GRIFFIN, Georgia – The Call for Proposals for the 2026 Producer Grant Program, intended for farmers/ranchers and farmer/rancher organizations throughout the Southern region, is now available from the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SSARE) program.
Proposal submission deadline is December 5, 2025 at 12 p.m. (NOON) EST. Announcement of funded proposals will take place in late February 2026.
The maximum funding amount for a Producer Grant is $20,000 for individual farmers/ranchers and $25,000 for farmer/rancher organizations, paid to a grantee as a reimbursement once invoices and receipts are submitted for allowable project expenses.
Producer Grants are used to conduct sustainable agriculture research projects that solve agricultural production challenges farmers face and to develop information on what works and what doesn’t so that other farmers and ranchers facing those same challenges can benefit from the results of the funded project. The goal of the Producer Grant Program is simple: Empower farmers to test, on a small scale, a practice or technology to a production or marketing problem (either as an individual or as a group), evaluate whether the results sustainably address the problem, and share how those efforts can benefit other farmers. Successful projects can then be applied by the farmer applicant or by others on a larger scale.
Proposed projects must focus on Southern SARE’s program objectives in developing sustainable agriculture systems or moving existing farming systems toward sustainability, as defined by Congress in the 1990 Farm Bill. Applicants specifically should be aware of this definition, as proposals will be reviewed with this legal definition in mind.
Producer grants are not designed to pay a farmer to farm; buy livestock, equipment, or land; make permanent farm improvements, or support private enterprises through capital investments. Southern SARE Producer Grants are competitive research grants, designed to take some of the financial risk away from trying a solution to an agricultural production issue.
Projects are funded for two years. Producer organizations should be comprised primarily of farmers/ranchers and must have a majority farmer representation on their governing board.
The Producer Grant Call for Proposals includes all the information needed to apply for a grant. It includes information on eligibility requirements, allowable project expenses, proposal submission instructions, how the proposal will be reviewed, and contact information. Be sure to carefully follow the information in the Call for Proposals when submitting your proposal. Failure to follow the submission guidelines will result in your proposal being rejected.
Visit http://www.southern.sare.org for more information on the SARE program and sustainable agriculture.
Published by the Southern Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Southern SARE operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State University, and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture to offer competitive grants to advance sustainable agriculture in America’s Southern region. This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.