What Can be Funded

Types of funded projects

Partnership Grants are very diverse in terms of content, but what they share is a focus on research and demonstration work that uses farmer expertise and is geared toward farmer benefit. SARE has funded projects in alternative crops, pest management, marketing, bee viability, herd health management, IPM, and many other topics.

Because Partnership Grants are relatively small, easy to manage, of short duration, and exploratory, many practitioners use them to make an initial exploration or assessment of a topic to see if it merits more time and attention.

What grant funds can be used for

Grant funds can be used to purchase materials specific to the project, to pay farmers for their time, to compensate project leaders, consultants, and service providers, and to pay project-specific expenses like material, lab, travel, and outreach costs.

What grant funds cannot be used for

Please note that funds can't be used for capital costs or to buy durable equipment, nor can funds be used to buy land, start a farm, or expand an existing operation. Food and meal costs are often excluded except when part of the original budget or when part of a meeting or field day. Also, clothing, imprinted or otherwise, is not permitted.

Do not use SARE funds to buy hats, aprons, tee shirts, or comparable items. In the same vein, giveaways or imprinted promotional items are excluded.

A more detailed discussion of what costs are allowed and disallowed is in the application materials.