URBANA, Ill. – The fledgling Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative (IRAI) is inviting interested farmers, researchers and nonprofits to submit proposals for sustainable agriculture project grants before June 30, 2021. The competitive grants will be awarded to interdisciplinary teams of Illinois scholars and farming or food system stakeholders who address key metrics of regenerative agriculture, including soil health parameters, on-farm biodiversity or community health and resilience.

“The aim of IRAI is to bring University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) faculty, students, researchers, farmers, educators, communities, stakeholders and industry partners together to make progress in achieving regenerative agriculture outcomes,” said Anya Knecht, associate director of the IRAI. The Initiative is a partnership between the U of I Department of Crop Sciences, College of ACES, Extension and the institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment (iSEE). “It’s s an outcome-based approach to achieve improvements in soil quality, biodiversity, food security, and community and environmental health.”

Knecht joined IRAI Director Emily Heaton for an April 10 webinar to release the Initiative’s first request for proposals. Knecht said written proposals should be submitted in PDF form and include a list of approved team members, along with project outcomes that meet at least one of the key metrics that define the IRAI’s sustainability approach.

“There are a lot of ways to win here. Some approaches may have modest changes across large scales, for example increasing cover crops on corn or soybean acres. Other approaches may be transformative, making really big changes that have large impacts. Regardless, achieving regenerative agriculture has a really broad scope,” Knecht said.

Fresh Taste, an initiative by Chicago-region foundations working together to “relocalize the Chicago foodshed and improve equity of access to good food,” is a major sponsor of the IRAI. Grants are extended through Fresh Taste’s Good Food Fund, a pooled fund established in 2010 to support initiatives that lie outside their individual geographic or programmatic priorities.

Fresh Taste’s focus is the Chicago foodshed, an area extending roughly 225 miles around Chicago including northern Illinois and parts of Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.

“At the IRAI we plan to work hard to make sure we have sustained financial support for funding to ensure that the projects we fund have opportunities to extend beyond the (contracted) duration of the projects,” said Heaton, who advised those interested in submitting a proposal to include language explaining the long-term sustainability of their projects. “Just tell us what you envision for your project and how you envision its impact,” she said.

IRAI has secured $150,000 in grant money for distribution during its initial funding cycle, according to Heaton. “We are planning to distribute that money in awards of up to $50,000 over a 12 to 24 month period. We expect to hand out three to five awards in our initial funding period, and we expect to have cash in hand for our awardees on Sept. 1,” she said.

Applicant teams must include at least one UIUC faculty or staff member and at least one member from a stakeholder group, which includes not only farmers and agribusiness, but also organizations like schools, hospitals, banks, and faith or citizen groups.

“We are here to support you as you develop your proposals, so if you have questions please contact us,” Heaton said.

Questions about IRAI 2021 grant applications can be sent to Emily Heaton (heaton6@illinois.edu) and Anya Knecht (knecht2@illinois.edu). To learn more about the IRAI and iSEE, visit:  www.sustainability.illinois.edu/research/illinois-regenerative-agriculture-initiative/.