Grant Program Survey Results

The Western SARE program administers the Professional Development Program (PDP) grants program to fund projects on sustainable agriculture production systems or marketing approaches that emphasize outreach and education to disseminate findings to agricultural professionals and other clientele. We assessed quantifiable impacts of these PDP grants and the reach or diffusion of the grantees’ efforts to agricultural professionals and other pertinent user groups. Western SARE also evaluated the grantmaking,contracting or reporting process.

The Western SARE program administers the Research and Education (R&E) grants program to fund projects on sustainable agriculture production systems or marketing approaches that are research and educationally based and have outreach and educational components to disseminate findings to producers and other clientele.We assessed quantifiable impacts of these R&E grants and the reach or diffusion of the grantees’ efforts to farmers,ranchers.

In 2006 and 2007, Western SARE conducted a retrospective evaluation of its Research and Education (R&E) grants program. Washington State University’s Social and Economic Survey Research Center (SESRC) conducted the survey research component of the evaluation.

Western SARE program staff and Administrative Council, in cooperation with a research team in the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service, conducted a region-wide survey of producer recipients and Technical Advisors to assess the reach and impact of the Producer Program. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to determine the impacts of these producer-led efforts on the grantee and the reach or diffusion of the grantees’ efforts to other farmers and ranchers in the general locale of the grantee.