Deadline- May 1, 2013
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) is now offering small grants to qualifying livestock and poultry farmers who wish to improve their farm animal welfare. Grants awarded of up to $1,500 for projects designed to-
- Help farms transition to pasture-based systems, or
- More generally enrich the conditions in which the farm animals are raised, or
- Improve the marketing of their humane products
Eligibility & Criteria-
- Projects must be designed to change on-farm management practices related to animal welfare and/or improve marketing of humane products. (No slaughter related proposals accepted.)
- Only farms located in the continental United States will be considered.
- FACT does not fund start-up ventures or non-profit organizations. A start-up venture is a farm that is in its first year of production and has not filed taxes on its operation in the past. New projects on existing farms will be considered. Funding for entities other than individuals will be considered on a case by case basis.
- No funds will be awarded for the purchase of animals or recurring expenses (e.g. animal feed, equipment maintenance, end-product ingredients such as spices).
- Farms applying for funding for a pasture or welfare project must raise at least one of the following animal species: pigs, broiler chickens, laying hens, dairy cows, and beef cattle. Proposed on-farm animal welfare improvement projects must impact at least one of these species. Welfare and pasture projects solely focused on goats and sheep will not be eligible for funding.
- Farms applying for funding for a marketing based project must raise at least one of the following species: goats, sheep, pigs, broiler chickens, laying hens, dairy cows, and beef cattle.
- Grants will be made only to farmers for a project on a working, independent family farm. This is a farm on which a family or individual owns the animals, is engaged in the day to day management of the farm and its animals, derives a share of livelihood from the farm, and produces a livestock product for sale.
- For grants geared toward marketing, applications will only be considered from farms already considered highly welfare-oriented as determined by holding one of the following certifications-
- American Grassfed Certified
- Animal Welfare Approved
- Certified Humane
- Certified Naturally Grown
- USDA Certified Organic
- All grant applications must include a concrete implementation plan. Non-marketing applications should include steps for increasing access to pasture and/or improving animal welfare of the pigs, broiler chickens, laying hens, dairy cows or beef cattle on the operation. Marketing applications should include steps needed to complete applicant’s project and grow farm business.
- If awarded a grant, farmers must agree to a scheduled farm visit by FACT staff, as well as flash photography on farm and use of farm name/photos in FACT publications and websites.
- If awarded a grant, farmers will be provided with a grant contract for review and signature. Grantees will also be required to submit a short report at the conclusion of grant period (September 1, 2014).
A completed application consists the following documents-
- Application form (farm information & project summary information)
- Signed Authorization stating that applicant’s farm is a working, independent family farm
- Schedule F form (or comparable form) from your 2012 tax return (upload pdf)
- One page narrative proposal
- Detailed project budget
- Three color photographs that accurately depict the current state of applicant’s operation. At least one photograph should include the animals and their living conditions as described in their proposal. If applying online, applicant will be asked to upload their photos as jpg/jpeg, gif, bmp or png files.
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