“Free Money” Research Grants

“Free Money” Research Grants MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Fred Forsburg has received several financial grants to help cover the cost of on-farm projects he planned to do anyway State federal and sometimes private foundations offer a wide variety of financial grants Forsburg suggests starting with Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education SARE a program funded through the USDA www sare org “I’ve received 3 grants through SARE and 1 through another organization that’s private ” says Forsburg “I’m now in the process of applying for a fourth SARE grant to continue my research on fly control see story in Vol 42 No 5 ” Forsburg got his first grant while he was researching the potential for using vinegar as an herbicide He had already done considerable research on the internet and talked to USDA and Cornell University researchers Along the way a friend advised him to check out SARE for grants “I submitted a grant application to the Northeast SARE regional office at the University of Vermont ” says Forsburg SARE breaks the country into 4 regions Details of grant deadlines and how to apply are found there Forsburg got the grant for his vinegar experiments did the research wrote it up for SARE and spoke about it at numerous conferences His was the first actual research conducted on vinegar as an herbicide That was 15 years ago and he is still being contacted about the results “In late September I had a call from a person in Australia and recently had emails from people in eastern Russia ” says Forsburg Two other grants have not turned out so well In both cases outside factors affected the research results “Sometimes research works and sometimes it doesn’t ” says Forsburg For those interested in submitting a grant application Forsburg explains that ideas must be clearly presented with a good plan for verifying results or demonstrating a new practice He suggests looking at other grant applications online for tips on what is necessary for success Editor’s Note: We checked recent SARE grants in Minnesota and found that they have varied from $1 500 up to $22 000 Hundreds of grants are awarded every year Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Fred Forsburg 6241 Price Rd Livonia N Y 14487 ph 585 346-3829; honeyhillfarm@rochester rr com; www honeyhillorganicfarm com

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