Coordination of USDA’s NCR-SARE Program

William Wilcke, Professor, Extension Engineer, and Regional Coordinator of the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) Program
NCR-SARE Staff at the University of Nebraska and Kansas State University

Objective

The NCR-SARE program strengthens rural communities, increases farmer/rancher profitability, and improves the environment by supporting research and education.

Need or Impact

Many people are concerned about whether our predominant forms of agriculture have long-term sustainability (maintain profitability, protect the environment, and maintain quality of life and social justice). The USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grants program was created by Congress to provide funding for research and education projects that would help improve the sustainability of United States agriculture. The host institution for this program in the North Central Region is the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (UNL). UNL has a memorandum of understanding with the University of Minnesota for Bill Wilcke to provide coordination of the NCR-SARE program. The NCR-SARE program receives about $4 million per year from the USDA. Most of this money is distributed to researchers, educators, non-profits, graduate students, and farmers through four competitive grant programs.

Program Status

Ongoing.