COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State University Extension Sustainable Ag Team will be offering a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Grant workshop for farmers, producers, ranchers and other professionals in the agriculture industry interested in learning more about the SARE program.
The free event will be held Oct. 11 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Rm. 244, Kottman Hall on the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences campus in Columbus, Ohio, as well as at the South Centers at Piketon in Piketon, Ohio. Applications and other support materials will be available following the workshop for those interested in applying for a SARE grant.
The United States Department of Agriculture will make available $400,000 in SARE grants for the North Central Region. Producers in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin are eligible to apply.
The deadline for proposal submissions is Dec. 1, 2006. Competitive grants of up to $6,000 are available for individual farmers and ranchers, and grants up to $18,000 are available for groups (three or more independent and separate operations) of farmers and ranchers interested in exploring sustainable agriculture. Maximum duration for grant projects is 21 months.
"The program basically has two objectives: to give agricultural professionals the opportunity to develop programs in sustainable agriculture, and educate farmers and landowners on producing, marketing or managing agricultural systems," said Mike Hogan, an Ohio State University Extension Educator, Carroll County. "The program then allows producers to share that information with others in the industry."
Interested individuals are invited to submit proposals that test, evaluate, and adapt sustainable agriculture practices for their operations; conduct learning circles, educational events, field days or demonstrations to further disseminate information to farmers or ranchers; develop new technologies; or create or modify equipment. Applicants must identify specific problems and potential solutions to those problems.
For more information on the SARE program, log on to http://sustainableag@osu.edu, or http://www.sare.org/ncrsare/prod.htm.