2026 Farmer Grant Question and Answer Sessions - Session 2 - November 11, 2025

Learn about the Northeast SARE Farmer Grant program from Grant Administrator Candice Huber.

Join our mailing list: northeast.sare.org/mailinglist

View the Farmer Grant Call for Proposals: northeast.sare.org/FarmerGrantCall

Questions in the session include:

Is there a labor cost cap?

Can you use grant funds to pay for materials for building a fence around a growing plot?

An expense we anticipate is running an above ground water line and mobile watering system to facilitate rotational grazing. Would that fall under equipment? Capital expense?

If my experiment involves testing the efficacy of a major improvement to a high tunnel, would the costs of those improvements be eligible?

Are there additional expectations for regional impact for proposals that request the full $30,000 amount?

In an experiment that involves evaluating crop productivity, would the costs of seeds, bulbs, other plants, fertilizer be an allowable operating expense, even if I would be growing those same crops in the same field without the experiment?

How do I set up my budget to react to changing needs or changing costs?

Can a farmer cooperative apply, or do they need to select a farmer member to apply?

Are we allowed to use leased land? And if so, what is needed for that? A signed lease copy?

How is the $1,000 in sales verified?
Do applicants submit a historical income statement, and how is this handled for start-ups in their first year of operation? Eligible?

Would being awarded this grant make you ineligible for SARE grants in other categories (eg research and education grant program)?

Does the goal of the farm activity that we would be testing have to be to increase sales or can it be to feed a family and promote more self-reliant living?

Do we email our proposals to the grant administrator?

I am a farm employee. My farm received a grant last year with a different farmer leading that project. Do I create a new account at projects.sare.org or use the farm's exisiting acount to submit a grant proposal for this year?

Can this grant apply to outreach sharing something we have already learned, or does it have to be something new we research?

Can part of the project include researching the viability of creating a co-op?

What happens if your research project does not prove that your hypothesis is true? What happens if the new practice turns out not to be something we would recommend to anyone else because it wasn’t effective?

Does a project that solely involves remediating run off from livestock but not direct involvement with the livestock still qualify as a livestock research project?

How small can each test plot be? I'm looking at comparing growing conditions and methods for a small, unusual crop.

In other SARE regions, I've seen that any intelectual propoerty generated from the project belongs to the region's university/host institution. Does Northeast SARE have a similar stipulation?

What is the role of the technical advisor? Is there a pool of advisors we are choosing from, or can it be someone I know? Does part of the grant money go towards paying the advisor, or are they volunteering?

Are there specific format requirements for qualitative and quantitative impact documentation?

Does the outreach portion take place during the project or afterwards?

What are some of the most common mistakes you see on applications?

Where do we find the Word Document version of the proposal questions?