A timeline of the Southern SARE On-Farm Research Grants, from the release of the Call for Proposals to the funding selection:
- The Producer Grant Committee reviews and approves the Call for Proposals at the summer Administrative Council meeting each August.
- The Southern SARE On-Farm Research Grant Call for Proposals opens in September. Applicants have 9 weeks to submit a proposal. Application deadline is in November.
- Once the grant closes, outside technical reviewers are solicited review proposals in November. Reviewers are randomly assigned a set number of proposals to review based on their area of expertise, and follow a review criteria and scoring system. The review process generally takes 7-8 weeks. The review deadline is in January.
- Once the review deadline closes, the Producer Grant Committee is assigned as a final review team to read the high scoring proposals. The Producer Grant Committee generally has 2 weeks to complete this process. The Committee then meets virtually to discuss the highest scoring proposals and determines which proposals should be brought forth the Administrative Council for funding. The virtual meeting takes place the end of January, ahead of the winter Administrative Council meeting in February.
- If additional discussions are required, the Producer Grant Committee meets at the subcommittee meeting during the winter Administrative Council meeting. Final recommendations are made and the slate of proposals selected for funding are presented to the full Administrative Council during the winter meeting in February. Proposals are discussed and voted for funding.
- All grant applicants are notified after the Administrative Council meeting (by March) of the status of their proposal. Each applicant receives a copy of the reviewer comments.
- Funded On-Farm Research Grant projects begin April 1.
| January | February | March | April | August | September | October | November | December |
| Producer Grant Committee assigned to review proposals as a final review team. Committee meets virtually end of month to discuss proposals and make funding selections. | Producer Grant Committee finalizes selections at subcommittee meeting during the winter Administrative Council meeting. Committee makes recommendations to full AC. AC discusses and votes to fund recommended proposals. | On-Farm Research Grant applicants notified of funding status. Reviewer comments provided. | Funded On-Farm Research Grant projects begin April 1. | Producer Grant Committee approves Call for Proposals. | On-Farm Research Grants Call for Proposals released. | On-Farm Research Grants are open. | On-Farm Research Grant deadline. Technical reviewers assigned to review proposals. | Technical review process continues. |