Organic Farming Grants

Grants Explained

A grant is a monetary award given to a person or organization as assistance. Grants are commonly given for educational or research purposes, although some grants are designed to promote certain causes.

Grants do not have to be paid back, but they must be applied for using whatever application process is deemed appropriate by the grantor. While some people and organizations seeking grants compose the grant requests themselves, others hire professional grant writers to do the work.

Types of Organic Farming Grants

There are a wide variety of organic farming grants available for various reasons:

• Research grants are available to organic farmers who set aside a portion of their farm for research purposes. The type of research conducted will determine which grants are available, but there are some benefactors who want to prove the merits of organic farming through research and are willing to fund research through grants.
• Educational grants are given to farmers who are willing to allow their organic farms to be used for educational purposes. These farmers may be required to host educational seminars or internships on their farms in order to meet the requirements of the grant.
• Location grants are granted to people wanting to develop certain areas for organic farming use. These grants are generally given to people wanting to purchase land and create an organic farm within an underdeveloped rural area in need of development.
• Business grants give money to people starting up a new business. Since organic farming falls under the category of a new business, grants are available through this method.
• Other grants come in a wide variety of ways. Some grants are available to people regardless of the farming being organic or conventional. Certain groups – women, military veterans, previous farmers – may be able to find generous grants designed for their specific subculture.

Although there are many types of grants available for organic farmers, obtaining a generous grant is not necessarily an easy task.

Find Grants

Organic farming grants come from many different sources. The requirements for applying for a grant vary from one source to another, so if you intend on applying for a grant you should carefully study the requirements set by the source before applying. If you are unfamiliar with grant writing you may want to buy a book that explains the intricacies of applying for grants.

Here is a brief list of some sources for grants for organic farming. There are other grants available, but this list will help demonstrate the types of potential grants you can expect to encounter during your search:

• The Organic Farming Research Foundation gives grants to farmers for both research projects and educational/outreach projects. Applications for grants are accepted four times a year.
• The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program gives grants designed to promote organic farming among farmers already in operation. Dates vary for the acceptance of grant proposals, and there are several programs offered through this source.
• The United States Department of Agriculture has grant programs available to conventional farmers wanting to make the transition to organic farming as well as grants for farmers already functioning in an organic capacity. Applications for grants must be submitted before the closing date for these programs.

A quick Internet search will yield many more sources for these types of grants.

Use Caution

Everything you need to know about finding appropriate organic farming grants is available online. Don't pay a grant-finding service a huge fee just to locate potential grants for you unless you simply do not have the time or energy to expend in finding the grants yourself.