Sustainable Farming Fund

The Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) invests in applied research and projects led by farmers, growers, or foresters. Find out more about the fund and how to apply.

Funding rounds

2018/19 funding round open from 1 August 2017

The 2018/19 Sustainable Farming Fund round is open from 1 August 2017 until 3pm on 14 September 2017. The round is for projects starting from 1 July 2018.

All applications must be made through the MPI grants portal.

Grants portal login

If you have questions

Supporting information such as frequently asked questions and guidelines on how to use the portal are available.

We recommend you contact our investment advisers before you apply. Email funding@mpi.govt.nz

Help and guidance on your application will be provided until 31 August 2017. The team cannot provide assistance after this date.

Changes to the round for 2018/19

Budget template incorporated into online application

We have incorporated the budget template into the milestones section of the online application.  This means the separate Excel budget template used in previous years is no longer used. 

Cohort meeting

This year we are asking all applicants to allocate budget for a single overnight trip to Wellington in one of your first year milestones. 

This will be for the project manager to attend a workshop involving all the other project managers from the successful 2018/19 cohort.  It is tentatively scheduled to be held around April to June 2019.  This is to encourage discussion, linkages, and increased collaboration between SFF projects.

Innovation

This year we are also putting additional emphasis on innovation.  The desire is to see project applications that are using fresh and new approaches in the:

  • problem or opportunity the project intends to explore
  • methodology to achieve the desired outcomes. 

Who to contact

If you have any questions about the funding round, call 0800 00 83 33 or email funding@mpi.govt.nz

Funding from the grass-roots up

The SFF funds 'communities of interest' to do applied research and extension projects that tackle a shared problem or develop a new opportunity. 

Applicants can apply for up to $200,000 a year for a maximum of 3 years. The maximum total grant available is $600,000. Projects require a non-government funding contribution of at least 20%. Most successful projects are able to leverage a high proportion of other funding or in-kind support to complement the SFF grant.

1,000 projects and counting booklet

The SFF has supported over 1,000 projects between 2000 and 2017. This booklet celebrates the fund's success by putting the spotlight on 33 projects across the past 17 years.

Database of project information

The funding activity database contains information about SFF projects dating back to 2000. You can search this database by keyword, name, project number, region, or sector.

For more information about a project email funding@mpi.govt.nz

Grants portal

In the grants portal, you can apply to open funds and project administrators can manage their existing projects.

Grants portal login

Find out more

Last reviewed: | Has this been useful? Give us your feedback
Feedback