The North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) program provides competitive grants for innovative ideas for farmers and ranchers. Farmers and ranchers in the North Central region, including North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota, are invited to submit grant proposals to explore sustainable agriculture solutions to problems on the farm or ranch.

NCR-SARE is accepting online submissions for the 2022 Farmer Rancher Grant Program through 4 p.m. CST on Dec. 1. Interested applicants can find instructions and useful information for completing a proposal online at https://northcentral.sare.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/farmer-rancher-grant/.

“Sustainable agriculture is good for the environment, economically viable and socially responsible,” says Karl Hoppe, North Dakota State University Extension livestock systems specialist. “Projects should emphasize research or education and demonstration. 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 have funded various topics, including pest/disease management, crop and livestock production, food sovereignty, education/outreach, networking, quality of life issues, marketing, soil quality, energy and more.

The grants are for ideas initiated by farmers and ranchers and are offered as individual grants (up to $15,000) or team grants for two or more farmers or ranchers who are working together (up to $30,000). NCR-SARE expects to fund about 40 projects in the twelve-state North Central Region. A total of approximately $720,000 is available for this program.

Each state in SARE's North Central Region has one or more Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator who can provide information and assistance to grant applicants. A list of state coordinators is available online at https://northcentral.sare.org/state-programs/state-coordinators/.  Hoppe is the SARE Coordinator for North Dakota and can be reached at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center at 701-652-2951.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – Nov. 22, 2022

Source: Karl Hoppe, 701-652-2951, karl.hoppe@ndsu.edu

Editor: Elizabeth Cronin, 701-231-5391, elizabeth.cronin@ndsu.edu