The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program seeks an administrator for our new Technical Assistance Program (TAP). Join the Northeast SARE team and help us launch this exciting new effort! Northeast SARE is a USDA grant-making program hosted by the University of Vermont (UVM). Northeast SARE currently coordinates six competitive grant programs offered to educators, farmers, graduate students, and scientists in 12 states and Washington DC. See www.northeastsare.org for more information. The TAP is design ..read more

Dive into the world of chestnut production in this episode of ATTRA’s Voices from the Field podcast. NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Tyler Jenkins talks with Michelle Ajamian, a network developer for the Appalachian Stable Foods Collaborative. Ajamian, based in southeastern Ohio, advocates for small-scale farming and discusses the challenges and triumphs of cultivating a chestnut market in the region. In 2022, Rural Action received a SARE Partnership grant (Value Adding Culinary Chestnut Seconds Through the Development of a Marketable Fine Flour) to explore value-added opportunities f ..read more

Farmers know farming is a complex endeavor with competing demands and economic pressures. The non-farming public thinks farming is hard labor but otherwise simple. Farmers know that crop-destroying pests take the form of insects, diseases, weeds, nematodes, birds and mammals, and that managing pests requires an array of integrated tactics. The non-farming public thinks pests are just bugs and the only control farmers use are chemical pesticides. Farmers know sustainability – economic, environmental and social – is key to long term success. The non-farming public doesn’t think about sustainabil ..read more

GRIFFIN, Georgia -- The USDA recognizes the impacts of food loss and food waste on food security and the environment. USDA, in concert with agency partners, is working toward the goal of reducing food loss and food waste by 50 percent by 2030. In the latest effort in reduction activities, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) is leading a national Community Foods Project (CFP) Food Loss and Waste (FLW) Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Grants Program. The program supports projects that align with USDA activities aimed at reducing food loss and reducing food waste, ge ..read more

BURNSVILLE, North Carolina – Ron Fritz has a vision to restore the grandeur of the American chestnut tree in Western North Carolina. The retired food scientist turned farmer sets his gaze on the forested hillsides of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside his small chestnut orchard and recounts the stories told of American chestnut trees that dominated the landscape prior to the turn of the century, growing so big in diameter that they were called the Redwoods of the East. Chestnut trees were harvested for their timber for furniture, building material and fuel. They were used medicinally. Their frui ..read more

In this video, we are going to be talking about the Budget Justification and Narrative required as part of application to Northeast SARE’s Farmer, Partnership, or Graduate Student Research grant programs. The Budget Justification and Narrative template is available at: https://northeast.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/Northeast_SARE_2024_Budget_Justification_and_Narrative_Template_Farmer_GradStudent_Partnership.xlsx The sample used in this video is available at: https://northeast.sare.org/samplebudget To stay up-to-date on all of our programs, subscribe to our YouTube channel and our mailing list ..read more

One way to use water more efficiently is to use it twice. That’s the idea behind a Professional Development Project grant in Utah to promote water recycling in the state’s nursery industry. “I came here from Michigan and it’s a common practice to recycle water in nurseries there and on the eastern seaboard,” explained Utah State University Assistant Professor Shital Poudyal, who is in the Plants, Soils and Climate Department. “Many nurseries have retention ponds and then they recycle their water and use it to irrigate again, both to benefit the environment because the runoff from a nursery has ..read more

NCR-SARE is pleased to announce Liz Brownlee's appointment as the new Coordinator for the Farmer Rancher and Youth Educator Grant Programs. Brownlee, who was born and raised in Indiana, brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this role.  Brownlee grew up in a farming community but became interested in sustainable agriculture through academics, first through a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hanover College in 2009 and then a master’s in Botany from the University of Vermont. Alongside her husband, Nate, whom she met at Hanover College, she explored various farming landscapes, gain ..read more

BLACKSBURG, Virginia –  Nicole I. Nunoo, graduate student grantee, her advisor Dr. Kim Niewolny and Michael Carter Jr. of Carter Farm and Africulture in Virginia speak on different aspects of Nicole's grant project. Seeking answers to the critical question of how contemporary Black farmer organizers and their networks actively create sustainable food systems pathways, Nicole I. Nunoo,  at Virginia Tech, used a Southern SARE graduate student grant to employ a community-based case study of Black farmers who are at the forefront of sustainable agricultural development in Virginia ..read more

The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Graduate Student Research Grant Program is currently calling for proposals. As part of the call for proposals, Northeast SARE Graduate Student Research Grant Administrator Kaitlyn Sirna is leading a series of question-and-answer sessions taking place throughout March and into April. Graduate Student Research Grant Q&A sessions will take place March 12, 20, 26, and April 3 from noon-1 p.m. ET To register: https://northeast.sare.org/2024GraduateStudentGrantQA. The questions and answers are available below. Questions asked so f ..read more