BURLINGTON — The University of Vermont (UVM) recently was selected as one of four institutions across the U.S. to host the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program.
Following a competitive recruitment process, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) again has chosen UVM to host SARE in the Northeast region, which includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. SARE is a competitive grants program of NIFA, but unlike many USDA grants programs, SARE operates regionally to better address local challenges.
“The University of Vermont is proud to have been selected as the host institution for the Northeast SARE program,” said UVM Extension director Chuck Ross, “and we are eager to continue in this role we have held for the past 30 years. We are committed to fully supporting the regional coordinator, Dr. Vern Grubinger, and his staff, while they administer the program.”
“While we are thrilled that UVM will continue to host Northeast SARE,” Grubinger said, “we are even more excited to be able to serve the whole Northeast region with grant-making opportunities to advance sustainable agriculture innovation that is meaningful to farmers and their communities.”
Since the program began in 1988, Northeast SARE has awarded $67 million in competitive grants to 1,933 projects. Funded projects use applied research and education to address a wide range of topics like cover crops and soil health, marketing and labor management, pest management, livestock health, farm energy and urban agriculture.
Northeast SARE specifically seeks projects that are consistent with its outcome statement: Agriculture in the Northeast will be diversified and profitable, providing healthful products to its customers; it will be conducted by farmers who manage resources wisely, who are satisfied with their lifestyles, and have a positive influence on their communities and the environment.
The program will be housed within UVM Extension, a unit of UVM’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Learn about Northeast SARE, including its most recent grant awards, at www.northeastsare.org.
–UVM Extension
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