E-news Number 28 for project teams and all those interested in Sustainable Farming in New Zealand

Dear all                He mihi nui ki a koutou

In this edition of E-news:

• 2010/11 funding round opens early
• Results from 2009 funding round announced
• Sustainable Farming Fund acknowledgement and logos

2010/11 funding round opens early

As announced in our June e-newsletter, SFF has brought forward the funding timeline for 2010. This will allow projects receiving funding in the 2010/11 financial year to be contracted and ready to commence by 1 July 2010.

The 2010/11 funding round is now officially open. Application forms and guidelines for both the main SFF fund and the SFF Climate Change Fund (SFF-CC) are available to download from the SFF website.

• Application form for projects over $20,000 (click here)
  Note: the closing date for applications over $20K is 7 October 2009.
• Application form for projects under $20,000 (click here)
  Note: the closing date for applications under $20K is 2 March 2010.
• Guidelines (click here)
• Funding round dates (click here)
• Funding brochure (click here)
• Media release (click here)

Interested in finding out more?

For further information contact your project adviser or call the Fund Administrator on 0800 00 83 33.

Results from the 2009 funding round announced

This week, SFF announced the 35 projects (SFF grants of over $20,000) approved for funding in the latest funding round. This represents grants totalling $8.26 million (GST incl) and will be subject to satisfactory contracting.

This is in addition to $651,000 of grant funding that was approved in April for 35 small projects (SFF grants of $20,000 or under).

Fund Manager, Denis Packer, is pleased with the overall balance of the projects funded this year. "The Sustainable Farming Fund continues to support a diverse range of grower, farmer or forester based projects aimed at improving the environmental, economic and social performance of New Zealand's primary sectors through sustainable farming methods," says Mr Packer.

Successful projects include:

• sustainable management of the tomato/ potato pysllid - a key issue for vegetable and greenhouse industries;
• community management of water resources including the Upper Taieri in Otago and Lake Okaro in the Bay of Plenty;
• development of an integrated Sustainable Managment System for the dairy industry to minimise nutrient, sediment and faecal contamination of water.

Applicants who wish to resubmit a proposal for the 2010/11 funding round are encouraged to contact an SFF project adviser for assistance.

Interested in finding out more?

To view the projects funded in the 2009 funding round click here.

Media release click here.

Sustainable Farming Fund acknowledgement and logos

Project teams are reminded to correctly acknowledge the MAF Sustainable Farming Fund in all presentations, publications and publicity.

Project managers need to:

• acknowledge the MAF Sustainable Farming Fund in full (the acronym "SFF" is not sufficient);
• use the correct logo which can be downloaded from our website (click here);
• remind your research provider or subconsultant to do the same.

We also have banners available to lend for use at field days.

Ending

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Kia rongo korero ano matou i a koutou

Kind regards
Amanda, Denis, Diana, Helen, Janine, Louise, and Nic.