The mission of the funder is focused on advancing sustainable agriculture through funding research, demonstration, and educational projects that encourage cooperation between agriculture professionals and farmers/ranchers.
The Partnership Grant program aims to foster collaboration between agricultural professionals and small groups of farmers or ranchers to initiate on-farm research, demonstration, and educational activities related to sustainable agriculture. This includes projects such as developing curriculum on food storage for farmers and processors, on-farm testing of cropping system strategies or grazing systems, cooperative efforts to develop new marketing approaches, or investigations into new approaches for processing and/or adding value to sustainably produced farm products. The grants, which can last up to 24 months, allow for a total funding request of up to $50,000 per application. A partnership typically involves three or more farmers or ranchers, with each farm/ranch being an independent operation. Applications for these grants are submitted through an online system.