Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program – Organic Transitions (US)

The Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program – Organic Transitions (ORG), authorized under Section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7626), enables the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a competitive grants program that provides funding for integrated, multifunctional agricultural research, extension, and education activities.

The overall goal of the ORG program is to support the development and implementation of research, extension, and higher education programs to improve the competitiveness of U.S. organic livestock and crop producers, as well as those who are adopting organic practices.

One of the primary goals and objectives of the ORG program is to address practices and systems particularly associated with organic crops, organic animal production, and organic systems that integrate crop and animal production.

Priorities

• Priority 1: Document and understand the effects of organic practices on soil health and fertility; greenhouse gas mitigation; enhanced biodiversity; and understanding of weeds, pests and diseases dynamics for better management to help systems adapt to climate change, build resilience of the organic farming system, protect water and other resources, and provide other ecosystem services. These practices include but are not limited to crop rotation; livestock feeding and management; livestock-crop system integration; organic manure, mulch, and/or compost additions; cover crops; and reduced or conservation tillage.
• Priority 2: Develop improved technologies, methods, models, and metrics to document, describe, and optimize the ecosystem services and the climate change adaptation and mitigation ability of organic crop, livestock, and integrated crop-livestock production systems.
• Priority 3: Develop cultural practices and other allowable alternatives to substances recommended for removal from NOP’s National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. This may include effective substitutes or new technologies, cultural practices, cultivars, or breeds that render the NOP-cited substance in question less limiting to production under organic standards. Studies of alternatives should include evaluation of efficacy based on resulting productivity, profitability, climate change adaptation, and natural resources stewardship effects. They encourage a sustainable whole-systems approach but will also consider proposals that are narrower in scope.
• Priority 4: Overcome barriers to organic transition. Projects under this priority should address major barriers that limit the transition to organic agriculture in a specific region, crop, or animal production system and develop practical information and tools for producer use. These can include, but are not limited to, production challenges during the transition period, local and regional infrastructure constraints, marketplace challenges, disruptive conditions like the COVID-19 pandemic, and administrative or policy barriers. Any constraint must be acknowledged by growers and other stakeholders. Proposals to improve organic animal or crop production management strategies and production systems should be submitted to the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). Lobbying and advocacy activities are not allowed.

Funding Information

• The amount available for ORG in FY 2024 and 2025 is approximately $7,500,000 each fiscal year. USDA is not committed to fund any particular application or to make a specific number of awards.
• ORG anticipates funding Integrated Research, Education, and Extension projects as Standard grants with a project period of 2 to 4 years. The budgets that applicants provide may not exceed $400,000 per year with the total amount budgeted per award not to exceed $1,000,000. NIFA expects to make a total of eight awards in FY 2024 and eight awards in FY 2025.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applications may only be submitted by colleges and universities, as defined in 7 U.S.C. 3103, 1994 Institutions, and Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities.
• Award recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project. Failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the application deadline may result in the application being excluded from consideration or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude NIFA from making an award.
• Duplicate or Multiple Submissions – Duplicate, essentially duplicate, or predominantly overlapping applications submitted simultaneously to both ORG and another NIFA program, such as OREI, in the same fiscal year is not allowed and will not be reviewed. NIFA will disqualify both applications if an applicant submits duplicate or predominantly overlapping submissions.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.