2008
Grazing Lands Conservation InitiativeGrant Program
2008– GLCI Grant Application
Application Postmark Deadlines
February 13, 2008
Questions?
Contact: Laura Paine
Agricultural Business Development
WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade, & Consumer Protection
P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53708-8911
(608-224-5120) Email:
Application materials at:
GLCILand and Water Education Grant Program
Funds for successful grant proposals come from the NRCS sponsored Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative and/or from State of Wisconsin funds. Since its inception, the GLCI Program has supported over 100 grant projects focused on promoting the use of well-managed grazing lands in Wisconsin. In 2008 this program will be handled through a cooperative agreement between NRCS and DATCP. Under this cooperative agreement all grant responsibilities and administration will be handled by DATCP.
Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) Grants
What is the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative?
The Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) is a national effort begun in 1991 to help landowners improve the ecological and productive condition of the Nation’s private grazing lands, the economic condition of farmers and ranchers, and the social well being of rural communities. Funding comes through a congressional earmark of the USDA–NRCS. Each state receiving an earmark has a steering committee of producers to advise NRCS on technical assistance, training and grants programs related to grazing lands management. DATCP has a cooperative agreement with NRCS to administer the GLCI grant program.
What kinds of proposals are we looking for?
To be considered for funding, your project topic must fall into one of the following categories:
Category 1) Technical service provider
A technical service provider project funds the services of a certified prescribed grazing planner (see below). The program provides individualized grazing land management assistance to producers and landowners to develop and implement a Prescribed/Managed Grazing Plan on their land and to design and implement grazing land conservation practices (fence, lanes, pipelines, etc).
Category 2)Education and on-farm demonstrations
This category focuses on group educational activities and programs. Activities may include: setting up demonstration projects on farms, coordinating the activities of grazing networks, conducting grazing workshops, conferences, pasture walks, grazing schools and distributing publications and newsletters to inform producers and the public of the benefits and techniques of a Managed Grazing System.
Joint proposals in which federal, state, local agencies and private associations collaborate to cover larger areas are especially encouraged, as are projects that request less than the maximum grant award.
Preference will be given to projects in categories 1 & 2 that provide programming in underserved areas of the state, work with entry level farmers, farmers new to grazing, and farmers that qualify as a traditionally under-served audiences according to the NRCS definition. (Such audiences include Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Amish, women and limited resource producers. Visit: for information about limited resource producers). For more information on the selection process see the section below titled, Application Processing and Evaluation.
Who Can Apply?
Applicants may include, but are not limited to: farmers, county, state, and federal agriculture and natural resource agencies, colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, and grazing networks. A project manager may submit multiple proposals but, at most, two proposals per project manager will receive funding during the 2008 grant selection cycle. A project manager is the person responsible for overseeing and carrying out the activities proposed in the grant.
Technical assistance providers: The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is responsible for providing technical services and financial assistance to landowners and users of grazing lands. Section 1242 of The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, expands the availability of technical assistance to producers by encouraging the assistance of other potential providers of technical services. In light of the increased workload from other program areas on current NRCS staff, NRCS desires to look outside the agency for increasing our ability to provide technical services for the implementation of conservation practices on grazing lands. To ensure that high quality technical assistance is available to all producers, the Secretary of Agriculture is required to establish a system for approving individuals and entities qualified to provide technical services to carry out programs under the Farm Bill. The Secretary of Agriculture has accomplished this through a national certification registry called TechReg ( Local units of governments and organizations with memorandums of understanding with NRCS should follow NRCS certification guidelines for prescribed grazing planner, rather than TechReg.
Funds Available
If both federal and state funds become available, we expect to have approximately $900,000will be awarded on a competitive basis in 2008, in two categories. The maximum award will be $40,000 per year with a limit of $80,000 over two years for Category 1, and $20,000 per year with a limit of $40,000 over two years for category 2. A project manager can apply for funds in more than one category but the maximum award allowed per project manager is $100,000. The distribution of funds will depend on the total amount we are allocated and the quantity and content of the proposals and applications received.
Spending Limitations
Purchases of capital equipment are not allowed, the use of grant funds for refreshments, meals, other food or drink related items, clothing or other apparel is also not allowed at this time. Mileage reimbursement will be at your organization's standard rate, not to exceed the federal limit.
2008 GLCI grants will allow indirect (administrative) costs. Indirect charges up to a 10% maximum of grant award will be allowed. Written documentation of your agency’s indirect rate is required. All requests for indirect reimbursement will be required to be shown on the Federal Request for Reimbursement Form 270. Indirect cost claims above 10% will not be reimbursed.
Activities that provide direct educational benefit, such as demonstration projects, educational pamphlets and booklets and landowner training are permitted. Personnel salaries are also permitted if the employee is providing direct educational assistance, technical assistance as a certified grazing land specialist, or conducting trials and on-farm applied research.
Where the success of a program depends on the acquisition of capital equipment, grantees are encouraged to obtain it through in-kind donations or by lease. Lease expenses are reimbursable, capital expenses are not. A project that requests funding for travel or attendance at seminars must justify those expenses in its proposal. Grant awards are provided through reimbursements only. Continued allocation for multi-year projects depends on the quality of earlier efforts and achievements and prompt and consistent reporting.
Application Deadlines and Other Important Dates
Proposals must be postmarked by Wednesday February 13, 2008. Proposals should learn their funding status by early March. Funded projects may not begin incurring grant expenses until a signed contract is in place. All projects must end by September 30, 2010.
Accountability Requirements*
Funded projects must submit a “mid-year progress report” due April 15th of each year, an “annual activity report” by October 15th of each year and a final project report no later than 90 days after the project’s official end date. Forms are available at: Submission by email attachment is encouraged. Reimbursement requests will not be processed without the timely submission of these reports. Reports 30 days overdue may result in a project being discontinued.
How to Construct Your Application
All projects must complete the Cover Page, Budget Request Page, and Application Page using the forms provided. If you have previously received GLCI funds, please include a copy of your most recent progress report.
All materials are available for download at:
- Complete the Cover Page: Use the form provided.
- Provide a descriptive title for your project. Keep your title under 10 words.
- b. Provide the name of the organization that will take responsibility for the fiscal administration of your proposed project (i.e. pay for grant expenses and fill out reimbursement requests) and the individual authorized to sign your contract.
- Select a geographic focus area for your project.
- Describe the primary audience for your project.
- In the box provided, using no smaller than a 12 point font, provide an abstract summarizing your proposed project.
- In the boxes provided, list the amount of your grant request and your intended start and end dates for your proposed project. This year, we are synchronizing start and end dates. Please type in the starting and ending years and circle one of the four quarterly start and end dates.
- Fill out contact information for the project manager and assistant project manager.
- Have the project manager and assistant project manager (if applicable) sign and date the cover page. The project manager’s signature is required.
- Complete the Budget Request Page: Applicants should be as detailed as possible when describing their budget. Use the form provided even if you are including a supplementary budget overview. Please remember capital equipment costs are not allowed.
- Within the boxes provided, describe expenses related to: personnel, services, travel, and leasing or equipment rental. For each category, tell us how much the total cost will be for each year of your project. Also tell us how much in-kind (if any) assistance will also be used to pay for this expense.
- List expenses that do not fit under the categories provided under “other”, and describe in the space provided.
- Add up the total grant request from each expense category and list this total in the space provided at the bottom of the form. The amount you list here must match the amount you list on the Cover Page Form.
- Matching funds, while not required, are strongly encouraged.
- Complete the Application as completely as possible using the form provided. There is no page limit, but please be concise.
Submission Guidelines
Submit one copy via email and ten (10) collated stapled copies of your proposal postmarked on or beforeFebruary 13, 2008:
Laura Paine, Division of Agricultural Development
WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
P.O. Box 8911
Madison, WI 53708-8911
Street address: 2811 Agricultural Drive, Madison, WI 53708-8911
Please address questions to Laura Paine, at 608/224-5120. E-mail:
Application Review and Notification
DATCP with assistance from the WI GLCI Steering Committee will select a committee of farmers and agricultural and natural resource professionals from a mix of public, private, and nonprofit organizations to review and score the submitted proposals. All proposals will be scored on a 100-point scale and each category will have a separate score sheet. Each category has its own preferences and opportunities for receiving “reserved” points during the review process.
Category 1—Technical Assistance Provider:
- The review team will be looking for applicants who are certified under the prescribed grazing planning requirements in the NRCS certification and have the ability to produce a reasonable number of quality Prescribed/Managed Grazing Plans with the funds requested. Applicants who are not certified at the time of the application must become certified within 60 days of signing the grant acceptance.
- Projects that serve areas with significant grazing assistance requests and/or involve producers who are new or inexperienced in managed grazing are especially encouraged. Email: or call608 /355-4470 for information on grazing assistance requests.
- The review team will reserve up to 10 points for projects that focus on traditionally under-served audiences.
- The review team will give priority to projects that include a conservation focus.
- The review team will give priority to projects that target beginning farmers.
Category 2—Education and On-farm Demonstration:
- The review team will reserve up to 35 points for projects that focus on the following:
- up to 10 points for a focus on under-served audiences.
- up to 10 points for a focus on new farmers with minimal experience in managed grazing.
- up to 10 points for a focus on increasing public awareness on the environmental value of managed grazing lands.
- The review team will give priority to projects that include a conservation focus.
- The review team will give priority to projects that target beginning farmers.
In order to qualify for any reserved points you must describe in some how your project will make the focus of the reserved points a main concern. Merely mentioning an under-served audience or lightly touching on a public awareness campaign is not sufficient. Adequate detail must be included to convince the review committee that your focus is significant.
After the projects are scored independently, the reviewers will meet as a group to finalize their selections.
Evaluation criteria include:
- The impact the project will have on increasing the amount of grazing land under Managed Grazing in WI
- How well the project evaluates itself and its impact on producer decisions.
- The degree to which the project has already identified and contacted its primary audience.
- The degree of detail provided on the Budget Request Page or an attached budget page.
- The appropriateness of the project budget for conducting the proposed program.
- The extent to which the project is supplemented with outside funding or other support.
- The overall value of the project to agriculture in Wisconsin.
- The effectiveness of the project to achieve its goals.
- The qualifications of the project manager and staff to carry out the project.
- The degree to which the project focuses on educating the farming and general public as to the environmental value of managed grazing.
Application Checklist
___Cover page
___One, and only one, application category self selected
___ Cover page signatures
___ Budget request page
___ Written documentation of your organization’s indirect costs policy.
___ Application
___ If previously funded, attach copy of your most recent progress report.
___ 10 copies included in application packet.
___ Proposal sent electronically to .
___ Packet postmarked no later than February 13, 2008.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGETCenter at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, WhittenBuilding, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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