Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program ? Organic Transitions

The Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program – Organic Transitions (ORG) is a competitive grants program that provides funding for integrated, multifunctional agricultural research, extension, and education activities to improve the competitiveness of organic livestock and crop producers. The program aims to address critical organic agriculture issues, priorities, or problems in the United States. The program has four priority areas: (1) documenting and understanding the effects of organic practices on soil health and fertility, greenhouse gas mitigation, enhanced biodiversity, and weed, pest, and disease dynamics; (2) developing improved technologies, methods, models, and metrics to document, describe, and optimize the ecosystem services and climate variability adaptation and mitigation ability of organic crop, livestock, and integrated crop-livestock production systems; (3) developing cultural practices and other allowable alternatives to substances recommended for removal from the National Organic Program’s National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances; and (4) overcoming barriers to organic transition. • Developing and implementing an evaluation plan that captures project outcomes and demonstrates the impact of the project • Including a data management plan that clearly describes how the data will be disseminated and accessible to the public • Providing matching contributions at a minimum on a dollar-for-dollar basis for Federal funds awarded under ORG • Ensuring that all fieldwork on organic practices is done on certified organic land and/or certified facilities