Cheryl Cesario, University of Vermont Extension, demonstrates a pasture water system. Cesario was recently awarded a Northeast SARE Research and Education grant to support farmers with grazing systems. (Photo courtesy of Cheryl Cesario).
The Administrative Council of the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program recently approved $4,476,328 in funding to support 27 projects to conduct applied research, farmer education and farm advisor training to strengthen sustainable agriculture throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Projects were awarded through the Research and Education, Research for Novel Approaches in Sustainable Agriculture, and Professional Development Grant programs. All project ideas were reviewed at the preproposal and full proposal phases by teams of farmers, researchers, Extension and nonprofit educators, and industry representatives. Northeast SARE’s Administrative Council—a 20-member governance body representing a broad constituency of the Northeast agricultural community—made final funding allocation decisions.
Projects recommended to receive funding that will start in 2021 include the following.
Research and Education Grant Program
- Cheryl Cesario of University of Vermont Extension in Middlebury, VT was awarded $85,346 to conduct, “Improving Pasture Resource Management with Farmer-Engaged Planning – Part 2”.
- Allison DeHonney of Buffalo Go Green Inc. in Buffalo, NY was awarded $248,000 to conduct, “Building and Strengthening Social and Economic Sustainability Among New York State Black Farmers”.
- John Jemison of University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Orono, ME was awarded $204,427 to conduct, “Education and On-farm Research to Improve Long-term Sustainability of Hemp in the Northeast”.
- Darlene Livingston of Pennsylvania Farm Link, Inc. in Harrisburg, PA was awarded $148,980 to conduct “A Multifaceted Farm Succession Plan Development Program Via Virtual and in Person Learning and Assistance Opportunities”.
- Kwame Matthews of Delaware State University in Dover, DE was awarded $199,992 to conduct, “Increasing the Use of a Natural Fungus (Duddingtonia flagrans) to Control Internal Parasites in Small Ruminants”.
- Denzel Mitchell of Farm Alliance of Baltimore in Baltimore, MD was awarded $252,256 to conduct, “Teaching Black Farmers in Baltimore City to Grow Ethnic Crops for Black Communities”.
- Eugenia Pena-Yewtukhiw of West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV was awarded $248,302 to conduct, “Developing an Affordable Soil Health Test for the Appalachian Region to Incentivize Sustainable Agricultural Production”.
- Judson Reid of Cornell University in Penn Yan, NY was awarded $136,585 to conduct, “Sustainable Pest Management for New York Urban Farmers”.
- Angela Roell of They Keep Bees in Montague, MA was awarded $124,034 to conduct, “Teaching Generative Apiary Practices for Effective Beekeeping in the Northeast”.
- Karam Sheban of Yale University in New Haven, CT was awarded $249,193 to conduct, “The Northeast Forest Farmers Coalition: Building a Community of Practice”.
Research for Novel Approaches in Sustainable Agriculture Grant Program
- Lynn Adler of University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA was awarded $98,539 to conduct, “Testing the Potential for Cut Flower Pollen to Improve Bumble Bee Health”.
- Mary Anne Amalaradjou of University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT was awarded $150,000 to conduct, “In-ovo and Early Probiotic Supplementation to Control Salmonella in Broilers”.
- Brian Beal of Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education in Beals, ME was awarded $134,460 to conduct, “Pilot-scale Efforts to Demonstrate Commercial Growout Technologies of the Artic Surfclam in the Marine Intertidal”.
- Vagner Benedito of West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV was awarded $198,977 to conduct, “Stacking Robust Resistance to Septoria Leaf Spot from Wild Germplasm Accessions into the Cultivated Tomato”.
- Eric Bishop-von Wettberg of University of Vermont in Burlington, VT was awarded $199,992 to conduct, “Improving the Capacity of Pea Cover Crops to Enhance Soil Health”.
- Dennis Derryck of Corbin Hill Food Project, Inc. in New York, NY was awarded $198,218 to conduct, “Creating a Black Farmer Commons in Transferring Land Ownership”.
- Jessica Lubell of University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT was awarded $101,168 to conduct, “Reducing Farmer Risk through the Use of Triploid Hemp Genetics”.
- Nicole Poulton of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, ME was awarded $199,035 to conduct, “New Approaches to Seaweed Aquaculture: Developing a Biosecure and Reliable Seed Stock for the Emergent Northeast Edible Seaweed Industry”.
- Sarah Reed of University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT was awarded $200,000 to conduct, “Nutritional Management Strategies for Improving Growth and Carcass Composition of Beef-Dairy Crossbred Calves”.
- Leela Uppala of University of Massachusetts in East Wareham, MA was awarded $189,340 to conduct, “Identifying Critical Criteria to Develop a Decision-making Model for Implementing Late Water Floods in Cranberry Production”.
Professional Development Grant Program
- Ryan Dennett of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in Unity, ME was awarded $149,990 to conduct, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training for Agricultural Organizations and Individual Service Providers”.
- Tom Hammett of Future Generations University in Frankin, WV was awarded $149,878 to conduct, “Reading the Woods: Training West Virginia Agricultural Service Providers on Non-Timber Forest Products”.
- David Harper of Agrarian Trust in Weare, NH was awarded $97,359 to conduct, “Building Equitable Farmland Tenure Models for Northeast Farmers”.
- Duncan Hilchey of Cornell’s Center for Transformative Action/Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems in Ithaca, NY was awarded $143,883 to conduct, “Agri-Cluster Retention and Expansion (ACRE) Program: Training Service Providers in Strategic Business Planning for Complex Value Chain Enterprises”.
- Sarah Simon of the Maine Farmland Trust in Belfast, ME was awarded $77,623 to conduct, “Building Farm Business Advising Skills through Collaborative Professional Development for Maine Farmland Trust and SCORE Maine”.
- Katie Turner of Mid-Atlantic 4R Association in Harrisburg, PA was awarded $148,666 to conduct, “Advancing Nutrient Stewardship in Pennsylvania through Training Modules for Farmers' Trusted Advisors”.
- Lea Zeise of United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. in Madison, WI was awarded $142,085 to conduct, “Growing Tribal Farming Capacity and Outreach”.
Northeast SARE, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, offers competitive grants and sustainable agriculture education.