On June 14, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
program released this year’s request for applications. SBIR is a
division of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
This program supports scientific and technological innovation “in
critical American priorities to build a strong national economy, one
small business at a time.”
SBIR’s objectives focus on private sector innovation and using the
private sector to commercialize USDA-derived research and development
efforts, as well as focusing on boosting technological innovation in
women-owned and socially disadvantaged small businesses. The program
has ten priority areas in agricultural research; two program areas –
Rural and Community Development, and Small and Mid-Size Farms – may be
of particular interest to those in sustainable agriculture.
Two previous projects from the Small and Mid-Size Farm category:
Holmes & Associates utilized SBIR funds to launch an online catalog and the AdirondackCraft.com website
to promote wood products and crafts manufactured in rural communities
in upstate New York. When the website launched it featured over 400
products from 70 small manufacturers and artisans in the Adirondacks,
creating $30,000 of internet-based sales in the first year.
Sleepy Hollow Farm
developed a USDA National Organic Program Certified production and
processing system for the medicinal plant goldenseal (Hydrastis
Canadensis) that is adaptable to small family farms. Partnering with
Clemson University’s Institute for Nutraceutical Research and The
University of Illinois, Chicago’s College of Dentistry at various points
in the project, Sleepy Hollow created a line of research grade
goldenseal products suitable for use in NIH sponsored clinical studies.
More than 40 small farms now produce goldenseal as a direct result, and
income for production and processing was projected to exceed $1 million
per year within the first three years of the program.
Examples of projects in other program areas include the development
of test kits to help farms manage nitrate levels, an energy shake for
honeybees, promotion of earthworm tea, and development of sensors for
measuring wind erosion. See other success stories here.
New projects will be funded for $70,000-$100,000. SBIR will accept
applications through September 6, 2013. For more information about the
application click here. Read the full RFA here.
