Amaya Atucha, associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, was awarded almost $30,000 for the project, “Establishing Honeyberry Collaborative Trials using SeedLinked to Crowdsource Cultivar Performance Data and Inform Grower Selections.”

“We seek to crowdsource performance data on honeyberry cultivars from a large network of growers, researchers and breeders. The data shared by the honeyberry community on SeedLinked will help inform grower cultivar choices and pave the way for the platform’s use with other emerging perennial crops,” says Atucha.

This grant was awarded as part of the North Central Region – Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) 2024 Partnership Grant Program. The Partnership Grant Program is intended to foster cooperation between agriculture professionals and small groups of farmers and ranchers to catalyze on-farm research, demonstration, and education activities related to sustainable agriculture. Learn more about the NCR-SARE Partnership Grant Program online.

The focus for each of the NCR-SARE grant programs is on research and education. Funding considerations are based on how well the applicant presents the problem being addressed, the project’s relevance to sustainable agriculture in the 12-state North Central region, and how well it aligns with NCR-SARE’s goals, among other factors specific to each grant program.

NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council (AC) members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. A collection of farm and non-farm citizens, the AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region. Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations.