NCR-SARE: Partnership Grant Program

The NCR-SARE Partnership Grant Program aims to enhance sustainable agriculture by fostering collaboration between agricultural professionals and groups of farmers. By facilitating innovative research and educational activities, this program supports projects that test new cropping strategies, develop marketing approaches, and enhance food security. Focused on the North Central Region, it encourages partnerships that drive on-farm research, ultimately improving economic viability and environmental stewardship for communities across 12 states.

About SARE and NCR-SARE
The North Central Region-SARE includes the geography shared with the 12 states of: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
North Central Region-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE)
The NCR-SARE program is hosted by the University of Minnesota and operates under a cooperative agreement between the University of Minnesota (host institution) and the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
About the Program
The Partnership Grant program is intended to foster cooperation between agriculture professionals and small groups of farmers and ranchers to catalyze on-farm research, demonstration, and education activities related to sustainable agriculture. The "partnership" aspect refers to an agriculture professional partnering with three or more independent farming enterprises, working together to solve a problem.
Examples of appropriate projects include:

• On-farm testing of cropping system strategies or grazing systems
• Cooperative efforts to develop new marketing approaches
• Investigations into new approaches to processing and/or adding value to sustainably produced farm productsProjects intended to increase food security
• Projects that lead to resilient agricultural systems