- Author: Kathy Nolan
USDA NIFA requests applications to the 2020 Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network funding opportunity.
The purpose of the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) Program is to establish a network that connects individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching and other agriculture-related occupations to stress assistance programs. The establishment of a network that assists farmers and ranchers in time of stress can offer a conduit to improving behavioral health awareness, literacy and outcomes for agricultural producers, workers and their families.
The FRSAN program will accept applications for Regional Networks. In FY20, NIFA is seeking applications from regional partnerships and collaborations that are led by or include nongovernmental organizations (NGO), state departments of agriculture (SDA), Cooperative Extension Services (CES), and Indian tribes with expertise in providing professional agricultural behavioral health awareness, counseling as appropriate, education, training and referral for other forms of assistance as necessary. NIFA is soliciting applications that align with, build upon, and/or complement the projects funded in FY19. In 2019, the FRSAN program launched with four awards corresponding to U.S. regions in the Northeast, North Central, South and West. In 2020, funding has increased fivefold to support regional frameworks offering stress assistance programs, training, services, and referral.
The long-term goal of the FRSAN projects is to establish a Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network that provides stress assistance programs to individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching, and other agriculture-related occupations on a regional basis. Network members must initiate, expand or sustain programs that provide professional agricultural behavioral health counseling and referral for other forms of assistance as necessary through the following:
- Farm telephone helplines and websites
- Training, including training programs and workshops, for the following:
- Advocates for individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching, and other occupations relating to agriculture
- Other individuals and entities that may assist individuals who-
- are engaged in farming, ranching, and other occupations relating to agriculture
- are in crisis
- Support groups
- Outreach services and activities, including the dissemination of information and materials
Applicant organizations must have demonstrable prior experience working in the agricultural stress assistance space. For purposes of implementing FRSAN, a network is an organizational arrangement among three or more separately operated domestic public or private entities, including the applicant organization, with established working histories in the targeted region. Regional lead entities must have the capacity to make state-level sub-awards, to include monitoring the performance of specific projects and active participation within the larger regional network. Providing training and/or offering direct services in every state/territory in the targeted region is not required in FY 2020. However, the applicant must clearly articulate where and why training and services are being offered, as well as any rationale for areas not served and how all states (and territories, as appropriate), will be added to the network in FYs 2021 and 2022, if the project intends to seek continuation funding in those years. If possible, a national, regionwide or subregional helpline and/or website that is available to all states should be implemented and publicized beginning in FY 2021.
Funds may be used to map resources in each region, provide a framework for how those resources can be/are connected, and train state-level people working with agricultural producers (train-the-trainer model) about how to identify farmers under stress, about the existence of a given regional network, availability of specific resources and how to access them, as well as how to make referrals to programs that are equipped to provide direct behavioral care assistance. Such maps must link with USDA programs such as Agriculture Mediation Program and Crop Insurance Mediation and state and county-level USDA field offices with which producers may engage if and when appropriate.
It is NIFA's intention to fund four grants to four separate FRSAN regional leads as a result of this FY 2020 competition: one each in the Northeast Region, North Central Region, Southern Region, and the Western Region. The maximum award for a standard grant is $7,187,000 for a three-year project.
For more information about the FRSAN program and to apply, please visit: https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/farm-and-ranch-stress-assistance-network?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=
To request a copy of the 2019 FRSAN webinar slide deck, please email webchanges@usda.gov.
Applications are due Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
All UC ANR and UC ANR-affiliated academics and staff are invited to apply for funding to develop online resources targeting underserved audiences.
Extending UC ANR's reach and impact to significant numbers of non-English speaking audiences in California is key to achieving our vision of effecting positive change in important areas or issue(s). Reaching audiences through on-demand, online resources is one part of the strategy.
Funding is available to develop educational materials in languages other than English and make them accessible through the UC ANR website. Please consider development of a range of material forms including, but not limited to, courses, video, or other media.
All products must be branded UC ANR and hosted on the UC ANR website with linkages to other sites and resources.
Proposals of up to $25,000 will be considered. Multiple awards will be made. Please note that equipment purchases may not be included in budget requests.
Proposal submission process
To begin the submission process, log into the ANR portal. Go to “open systems” on the right menu and click on the link to “Develop Online Educational Resources Targeted at Underserved Audiences.”
Proposals must be received by 5 p.m. Pacific time on Jan. 28, 2019.
Strategic Initiative Leaders and the Strategic Initiative Panels will evaluate proposals. If additional expertise is needed, ad-hoc reviewers may be solicited. The following criteria will be used to determine funding decisions.
Proposal Criteria
Format. Proposals will be no more than 3 pages in length, minimum font size is 10-point and the minimum margin is 0.75 inches.
Proposals must include the following:
• Justification. What is the issue or important area addressed and who is the intended audience?
• Output. Give a brief description of the product to be developed and the method used to develop the product (e.g., will you include contracted services?). How will you ensure products are culturally relevant and applicable? Show how products will be delivered through UC ANR and how appropriate UC ANR branding will be assured?
• Expected Reach and Impact. What is the extent of the proposed reach and what behavior change(s) are expected? Which UC ANR Public Value Statements and Condition Changes will be positively impacted? How will some form of impact be assessed?
• Audience Access and Promotion. Clearly articulate the plan to promote the product so that it will be discoverable and adopted? What is the evidence that the targeted audience will access the product through the targeted medium?
• Team Capacity. Is there strong evidence that the PI and team can develop the intended product, on time and in budget? Is the appropriate expertise available within the team or as a contracted service?
• Budget. Is there clear need for the requested budget? Does a contractor (internal or external to UC ANR) provide estimates for any contracted services? Note: equipment purchases are not allowed in budget requests. You may submit your budget as a separate document if necessary.
Eligibility
All UC ANR and UC ANR-affiliated academics and staff are eligible to apply for funding.
Timeline
• Submissions due by Jan. 28, 2019, 5 p.m. Pacific time
• Successful applicants notified by Feb. 22, 2019
• Products completed and funds expended by Jan. 10, 2020
• Final reports (1 page) due by Feb. 28, 2020
Note on the funding source: The funds for this initiative come from those budgeted to further the impact of our Strategic Plan goals.
If you have questions about the application process, contact Jennifer Caron-Sale at (510) 987-0214 or Jennifer.Caron-Sale@ucop.edu.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has announced the Call for Pre-proposals for Research & Education Grants for 2017. The deadline is 12 noon Pacific Time on June 1.
Congress mandates that the SARE grant program depart from “business as usual.” To that end, the Western SARE Administrative Council requires evidence that agricultural producers are involved from inception to finish in the planning, design, implementation and educational outreach of any SARE-funded project.
Applications are submitted online at http://wsaregrants.usu.edu.
The application process for this competitive grant program consists of two stages: 1) submission of a pre-proposal and, 2) after notice of selection, submission of a full proposal. The pre-proposal step assists the WSARE Administrative Council in selecting proposals that exhibit diverse subject matter, cover diverse geography, meet the basic requirements of the Congressional mandate for the grant, and contain original and innovative research, the results of which can be readily adopted by producers. The pre-proposal also spares preparation time of the unsuccessful applicant. Applicants with the most promising pre-proposals will be invited to develop more extensive full proposals.
For more information, see https://wsaregrants.usu.edu/grants/docs/CFP_PRE.pdf.
AVP Wendy Powers announced that UC ANR has added another funding mechanism to its 2017 funding opportunities/grants website: a Matching Grants Program.
For grant opportunities that require matching funds, this program will provide cash resources for UC ANR academics to submit as matching funds in their proposals for external funding support of research, outreach or training efforts.
Proposed projects must be within the scope of the UC ANR Strategic Vision. All UC ANR academics with PI status are eligible to apply. Proposals will be accepted at any time, as the opportunities present themselves. Proposals will be submitted to the Associate Vice President and reviewed by the UC ANR Strategic Initiative Leaders and two UC ANR Vice Provosts. Because we recognize that these are time-sensitive projects, the review process will take no more than one month.
Requests for matching funds will be no more than three pages in length and must include a link to the request for proposals, a justification indicating why it is appropriate for UC ANR to provide the cash match, description of the project (study design, educational framework/audience, training program, etc.) and detailed budget. Requests of up to a 1:1 cash match will be considered. No awards will be made until a contract between the grantor and UC ANR is executed. In addition to any reporting required by the grantor, all projects will require a final report with stated outcomes/impacts or anticipated outcomes/impacts. A final report to the grantor may be substituted if the final report contains outcome/impact information.
UC ANR will provide a limited pool of funds for this grant program on an annual basis. The pool of funding will be managed to ensure year round availability for timely projects.
For details about the Matching Grants Program and other ANR funding opportunities and grants, visit http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Divisionwide_Programs/2017_Funding_Opportunities_Grants.
For questions about the Matching Grants Program, please contact Powers at wendy.powers@ucop.edu.
Wendy Powers, associate vice president, announced the request for proposals for ANR's 2017 competitive grants program, which can be found at http://ucanr.edu/compgrants2017.
In addition to releasing ANR's competitive grants call, she shared information on a couple of newly developed funding opportunities: “high risk/high reward grants program” and “opportunity grants program.” Below are descriptions of the three different funding mechanisms.
ANR Competitive Grants Program
The purpose of the ANR competitive grants program is to address high-priority issue areas identified by at least one of the strategic initiatives: Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases (EIPD), Healthy Families and Communities (HFC), Sustainable Food Systems (SFS), Sustainable Natural Ecosystems (SNE), and Water Quality, Quantity and Security (Water).
ANR Competitive Grants Program 2017 Cycle:
- Application submission cycle
- Letter of Intent (LOI) due March 20
- LOI decisions April 26
- Full proposals due June 19
- Technical peer review: mid-June to early September 2017
- Strategic Initiative review and recommendations: end of September 2017
- Program Council review and recommendations: October/November 2017
- Announcement of funded grants: November/December 2017
Through this program, ANR will continue to invest in short-term, high-impact research, education and outreach projects that address high-priority issues that are consistent with the Strategic Vision, encourage collaboration among academics from diverse disciplines and across initiatives, strengthen the research-extension network and demonstrate relevance and likelihood of impact on significant agricultural, economic, environmental and social issues in California and beyond.
For questions about ANR's competitive grants program, please contact Melanie Caruso at mmcaruso@ucanr.edu.
High Risk/High Reward Grants Program
Given the complexity of societal problems, high risk research is necessary to achieve gains for real progress in addressing present and emerging challenges. This program will provide funds to initiate and complete research and proof-of-concept efforts that serve as the basis for larger funding opportunities. These projects must be of a high risk/high reward nature that are best conducted in a controlled, research setting and, if successful, lend themselves to subsequent larger funding opportunities and/or intellectual property development.
Proposed projects must be within the scope of the ANR Strategic Vision. All ANR academics with PI status are eligible to apply. Proposals will be accepted using the same timeline as outlined for the traditional competitive grants program, but reviewed separately due to the nature of the proposal.
High risk/high reward grants will be limited to no more than $100,000 per project. Proposal format and duration is available at http://ucanr.edu/highrisk2017.
For questions about the High Risk/High Reward grants program, please contact Melanie Caruso at mmcaruso@ucanr.edu.
ANR Opportunity Grants Program
This opportunity grants program will provide small amounts of resources to initiate and complete critical short-term research, outreach or training efforts. These projects must be time-sensitive in nature and take advantage of a unique opportunity where a small pilot project to collect initial data or an immediate, crucial outreach effort must take place in a timely manner to address an issue of importance.
Proposed projects must be within the scope of the ANR Strategic Vision. All ANR academics with PI status are eligible to apply. Proposals will be accepted at any time, as the opportunities arise. Proposals will be submitted to the Associate Vice President and reviewed by the ANR Strategic Initiative Leaders and two ANR Vice Provosts.
“Because we recognize that these are time-sensitive projects, the review process will take no more than one month,” Powers said.
Proposals will be no more than three pages in length and must include a justification indicating why it is critical that this project be addressed in a short timeframe, description of the project (study design, educational framework/audience, training program, etc.) and detailed budget. Opportunity grants will be limited to no more than $10,000 per project. All projects, including the final report, must be completed within 12 months of initiation. Furthermore, no extensions will be allowed. All projects will require a final report with stated outcomes/impacts or anticipated outcomes/impacts.
ANR will provide a limited pool of funds for this grants program on an annual basis. The exact amount will be determined and announced annually based upon resource availability. The pool of funding will be managed to ensure that some resources are available year-round for timely projects.
For questions about opportunity grants, please contact AVP Wendy Powers at wendy.powers@ucop.edu.