SARE Farmer / Grower Grants – How can I get one?
One of the most common questions about farming that comes into the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Office in Piscataquis County is “How can I get a grant to help me farm?” Tom Malloy, Outreach Coordinator at the University of Maine for Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) will be coming to the next Maine Highlands Farmers Meeting on Thursday, October 10th at 7 pm at the Piscataquis County Extension Office to talk about how farmers can get a grant from the SARE program to help with their farm.
Malloy will discuss some successful grants that farmers in Maine have received and what they have been able to do with the extra funds.
Some recent projects include pasturing hogs on field peas and barley, sunflowers for oil and feed, as well as winter-hardy bees. Many times the farmer/grower grant is about researching a new and different way of doing something on the farm. SARE provides some funding and the farmer provides the sweat equity.
All are invited to attend this free session. The Maine Highlands Farmers will hold a business meeting after the session to discuss their website and other marketing outlets. All are welcome to sit in on this discussion too.
For more information contact Donna Coffin, Extension Educator, at 207-564-3301 or in Maine 1-800-287-1491 or donna.coffin@maine.edu Also you can visit www.mainehighlandsfarmers.com.
About the Maine Highlands Farmers:
The Maine Highlands Farmers organization was organized to promote locally grown and raised products in the communities located in the Maine Highlands region of Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Somerset Counties. They actively seek to identify and develop new markets to enhance farmer to community relationships and increase farm revenues.
Monthly meetings offer educational opportunities for area farmers to learn about rules and regulations, marketing strategies, expanding value added products, and business growth and development.
About University of Maine Cooperative Extension:
As a trusted resource for almost 100 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land and sea grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.
UMaine Extension helps support, sustain and grow the food-based economy. It is the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, production, processing, commerce, nutrition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated. UMaine Extension also conducts the most successful out-of-school youth educational program in Maine through 4-H.