2025 Farmer Grant Question and Answer Sessions

Northeast SARE will pay for equipment that is essential to the project activities. If it is equipment that you are building, we can pay for the materials to build it. If you're buying equipment that has a use after the project is completed, you will have to pro-rate it. Most ag equipment has a useful life of five years, so depending on the length of your project, you can request a portion of the cost of the equipment, based on it's useful life and the length of your project. 

Yes! We highly encourage all farmers and others involved in the project to be paid for their time. We don't have a recommended or required rate, but Northeast SARE compensates farmers who serve on our review panels at  $51.60 per hour. 

Yes, technical advisors and any collaborators or participants can be compensated for their time. 

You can change your budget after it is awarded. You will need to contact the grant administrator before spending the funds on any expenses that were not included in the original budget. So long as the request is reasonable and still serves the intended objective of the project, the administrator will approve the changes to the budget. 

No, they can be anyone with strong experience in the area of your project. For example, a farmer with a lot of experience using a specific technique, a business advisor, a marketing specialist, etc.

Yes, any collaborators and your technical advisor should all submit letters of support. 

You must have one person that is identified as the main technical advisor. However, you can have additional collaborators who act as advisors to you. There is no limit on the number of collaborators a project can have, and reviewers like to see a strong project team. 

We don't have a form letter. We want the technical advisor to authentically share their experience and their role in the project. 

It could be the person who is helping build the machine, or it could be someone else who is advising and supporting you. You just need to make sure the technical advisor has experience to help support your project. 

See our definition of a farm document here: [LINK]. To be eligible, a farm must have produced and sold (or would have sold) $1000 worth of agricultural products in the previous year. The project leader can be a farm owner or farm employee. Farm employees will need to fill out the grant commitment form and get authorization from the farm owner or organization.

You do not actually need to sell the $1000 of produce. Donation or barter is acceptable, as long as you have records of how much you're donating--for example pounds of produce donated that has an estimated dollar value over $1,000. 

You don't need to provide any financial documents with your application. When you submit your application, you are attesting to meeting the definition of a farm. 

Because you do not produce the honey or any other agricultural products, you wouldn't be eligible as a farmer, so you couldn't apply to the farmer grant. You could apply for a partnership grant in the spring when that application opens, and one or more of the farmers you buy honey from could be your partner(s). 

Yes, so long as your previous grant is in good standing (aka completed or current with reporting) you are eligible.

The Project Leader must own or work on an existing farm, but they can partner with others who do not yet have a farm. Northeast SARE cannot fund the establishment of a new farm. We can fund model projects that focus on generating knowledge to help other beginning farms. 

Yes, seedlings are an agricultural product.

Yes. The farm manager/employee could apply and would need to complete a grant commitment form with authorization from the College.

So long as your value added products are made with ag products you grow yourself and are valued over $1,000, you are eligible.

If your total farm sales this year are less than $1000, then you wouldn't qualify. The sales don't all have to come from the greenhouse, you can combine your total farm sales across growing spaces / crops / animals / etc. 

It's totally fine if you sell your produce through a food hub / along with other farms. Your total value of production must be $1,000 or more, and that can be across different distribution channels and agricultural products.

Approximately $850,000 has been allocated to fund projects for this year’s Farmer Grants. Awards typically range from $5,000 to the maximum amount of $30,000, depending upon a project’s complexity and duration. We anticipate funding about 30 projects this year. 

Yes, prototype development is eligible. We would pay for the cost of materials and labor to build it. We can also pay for testing it or outreach. Please note that the prototype design would be part of the public domain. 

Because of our funding guidelines, we can only fund projects for up to three years. So we can't fund the longer term pieces, but we could fund a piece of the work--for instance if you want to study germination rates, seedling establishment success, or yields on existing plantings. 

Yes, software development is an eligible project idea. 

The research must be focused on serving farmers in the Northeast region of the US. You can have international collaborators, but you must make a strong case that they are necessary to the project. You would need to show that working with the international partners makes sense financially. 

Yes, we fund all kinds of topics from production to business, marketing, education, and more.