Community Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture Program

Grants Available for 2005 Sustainable Farm Projects

Are you a Missouri farmer? Do you have an idea that will make your farm more sustainable? If so, you may be eligible for a 2005 Missouri Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Award grant. There are 14 grants of up to $3,000 each available for 2005 and there are no restrictions on applicants' age or farm size.

Sustainable agriculture is a system of farming that creates win-win situations for farmers and consumers. Sustainable systems are good for the environment, profitable, and good for farm families and communities. They include the use of innovative production and marketing techniques such as management-intensive grazing and community supported agriculture.

Applying for Grants
Applications are due by 5 P.M. on November 30, 2004. For details and an application form, visit the Sustainable Agriculture Website at: http://agebb.missouri.edu/sustain, or contact Joan Benjamin, Program Coordinator by phone: 573-522-8616 or e-mail: Joan.Benjamin@mda.mo.gov

The Missouri Department of Agriculture has sponsored the grant program since 1995 with the support of the Community Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture Program of University of Missouri Extension. This year, the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry is sponsoring three of the 14 grants to focus attention on agroforestry, which involves integrating trees and shrubs into agriculture systems. The agroforestry grants are reserved for farms near these University Farms and Centers: Greenley Memorial Center, Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center, Southwest Center, and Wurdack Farm.

Typically, the grant program has offered 23 grants per year, but due to state budget cuts, there are fewer grants available for 2005. A group of sustainable agriculture supporters is working to insure the future of the grant program. For more information on this effort, contact: Bryce Oates at the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, 1108 Rangeline Street, Columbia, MO 65201; Phone: 573-449-1336; E-mail: bryce@morural.org.

Selection Committee Looks for Sustainability
A six-person selection committee reviews grant proposals each January. The committee includes farmers, representatives from the Missouri Department of Agriculture, and Extension educators from the University of Missouri and Lincoln University. Committee members pay particular attention to how each project helps reduce the use of non-renewable resources such as minerals and petroleum, and helps protect and conserve natural resources, such as air, soil, and water. They look at how well each applicant explains the ecological, financial, and social benefits of their project, and evaluate the strength of a required letter of support.

Free Report Book
Funded projects have covered topics ranging from agroforestry to vegetables. Farmers have explored using a solar-pit greenhouse to raise vegetable transplants, organic milk production, composting, multi-species grazing, specialty crops and crop rotations, and much more. You can read about these innovative projects on the Sustainable Agriculture website at: http://agebb.missouri.edu/sustain/msada/queries/index.idc or in a book that is available from the Missouri Department of Agriculture. For a free copy of the Demonstration Award report book contact the Sustainable Agriculture Program at:
Joan Benjamin
Sustainable Agriculture Program
Missouri Department of Agriculture
1616 Missouri Blvd.
Jefferson City, MO 65102
E-mail: Joan.Benjamin@mda.mo.gov
Phone: 573-522-8616

Meet Sustainable Farmers
You can also find out more about Demonstration Award projects by visiting with grant recipients in person at the Farmers Forum held each year in conjunction with the National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference. In 2004, the Farmers Forum will be held on November 4 - 6 at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Columbia, Missouri. The Farmers Forum brings in more than 30 farmers each year to share their sustainable agriculture ideas and techniques and the results of their on-farm projects. Come and find out what Missouri farmers are doing to make their farms and communities more sustainable. Call 1-800-633-2535 for Farmers' Forum and Trade Show details or visit the Small Farm Today magazine website at: http://www.smallfarmtoday.com/.