The NCR-SARE 2026 Partnership Grant Program Call for Proposals is now available.
NCR-SARE’s 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.
Individual grants are limited to $50,000 total funding request per application is allowed. A total of $1,000,000 is available to fund roughly 20 projects this year.
Deadline
The deadline for Partnership Grant Program proposals is November 20, by 4pm Central.
NCR-SARE will accept online submissions for the Partnership Grant Program. The call for proposals provides more information about the online submission system.
Partnership Zoom Session
A Partnership Grant Zoom webinar will occur on October 9 at 12pm Central. NCR-SARE intends to record the Zoom session and post it online. Register for the Zoom online at: https://umn.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S234aVuhTEO5X7n_g-JqGw
Funding Decisions
NCR-SARE administers each grant program with specific goals, audiences, and timelines. Funding considerations are based on how well the applicant presents the problem being addressed, its relevance to sustainable agriculture in the 12-state North Central region, farmer-rancher engagement in the project, and how well it aligns with NCR-SARE's goals.
A regional Administrative Council (AC) makes funding decisions, with review from a grant review committee.The Administrative Council is a collection of producers, university representatives, nonprofit group interests, Extension and NRCS people, other government employees, and agribusiness representatives. This group sets research priorities and recommends projects for funding.
Each state in SARE's North Central Region has one or more State Sustainable Agriculture Coordinators who can provide information and assistance to potential grant applicants. Interested applicants can find their state SARE coordinator online at https://northcentral.sare.org/state-programs/state-coordinators/.
Questions?
For questions or additional information regarding the Partnership Grant Program, contact Betsy Wieland at 612-626-6556 or eliza003@umn.edu.
NCR-SARE plans to release the Calls for Proposals for the Farmer Rancher and Research and Education grant programs by mid-October. The Youth Educator Grant Program will open in January.
Subscribe to our mailing list to be notified when the Calls are released.