth Educator grants

For the 2020 Youth Educator grant program, NCR-SARE awarded more than $45,000 to 12 projects that support educators who seek to provide programming on sustainable agriculture for youth.

Lance Kraai with New City Neighbors in Grand Rapids, Mich., was awarded $3,981 for the project, “Educating Youth in Sustainable Farming and Value-Added Production.”

Read descriptions of these projects at northcentralsare.org.

The focus for each of the NCR-SARE grant programs is on research and education. Funding considerations are based on how well the applicant presents the problem being addressed, the project's relevance to sustainable agriculture in the 12-state North Central region, and how well it aligns with NCR-SARE's goals, among other factors specific to each grant program.

NCR-SARE’s administrative council members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. The AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region. Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, federal agencies and nonprofits.

Source: NCR-SARE, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.