Supplemental and Alternative Crops

Objective

The SAC Grant Program supports projects that lead to expanded adaptation and increased acreage in the United States of canola grown for oil and industrial hemp grown for value added products. Such crops are important to U.S. agriculture in that these can provide new and profitable cropping options in response to low commodity prices and changes in consumer demand for new agricultural-based products. The U.S. does not produce enough canola oil to meet its annual domestic consumption needs. Modern canola has major uses in healthy human foods and animal feeds, as a natural pest control when used as a cover crop, and as a feedstock in industrial chemical manufacture and biofuel production. Hemp has been grown historically for its essential oil, seed, and fiber. Revival of industrial hemp cultivation requires intensification of crop improvement and marketing research to address the basic and unique challenges facing the emerging U.S. hemp industry. The purpose of this integrated research and extension program is to adapt these multiple-purpose crops to diverse growing regions in the United States, so that domestic canola oil and industrial hemp production can be significantly increased and be profitable nationwide. Such efforts require strategically designed, region-based research approaches and effective communication of useful information and transfer of technologies to users as rapidly as possible. SAC supports research and Extension in conventional and organic production systems.

Who Can Apply

• U.S. Federal Government
• Nonprofit Organization
• Not-for-Profit Organization
• For-Profit Organization
• Other

Assistance Types

• Grant

Program Contact

grantapplicationquestions@usda.gov
601-331-6023