What is SARE?
The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, or SARE, advances farming systems that are profitable, environmentally beneficial and good for communities through a nationwide competitive grants program. SARE is part of USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, and its funding is authorized under
Subtitle B of Title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA).
The Western SARE Program was initiated in 1985 and administered by the University of California through its Oakland administrative offices, with Dr. David Schlegel as the Coordinator. In December 1994, the administration of the program was moved to Utah State University, with Dr. Phil Rasmussen as Coordinator. Western SARE's Professional Development Program was initiated in 1995 as a subcontract with the University of California-Davis and the National Center for Appropriate Technology, or NCAT, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Montana. The PDP subcontract is now administered by the University of Wyoming (Jim Freeburn) and NCAT (Al Kurki).
For a look at SARE's history, including the efforts of early founders and the rationale for its formation, take a look at the
History of SARE
Local Leadership
SARE and its grants are managed through four U.S. regions - Western, Northeast, Southern and North Central. Each region is governed by an Administrative Council, similar to a board of directors, comprising diverse local members including farmers and ranchers as well as representatives from universities, nonprofit, government and agribusiness organizations. This decentralized structure allows each Administrative Council to respond to the needs and challenges distinctive to that region's agriculture.
The Western region has a diversity of agriculture and a broad geographic range that encompasses 13 states and four Pacific island protectorates: Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Micronesia, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Funded projects range from the study of cover crops in California's irrigated deserts to finding suitable pasture species for western Oregon's rainy winters; from dryland cropping systems in the high plains of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana to finding cropping alternatives to sugar cane and pineapple in tropical Hawaii.
Because Administrative Council members live throughout the region and are immersed in a variety of agricultural endeavors themselves, they are well qualified to disburse Western SARE grant dollars to projects like these that can foster improved and sustainable agricultural practices.
The states and protectorates in each of the other SARE regions are:
North Central Region
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Southern Region
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia
Northeast Region
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia
SARE is not "Business as Usual"
SARE is built on a foundation of respect for agricultural producers - the idea that farmers and ranchers know best what does and does not work on the land. Indeed, farmers and ranchers initiate many SARE research projects and are involved in nearly all of them as consultants or research coordinators. The bottom line: SARE supports high quality research and education in sustainable agriculture with minimum overhead.
Rigorous Project Review
Projects are funded based on their merits and potential for achievement as gauged by a rigorous, competitive review process. The review is overseen by the Western SARE Administrative Council with support from technical reviewers who are highly skilled and knowledgeable in their fields. Continual oversight of the progress of funded grant projects by staff and the Administrative Council ensures that results are timely and accurate.
Integrated Approach
Since SARE's inception, a key for evaluating potential funded research is ensuring the inclusion of scientists and experts in a multi-disciplinary approach. SARE-funded research projects are required to include educational and outreach components in their designs to ensure that findings reach the target audience. And they typically integrate economic analysis as a fundamental component of the research and education.
Field Oriented and Participatory
In addition to involving farmers and ranchers at all levels of decision-making and encouraging on-farm research, SARE encourages projects that involve partnerships among scientists, landowners, extension professionals, rural communities and environmental interest groups.
SARE is Inclusive
Through SARE, farmers and ranchers hailing from all types of backgrounds and engaging in all types of agricultural practices are brought to the table with university scientists, extension professionals and other ag support groups and agencies to examine issues of sustainability in agriculture. The goal is to break down labels that may separate farmers or ranchers by the terms "sustainable" or "conventional." Instead, the focus is on identifying methods that will help all producers continue to grow safe and abundant food.
