The Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) is seeking proposals for its Producer Grant that gives farmers and ranchers the opportunity to conduct their own research projects to develop sustainable production and marketing practices.

The goal of the Producer Grant Program is simple: Allow farmers to test, on a small scale, an idea, practice or technology to a production or marketing problem (either as an individual or as a group), evaluate whether the results sustainably address the problem, and share how those efforts can benefit other farmers.

Focus Areas

• Beneficial Insect Habitat: Developing cover crops or other plant mixes and locations to provide habitat (refuges) that keep populations of native beneficial insects living on the farm ready to attack crop pests as they occur.
• Alternative Crops/Animals: Developing alternative crops, animals or products that help a producer’s operation become more economically sustainable. These projects must be at least as environmentally sustainable as the existing crops, animals or products they supplement or replace.
• Organic Agriculture: Projects that address the production, distribution, marketing and consumption of organic farm products. This includes farmers adding value to organic products.
• Sustainable Marketing Projects: Developing markets for existing or alternative crops, animals or products.
• Sustainable Grazing Systems: Use of native grass species and/or plant or animal management systems to make grazing systems more sustainable.
• Soil Organic Matter Building/Protection/Management: Projects that increase the sustainability of farming systems by developing soil organic matter and soil biota.
• Increasing Sustainability of Existing Farming Practices: Any practice or system that increases the sustainability of an existing farming practice. The results should be able to be used by other farmers.
• Appropriate Technology: Projects that develop a device or piece of machinery that promotes sustainable agriculture and can’t be purchased off the shelf. The device or machinery must have application for farmers/ranchers, be able to be built by them and enable them to operate more sustainably.
• Agroforestry: The use of trees in farm systems to promote sustainability, including water quality and quantity.

Funding Information

Eligibility Criteria

• Producer Grants are open to individual full-time or part-time farmers and ranchers or farmer organizations such as cooperatives.
• Projects must be developed, coordinated and conducted by farmers and/or ranchers or a farmer organization. Farmers must have at least $1,000 in documented annual income from the operation. There is no restriction on farm size or the length of time an individual has been farming.
• Farmer organizations must be comprised primarily of farmers/ranchers and must have majority farmer representation on their governing boards.
• Applicants must complete a proposal describing their project and explaining how it will help other farmers or ranchers understand and adopt sustainable agriculture practices.
• Southern SARE accepts proposals from applicants in the Southern region: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. University of Georgia employees are not eligible to apply for Southern SARE Producer Grants.

For more information, visit Southern SARE.