Farmers and ranchers will have an opportunity Oct. 17 to learn how to apply for a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant to help them improve their operation.

North Central Region-SARE (NCR-SARE) and Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Mo.) Cooperative Extension are holding a webinar from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Central time that will show farmers and ranchers how to write a strong grant proposal and create a project budget, and where to get help.

“The SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program webinar will be a good way for farmers and ranchers to learn how to apply for funding so they can do on-farm research, demonstrations or educational projects to find sustainable solutions to a problem,” says Karl Hoppe, the North Dakota State University Extension Service’s area livestock systems specialist at the Carrington Research Extension Center. He also is co-coordinator for NCR-SARE in North Dakota.

The SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program is a competitive funding program. Producers have received SARE grants for a number of issues, including pest and disease management, crop and livestock production, networking, marketing, soil health and energy.

Individuals can receive up to $7,500, teams of two people can receive up to $15,000 and groups of more than two people can receive up to $22,500. The projects can last up to two years. SARE funds about 40 projects each year.

Join the webinar at http://tinyurl.com/SAREgrantwebinar. Webinar organizers recommend that those planning to participate go to www.webex.com/test-meeting.html to install the software and test their browser prior to the start of the webinar. Anyone with technical problems can contact Haley Myers at myersh@umn.edu or 573-289-6277 prior to the meeting. Also, WebEx technical support is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-229-3239 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada) for assistance with setup or connection issues.

The webinar will use a telephone-based audio feed, so call in toll-free at 866-865-2157. The conference phone line code is 7581918946.

For more information about NCR-SARE or the Farmer Rancher Grant Program, contact Hoppe at 701-652-2951 or karl.hoppe@ndsu.edu, or Bill Hodous, agriculture and natural resources agent in NDSU Extension’s Ramsey County office and North Dakota’s other NCR-SARE coordinator, at 701-662-7027 or bill.hodous@ndsu.edu.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Oct. 4, 2017