Polk Small Farms: November 2016

Apply Now for Scholarships and Fee Waivers
to Our Conference in Lexington!

Recognizing beginning and limited-resource farmers have to really stretch their dollars to attend a conference, we have rounded up a list of groups offering scholarships for our 2017 event. Read below for descriptions of four fee waivers and scholarships to see if one is right for you. And if you have heard of a scholarship we haven't listed, please let us know and we will get the word out on the fee waiver web page.

Don't delay! Application deadlines are just around the corner.

Military Veterans : Due December 1
Kentucky Farmers : Due December 1
Southern SAWG Fee Waiver : Due December 10
OARS Scholarship : Due January 5

Some of the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) state coordinators may also have funds to assist. Visit Southern SARE's website to find your nearest representative.

Military Veterans:

The University of Arkansas and the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) are partnering to offer scholarships to military veterans. Priority will be given to those in the Southern U.S. region. The deadline to apply for the scholarships is December 1. The application is available online at www.ncat.org/armed-to-farm-events. Applicants will be notified no later than December 18 about the status of their scholarship application. For more information on the scholarships, contact Margo Hale at margoh@ncat.org.

Kentucky Farmers:

Kentucky State University is offering educational support grants of up to $500 for Kentucky farmers who wish to participate in trainings for "certified organic farming and marketing, value-added enterprise development, aquaponics and new economic development." The Southern SAWG conference, as well as the Organic Agriculture Research Symposium being held in conjunction with the conference, would both be excellent events for which these funds might apply. This is restricted to farmers with less than $250,000 gross sales from the farm and special consideration is given to limited-resource farmers, small acreage producers, female farmers, minority farmers and the 54 Appalachian counties.

The next deadline for application is December 1, 2016. For more information, visit this link or contact Joni Nelson at joni.nelson@kysu.edu.

Southern SAWG's Fee Waivers:

Southern SAWG is offering a limited number of fee waivers to assist limit-resource producers in the Southern U.S. to attend our conference. Preference will be given to those who have never attended a Southern SAWG conference before.

Qualified candidates are those who:

absolutely cannot afford the conference registration fee
have never before received a fee waiver from Southern SAWG to attend our annual conference
are farming commercially in the Southern U.S. or are planning to be in the next year, AND
have a sincere interest in sustainable or organic agriculture.

Deadline to apply is December 10. To learn more about fee waivers and how to apply, click here.

Note to organizational and institutional leaders: We can provide letters of support to your potential funders if you are seeking funds for producers in your area to participate in the pre-conference and conference activities. Just contact us with the details.

OARS Scholarship:

Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) is offering a limited number of scholarships to help with the cost of attending their Organic Agriculture Research Symposium being held in conjunction with the Southern SAWG conference. Scholarships of up to $350 will be awarded based on the need and merit of the applicant. The scholarship funds may be used for symposium registration ($75-80), travel and one night of lodging.

Students, farmers and researchers in the U.S. who would like to apply for a scholarship should submit a letter of interest to grants@ofrf.org by January 5th. The letter of interest should include name, position, statement of interest and need of scholarship, amount requested and budget. Upon approval from OFRF, scholarship recipients will be required to submit receipts and documentation.

A Great Bargain

Even if you don't get a scholarship, the Southern SAWG conference is still a great bargain, given the quality of the information and the networking opportunities that come with such a large turnout of the South's most innovative and successful producers, organizers and advocates in sustainable agriculture. Read what past attendees have to say.