Recent Grant Projects

Sample Calls for Proposals

These are previous year's calls for proposals and are intended for informational purposes only.  You must follow instructions in the current year's call for proposals. The format specified in the call for proposals and forms are a little different each year. Timelines for the grant programs are listed here.

Read a sample Farmer Rancher Program Call for Proposals  here.

Read a sample Research and Education Program Call for Preproposals  here.

Read a sample Professional Development Program Call for Preproposals  here.

Read a sample Graduate Student Program Call for Proposals here.

Read a sample Youth Educator Program Call for Proposals  here.

Funding Considerations

Funding considerations are made based on how well the applicant articulates the nature of the research and education components of their sustainable agriculture grant proposals. NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council (AC) members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. A collection of farm and non-farm citizens, the AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region. Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, and nonprofit organizations.

In addition, regional representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and NCR agribusinesses, state agencies, and foundations sit at the table to distribute grant money.

Since 1988, the USDA's NCR-SARE program has awarded more than $40 million worth of competitive grants to farmers and ranchers, researchers, educators, public and private institutions, nonprofit groups, and others exploring sustainable agriculture in 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.