Northeast SARE Announces 2020 Grant Awards

The Northeast SARE Administrative Council has approved 59 projects, totaling $4,766,005, for funding thus far in the 2020 grant funding cycle. These include 31 Farmer Grant projects, 12 Research and Education projects, 10 Research for Novel Approaches projects, and 6 Professional Development projects.

The Administrative Council is the governance committee of Northeast SARE (comprised of farmers, Extension educators, researchers, nonprofit staff, government personnel and industry representatives from across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states) that sets program policies and overall program direction, and makes final award decisions for all grant programs.

The projects approved for funding are listed below in order by grant type. Please note that changes to individual projects may occur during the grant contracting period. Project leaders will be reporting the progress of their proposed work in the national Grant Management System which is open to the public and available at: projects.sare.org.

Recipients of 2020 Farmer Grants:

Anson Biller of Full Fork Farm in China, ME was awarded $14,908 to conduct the project, “Effect of Container Depth on Taprooted Seedling Root Morphology and Post-Transplant Establishment Success.”
Dan Birnstihl of Hip Peas Farm in Hooksett, NH was awarded $15,000 to conduct the project, “Reducing New England High Tunnel Heating Costs and Fossil Fuel Usage Utilizing an Earth Air Heat Exchanger.”
Sabine Carey of Full Circle Farms in Spring Mills, PA was awarded $14,976 to conduct the project, “On-Farm Demonstration and Evaluation on the Use of Landscape Fabric in Mixed Produce and Cut Flower Production.”
Jean-Paul Courtens of Roxbury Agriculture Institute at Philia Farm in Johnstown, NY was awarded $14,970 to conduct the project, “Updating Roxbury Farm's Vegetable Crop and Harvest Manual for Wider Adoption.”
Kelly Edwards of Wood Duck Landing Farm in Princess Anne, MD was awarded $14,895 to conduct the project, “Managing Corn Earworm in Hemp Fields by Using Sweet Corn as a Trap Crop.”
Steve and Audrey Gambino of Villa Milagro Vineyards in Phillipsburg, NJ was awarded $14,813 to conduct the project, “Chemical-Free Vineyards.”
Faith Gilbert of Letterbox Farm in Hudson, NY was awarded $14,466 to conduct the project, “Increasing Hudson Valley Farm Viability through Cooperative Bulk Purchasing.”
Andrew Keller of Vista View Farms in Damascus, MD was awarded $13,263 to conduct the project, “Composting Sheep Manure with Black Soldier Fly Larvae for Fly and Parasite Control.”
Jordan Kramer of Winnegance Oyster Farm in Portland, ME was awarded $14,922 to conduct the project, “Determining Optimal Seed-clam Size for Littleneck/Oyster Polyculture.”
Heidi Kreger of Kreger Farms in Morris, PA was awarded $7,859 to conduct the project, “Using A Kreger Farms-Invented Interseeder to Profitably Plant Cover Crops into Varying Corn Growth Stages.”
Louis Lego of Elderberry Pond in Auburn, NY was awarded $13,949 to conduct the project, “Organic Control of a New Apple Disease: Marssonina Leaf Blotch.”
Muhidin Libah of the Somali Bantu Community Association in Lewiston, ME was awarded $10,527 to conduct the project, “Introducing Value-Added Cornmeal into Liberation Farm's Agricultural Production.”
Ian Modestow of Black Birch Vineyard in North Hatfield, MA was awarded $13,698 to conduct the project, “Protecting European Grape Vines from Cold Weather Damage in New England.”
Todd Parlo of Walden Heights Nursery and Orchard in Walden, VT was awarded $8,980 to conduct the project, “Evaluation of Apple Cultivars for Hard Cider Production in the Northeast.”
Mayda Pozantides of Groundwork Market Garden in Buffalo, NY was awarded $13,374 to conduct the project, “Economic Feasibility of Caterpillar Tunnels on Urban and Small-scale Farms.”
Tommye Rafes of T.L. Fruits and Vegetables LLC in Caldwell, WV was awarded $14,781 to conduct the project, “Low-Cost Self-Sustaining Year-Round High Tunnel Temperature Control.”
Dale Ila Riggs of the Berry Patch of Stone Wall Hill Farm in Stephentown, NY was awarded $15,000 to conduct the project, “Design, Testing and Construction Education of a Post and Wire Support Structure for Insect Exclusion Netting on Field Grown Berries.”
Angela Roell of Yard Birds Farm and Apiary in Montague, MA was awarded $14,953 to conduct the project, “Testing Darwinian Honey Bee Breeding Protocols for Mass Replication: Evaluating the Efficacy of the ‘Walk-Away Split’ as a Queen Rearing Method.”
Katie Webb Clark of Reed Farm in Windsor, ME was awarded $13,149 to conduct the project, “Management Options for Staph aureus on Organic Dairies.”
Jennifer Wilhelm of Fat Peach Farm in Madbury, NH was awarded $6,376 to conduct the project, “Exploring the Feasibility of Growing Microgreens in a Modified Cold Storage Room.”
Greta Zarro of Unadilla Community Farm in West Edmeston, NY was awarded $14,996 to conduct the project, “Researching and Raising Awareness of Dynamic Accumulator Plants in the Northeast.”
Diane Zlotnikov of Zfarms in Dover Plains, NY was awarded $15,000 to conduct the project, “Red Algae (Asparagopsis taxiformis) as a Feed Additive for Parasite Prevention in Organic Pasture Raised Sheep.”

Recipients of 2020 Research and Education Grants:

Margaret Christie of the Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) in South Deerfield, MA was awarded $249,485 to conduct the project, “Useful Financial Benchmarks: Skills, Data and Peer-to-Peer Learning for Farm Success.”
Edward Durner of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ was awarded $137,819 to conduct the project, “Empowering Northeastern Strawberry Growers with Flower Mapping.”
Aaron Gabriel of Cornell University Cooperative Extension in Hudson Falls, NY was awarded $34,258 to conduct the project, “Grain Storage Management Education for the Hudson Valley.”
Amanda Grev of the University of Maryland in Keedysville, MD was awarded $78,076 to conduct the project, “Implementing Rotational Grazing Practices on Livestock Operations in Maryland.”
Lisa Hall Zielinski of the University of Scranton Small Business Development Center in Scranton, PA was awarded $ 162,545 to conduct the project, “Empowering Farmers to Comply with Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCHF).”
Masoud Hashemi of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA was awarded $236,718 to conduct the project, “Season Extension Strategies and Profitability in Dairy and Livestock Operations in New England.”
Victor Izzo of the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT was awarded $ 116,189 to conduct the project, “Biological and Cultural Tactics for the Control of Wireworms in Root Crops.”
Mahfuz Rahman of West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV was awarded $244,349 to conduct the project, “Optimization of Preventative Biorational Strawberry Fruit and Root Disease Management Techniques.”
Susan Scheufele of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA was awarded $84,974 to conduct the project, “Improving Production and Yield of Winter Greens in the Northeast.”
Rebecca Sideman of the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH was awarded $213,997 to conduct the project, “Advancing Strawberry Production in the Northeast.”
John Wallace of the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA was awarded $199,674 to conduct the project, “Environmental Constraints and Management Responses for Interseeding Cover Crops in Northeast Grain Rotations.”

Recipients of 2020 Research for Novel Approaches in Sustainable Agriculture Grants:

Molly Cheatum of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis, MD was awarded $88,563 to conduct the project, “Silvopasture Pilot Project in Lancaster County, PA.”
Cerruti Hooks of the University of Maryland in College Park, MD was awarded $100,371 to conduct the project, “Creating an Ecofriendly Pest Suppression Program in Sweet Corn.”
Bingru Huang of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ was awarded $149,910 to conduct the project, “Reducing Water and Fertilizer Inputs by Incorporating Native Beneficial Bacteria in Sustainable Turfgrass Sod Production.”
William Lamp of the University of Maryland in College Park< MD was awarded $197,728 to conduct the project, “Managing Agricultural Drainage Ditches for Conservation Biological Control on the Delmarva Peninsula.”
Laura McDermott of Cornell University Cooperative Extension in Hudson Falls, NY was awarded $184,617 to conduct the project, “Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation as Pre-plant Treatment for Perennial Strawberry in the Northeast.”
Michael Rechlin of Future Generations University in Frankin, WV was awarded $49,824 to conduct the project, “Designing and Building Centrifuges to Clarify Maple and Walnut Syrup.”
Fumiomi Takeda of the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Kearneysville, WV was awarded $187,733 to conduct the project, “UV-C Light Application Technology for Field-Grown Strawberries to Control Fungal Diseases and Arthropod Pests.”
Abhinav Upadhyay of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT was awarded $148,874 to conduct the project, “Enhancing the Safety of Eggs and Fresh Produce by Novel Ultra-fine Bubble Technology.”
Anna Wallingford of the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH was awarded $180,375 to conduct the project, “Attract-and-Kill Strategies for Sustainable Striped Cucumber Beetle Management.”

Recipients of 2020 Professional Development Grants:

Heather Darby of the University of Vermont in St. Albans, VT was awarded $185,371 to conduct the project, “Developing Technical Skills of Service Providers in the Northeast to Assist Farmers with Production of Industrial Hemp.”
Shannon Dill of the University of Maryland in Easton, MD was awarded $96,645 to conduct the project, “Farm Stress Management and Resources for Maryland Service Providers.”
Erica Gallimore of the West Virginia Farmers Market Association in Charleston, WV was awarded $85,958 to conduct the project, “Building Efficacy and Financial Success among West Virginia Producers via Farmers Market Manager Education.”
Jennifer Hashley of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project in Boston, MA was awarded $158,264 to conduct the project, “Farm Mentorship Training and Support Groups for Educators of Aspiring and Beginning Farmers.”
Lisa Jones of West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV was awarded $112,771 to conduct the project, “From Seed to Sale: Market-Driven High Tunnel Production Education for West Virginia Agricultural Providers.”
Rachel Schattman of the University of Maine in Orono, ME was awarded $149,000 to conduct the project, “The Northeast Climate Adaptation Fellowship to Support Fruit and Vegetable Producers.”
Drew Schiavone of the University of Maryland in Keedysville, MD was awarded $ 72,152 to conduct the project, “Maryland Extension Training: Solar Photovoltaic Options, Opportunities and Challenges .”
Seth Wilner of the University of New Hampshire in Newport, NY was awarded $163,612 to conduct the project, “Building Farm Financial Management Skills through Effective Distance Education.”

Northeast SARE, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, offers competitive grants and sustainable agriculture education. To learn more about Northeast SARE's grant program, visit the website at: www.northeastsare.org.