Since 1988, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has funded more than 9,380 farmer-driven research and education initiatives through competitive grant awards totaling nearly $478 million. As the only farmer-driven, sustainable agriculture competitive research grant program offered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), SARE provides farmers and researchers with vital opportunities to better understand agricultural systems and to increase profitability and build resilience to climate change. SARE-backed initiatives have furthered land and natural resource stewardship by funding research on topics such as soil health management, crop and livestock integration, soil erosion and runoff mitigation, and organic farming practices. In addition to research, many SARE projects also address social and demographic challenges faced by farming communities, including those encountered by underserved farmers, access to land, obstacles for young and beginning farmers, and rural quality of life.
SARE is administered through four regional councils of producers, researchers, educators, and government representatives. SARE regions include: North Central, Northeast, Southern, and Western. These regional councils are responsible for setting SARE policies and grant making processes. Because each of the SARE councils designs and administers their own regional grant programs, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) provides a periodic aggregation of funding opportunities and other activities from across the regions in our “SARE Roundup.”
Each of SARE’s four regional programs administers three primary grant programs: Research and Education (R&E), Professional Development Program (PDP), and Producer Grants. Some regions also offer additional grants for community innovation, graduate student research, agricultural professionals conducting on-farm research, and region-specific initiatives.
Read on for details about what is going on in your SARE region HERE
