Earth Protect Blog

Support for Conservation Programs in the Western U.S. and Canada
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: Environmental Program The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation works to resolve social and environmental problems in the U.S. and around the world. One of the focus areas of the Foundation’s Environmental Program is to build broad-based support for the conservation of lands and rivers among key constituencies in the North American West, including twelve states in the U.S. and three provinces in western Canada. In addition, the program provides support to organizations working to lower global emissions of greenhouse gases and traditional pollutants worldwide. Online letters of inquiry targeting one of these two Environment Program focus areas are accepted throughout the year. Visit the Foundation’s website for detailed information on the Environment Program funding guidelines.

Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Grants
Department of Agriculture The Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Competitive Grants Program provides support for projects designed to improve the farm management knowledge and skills of agricultural producers and establish and maintain a national, publicly available farm financial management database. Programmatic objectives include the following: advance data gathering and conduct research on cost of production, farm profitability factors, and farm policy; develop or expand cooperation and data sharing among existing farm management associations and farm business management education programs; provide training and software to states with farm management associations; improve the competitiveness of small and medium-sized farms and ranches; establish or expand collaborative partnerships with the national farm management benchmarking center; and improve producers’ abilities to successfully manage their agricultural operations through periods of high risk, volatility, and financial stress. The application deadline is June 27, 2011.