Farmers in Wisconsin and surrounding states can submit grant proposals for funding to explore sustainable agriculture practices. Sustainable agriculture is good for the environment, economically viable, and socially responsible. Projects should emphasize research or education and demonstration.
The USDA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR SARE) will accept Farmer-Rancher grant applications until December 1, 2022.
Recent SARE Farmer-Rancher grants funded in Wisconsin include:
- A trial of virtual fencing for goat grazing
- Grazing cattle on cover crops planted into 60″ corn
- Raising oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms without single-use plastic
- Helping farmers diversify their business to include value-added baked products
Proposals should show how farmers and ranchers plan to use their own innovative ideas to explore sustainable agriculture options and how they will share project results.
Farmer Rancher grants are for ideas initiated by farmers and ranchers and are offered as individual grants of up to $15,000 or team grants of up to $30,000 for two or more farms working together. NCR-SARE expects to fund about 40 projects in the twelve-state North Central Region with this call. A total of approximately $720,000 is available.
Interested applicants can find the call for proposals, as well as useful information for completing a proposal at https://northcentral.sare.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/farmer-rancher-grant/. Additional information on applying for grants is available at https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/sustag/resources/in-service-training/.
You can find more information about sustainable agriculture at http://www.sare.org/.
