Dear Colleagues,

The Western Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) is a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that functions through competitive grants conducted cooperatively by farmers, ranchers, researchers and ag professionals to advance farm and ranch systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities.

Western SARE provides grants in several categories, and is currently soliciting applications for the following upcoming grants with November 2019 deadlines:

Professional Development Program Grants (Due November 13, 2019)

This grant program focuses on training agricultural professionals to help them spread knowledge about sustainable agriculture concepts and practices. PDP Grants are limited to $75,000. Grants can run for up to three years, with the final year to be focused on project evaluation. PDP proposal submission remains open from August 15 until November 13, 2019. Proposals will be reviewed by a technical panel in January 2020, and the Western SARE Administrative Council will select proposals for funding in March 2020.

Additionally, a Grant Writing Webinar will be offered on Wednesday, September 25, 3:00 PM PT.  To join the webinar, please visit https://uwyo.zoom.us/j/ 135965992 with phone number, 669-900-6833 and meeting ID, 135965992#.

Farmer/Rancher Grants (Due November 11, 2019)

This grant program involves agricultural producers (main applicants) and technical advisor(s) implementing projects to address identified needs in sustainable agriculture. With the support and guidance of the technical advisor, producers must integrate research and education to conduct on-site/on-farm experiments to improve production, marketing, and the environment. It is expected that outcomes of funded projects will result in quantifiable benefits for producers, increase the preservation of the natural and social resources upon which agriculture relies, and be shared with other producers. Farmer/Rancher projects are limited to $20,000 for one producer or to $25,000 for three or more producers, for up to three years. Farmer/Rancher proposal submission remains open from August 19 until November 11, 2019. Proposals will undergo a technical review in January 2020, and the Western SARE Administrative Council will select proposals for funding in March 2020.

The Farmer-Rancher Call for Proposals is also available in Spanish.  A grant preparation webinar will be offered on Friday, September 27, 2019 at 3:00 PM PT.  To participate in the event, please Register Today!

Professional + Producer Grants (Due November 13, 2019)

This grant program involves agricultural professional (main applicant) and producers implementing projects to address identified needs in sustainable agriculture. With the collaboration of producers, projects must integrate research and education aiming to advance the three components of sustainable agriculture- environmental, economic, and social- and use innovative educational outreach to disseminate new knowledge to producers and other agricultural stakeholders. It is expected that outcomes of funded projects will result in quantifiable benefits for producers, increase the preservation of the natural and social resources upon which agriculture relies, and be shared with other producers. Professional + Producer projects are limited to $50,000 for up to three years. Professional + Producer proposal submission remains open from August 21 until November 13, 2019. Proposals will undergo a technical review in January 2020, and the Western SARE Administrative Council will select proposals for funding in March 2020.

The Professional + Producer Grants informational webinar is scheduled on Friday, October 4, 2019 at 3:00 PM PT.  To participate in the event, please Register Today!

Research to Grass Roots Grants (Due November 20, 2019)

These grants are built on the SARE concept that results of applied research are used to train agricultural professionals and producers in the latest principles of sustainable agriculture.  Successful R2GR projects will take the research results from previously funded SARE projects and bring those results into the field through education to ag professionals and producers. The maximum for each project's funding is $50,000. Proposals will be reviewed by a technical panel in January 2020, and the Western SARE Administrative Council will select proposals for funding in March 2020.

A Research to Grass Roots Grants webinar will be held on Wednesday, September 25, 3:00 PM PT.  To join the webinar, please visit https://uwyo.zoom.us/j/ 135965992 with phone number, 669-900-6833 and meeting ID, 135965992#.

To learn more about these funding opportunities, review application requirements, and apply for funding, please visit the Western SARE website:  https://www.westernsare.org/

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

Through a competitive grant opportunity funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), National 4-H Council is pleased to release the Request for Applications (RFA) for the Well Connected Communities (WCC) Initiative.

Please note, this is a Pre-award RFA and precedes Council's notification of any award. The award of sub-grants is contingent on the award of a grant by RWJF to Council. RWJF is scheduled to announce its funding decision no later than October 31, 2019.

Council requests applications from all Cooperative Extension System entities from 1862, 1890, and 1994 LGUs within the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories. Council encourages (but it is not required) joint applications between 1862, 1890 or 1994 LGUs within a state where feasible; however, one applicant must be clearly indicated as the primary applicant and the others indicated as co-applicants. To address system inequities, consideration will be given to applicants from 1890 and 1994 LGUs or joint 1890,1994 and 1862 LGU applications.

The goal of the WCC Initiative is to drive transformational change to create the conditions that will foster a Culture of Health in communities across America. Channeling the energy and dynamism of youth, CES's system-wide engagement in collective impact grounded in evidence, our community-driven plan will increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life.

Success will be defined as national capacity growth through increased alignment of objectives and measurable growth in the areas of professional development, assessment and evaluation, communications, and local WCC health action plan implementation through community health coalitions to begin to create change in communities nationwide.

WCC health action plans must incorporate the following core principles of this Initiative:

•           Commitment to transforming place through genuine partnership and shared vision

•           Focus on equity and inclusion

•           Youth and Adult Partnerships

•           Policy, systems and environmental changes at local and system level

•           Learning and growing together for a results-oriented movement

Please note that an informational webinar will be held September 5 at 11:00 AM PT using the Zoom platform. Applicants will have the opportunity to ask questions related to the RFA. Registration for the webinar is required and can be completed here.

To review the RFA, application requirements and apply for funding, please visit the online portal and click on Funding Opportunities: http://grants.4-h.org/index.do

Applications are due by 5:00 PM PT on October 18, 2019.

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

USDA NIFA requests pre-applications for theSpecialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI).

The purpose of the SCRI program is to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry by awarding grants to support research and extension that address key challenges of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of food and agriculture, including conventional and organic food production systems. Applicants are strongly encouraged to propose a unique approach to solving problems facing the specialty crop industry using a systems approach. Specialty crops are defined in law as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.

Projects must address at least one of five focus areas:

• Research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics
• Efforts to identify and address threats from pests and diseases, including threats to specialty crop pollinators
• Efforts to improve production efficiency, handling and processing, productivity, and profitability over the long term (including specialty crop policy and marketing)
• New innovations and technology, including improved mechanization and technologies that delay or inhibit ripening
• Methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control, and respond to potential food safety hazards in the production efficiency, handling and processing of specialty crops.

The SCRI program offers three project types in FY 2020. The three SCRI project type include:

1.)   Standard Research and Extension Projects (SREPs) provide funding for up to four years to support targeted problem-solving efforts that would not qualify in scope for support as a Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP). Applications should bring together both research and extension components of the agricultural knowledge system around a problem area or activity. It is anticipated that most funded SREPs for FY2019 will be close to the historical median of$1,846,428 (total project costs).

2.)   Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAPs) provide funding for up to four years to address specific multiple components of a primary system or multiple components of areas where primary systems overlap. CAPs will be awarded to consortia or groups of qualified applicants to address multiple components of a primary system, an entire primary system or problems that cut across primary systems, with the expectation that the project will make significant contributions to the sustainability of the system or system component. The historical median for CAPs is $4,438,003 (total project costs).

3.)   Research and Extension Planning Projects provide funding for one year to provide assistance to applicants in the development of quality future SREP or CAP proposals. Funds may also be requested to provide assistance to consumer, producer, or industry groups for developing strategic research and extension plans—including goals, objectives, priorities, etc. (strategic planning). The expectation is that developed plans could provide the relevance bases for future SCRI grant applications. Grant planning funds are limited to $50,000 per project.

In FY 2020, applicants will compete for the SCRI program in two stages. Applicants will be required to submit a pre-application via grants.gov. Please reference funding opportunity number USDA-NIFA-SCRI-006810. Pre-applications are due by October 15th. 

Industry representatives for each specialty crop sector will decide which pre- applicants should be invited to submit full applications. NIFA will provide details of the full-application process to invitees in a separate RFA.

For more information, please review the full Request for Proposals at the program website: https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/specialty-crop-research-initiative-scri

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues:

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting proposals for the 2019 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP).

The SCMP is a federal grant program offered by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. The purpose of the SCMP is to competitively award funds to projects that solely enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops by funding collaborative, multi-state projects that address regional or national level specialty crop issues, including food safety, plant pests and disease, research, crop-specific projects addressing common issues, and marketing and promotion. Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).

For this opportunity, multi-state partners must develop projects that bring together teams for solutions to practical problems that cross State boundaries and address the needs of specialty crop growers. Project(s) must enhance the competitiveness of U.S. or U.S. territory-grown specialty crops in either domestic or foreign markets. Projects should lead to measurable benefits for specialty crop growers, encourage partnerships among specialty crop organizations, and reduce duplication of effort among participating organizations.

A SCMP project:

(1) Addresses one or more regional or national (multiple-State) specialty crop issues -

• food safety;
• plant pests and disease;
• research;
• crop-specific projects addressing common issues; and
• marketing and promotion.

(2) Defines the geographic target area of impact of the project such as the specific States or foreign markets;

(3) Defines the specific specialty crops that are the focus of the project; and

(4) Involves at least two partners located in different States.

Award will be granted in amounts ranging from 250,000 to 1,000,000 for a maximum duration of 3 years. SCMP does not require cost share or match.

Application submissions to CDFA are due by September 1, 2019.  Proposals must be submitted electronically to grants@cdfa.ca.gov.

Two informational webinars will be conducted on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. PDT or Wednesday, August 14, 2019 from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. PDT.  To register, email grants@cdfa.ca.gov with your name and contact information.  Further details will be provided with confirmation of registration.

Additional information about the SCMP is available on the CDFA SCMP website: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Specialty_Crop_Competitiveness_Grants/SCMP.html

All prospective applicants are encouraged to review the 2019 SCMP Request for Applications on the USDA, AMS website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/2019_SCMP_Final.pdf

Please contact Vanity Campbell, Office of Contracts and Grants at vcampbell@ucanr.edu should you have interest in applying to this opportunity.

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)