SEOP Grant - Pork Checkoff

Swine Education & Outreach Grant Program

NPB is thrilled to announce that it will fund the Swine Education & Outreach Professional grant program in 2025, offering $600,000 to swine educators.

Deadline for Grant Proposal Submissions: Jan. 31, 2025

The Heart of the Program

Swine education and outreach professionals play a crucial role in the swine industry by educating and training students, caretakers and producers in academia, higher education and extension services.

The objectives of the grant program: 

  • Drive state and regional execution of national producer priorities, as identified in the annual industry planning process.
  • Facilitate greater swine/pork education reach for under-served states and producers.
  • Increase interaction with all segments of pork production and/or operation types.
  • Enhance collaboration and coordination among industry, research, and Extension nationwide.
  • Support Swine Outreach and Education Professionals as a critical part of a successful national system executed at the local level.
  • Leverage expertise of Extension with Checkoff funding.
  • Strengthen the partnership between the National Pork Board and Swine Education and Outreach Professionals.
  • Advance and enhance the workforce pipeline for industry, research and Extension.
  • Expand new and alternative platforms for education deployment.

By contributing your expertise and innovative ideas, you’re helping shape the future of pork education and outreach.

Focus for 2025 Proposals

Proposals in 2025 should be directed towards addressing the National Pork Board’s priorities including: 

  • Swine Health – including but not limited to:
    • Traceability (Premises ID validation in cooperation with State Animal Health Official, AgView accounts, recording movements, and incorporating use of RFID tags and readers into swine tracing for cull sows and exhibition swine) 
    • Enhancing Biosecurity (Secure Pork Supply plan development, and exercise biosecurity implementation) 
      • Targeting independent producers 
    • Surveillance (Certified Swine Sample Collector program – hold trainings consistent with CSSC program standards) 
    • US SHIP (Producer education on program processes and requirements) 
    • Catastrophic event and mortality management planning 
  • Permission to Operate – including but not limited to:
    • Develop and promote best Management Practices for environmental footprint reduction (including water, feed, emissions, efficiency of nutrient utilization, etc.)  
    • Circularity of manure use as fertilizer 
    • Develop and promote best practices for retention of “our people” 
    • Promote and improve antibiotic and environmental stewardship activities 
    • Drive adoption of technologies that increase efficiency across all sectors of pork production 

Proposals are encouraged to target the program’s objectives and producer priorities with budgets in the range of up to $100,000.

We value multi-state, multi-institutional and/or multi-partner proposals that demonstrate a return on investment. Collaborating and coordinating with state pork associations before applying is encouraged.

How to Apply

We encourage you to review the submission guidelines carefully and submit your innovative proposals before the deadline.

This grant program represents a pivotal step in our joint efforts to support and enhance the swine industry. We eagerly anticipate your innovative proposals and look forward to the dynamic projects that will emerge from this initiative.

The timeline for proposal submissions is as follows:

  • Dec. 12, 2024: RFP becomes available
  • Jan. 31, 2025: Deadline for full proposal submission
  • March 15, 2025: Notification to applicants
  • March 30, 2025: Swine Education and Outreach Grant’s agreements in place
  • October 2025: Present preliminary update at Swine Education and Outreach Professionals Conference
  • Dec. 30, 2025: Progress report due
  • July 30, 2026 or earlier: Project completed, final project report due

Questions can be sent to Chelsey Van Genderen, Director of Industry Programs and Outreach, [email protected].  

Proposal Format & Requirements

All proposals submitted should include the standard 11 sections described. Each section should be clearly marked with subheads.

Click here to download an application template to your desktop

Please note:

  • Microsoft Word format is preferred. Times New Roman, 12-point font.
  • Please include all materials in one document. This includes all sections, letters of cooperation and curriculum vitae.
  • File name format: last name-first initial-proposal.doc
    example: smith-a-proposal.doc
  • Include first name, last name and institution(s).
  • Length requirements are specified for each section.

Deadline for Grant Proposal Submissions: Jan. 31, 2025 by 5:00 p.m. CST

Expand All
1. Proposal Summary

Length: one page max, single-spaced

Decision makers (including pork producers and subject matter experts on the appropriate task force/work group) will review the summary to judge the proposal and assign industry priority.

The summary should answer the following four questions.

1. Describe the objectives of the proposed Swine Education and/or Outreach project.

  • What deliverables will this project provide to the industry?
  • List or describe the intended outcomes of the project.
  • What metrics will be used to define success? Explain any measurables (key performance indicators, milestones, completed plans, enrollments, etc.)

2. Describe how the proposed project aligns with at least one of the National Pork Board’s priorities:

  • Swine Health
  • Permission to Operate

3. Describe any multi-state, multi-institutional, and/or multi-partner components associated with this proposal.

4. Describe why U.S. pork producers should fund this proposal.

  • For example, how does this proposal benefit the industry? How does it improve the competitive advantage of the U.S. pork industry? What other descriptions or reasons are there for pork producers to highly prioritize this project?
2. Budget

Length: two pages maximum

Budget Format

  • Please create a project budget using this template. Single space required.
  • Budget must be indicated in a 3-column format that itemizes costs for the National Pork Board vs the university plus the sum of both.
  • Other funding requested or anticipated in support of this project must be indicated in an additional budget column.

Approved costs for project overhead and indirect costs are not typically covered by Pork Checkoff funds.

  • Graduate student support, student and other hourly labor, and post-doctoral support is allowed.
  • Partial support for a principal investigator (PI) on less than a 12-month salaried appointment will be allowed if a detailed budget narrative addressing the amount of requested support in relation to the PI project time commitment justifies the expense.
  • Equipment, except for disposable equipment such as test tubes, etc., is not allowed unless explained in the proposal, included in the budget and approved in advance by the Board.
3. Related Work by Principal Investigator

Length: one page maximum

Include previous related work in this area or a closely related field by the principal investigator (not more than five citations).

4. Project Objectives

Length: one page maximum

Clearly explain the objectives to be addressed by the proposed project. List multiple objectives separately.

5. Method to Achieve Objectives

Length: one page maximum

Include the details of the proposed effort.

6. Proposed Timeline

Length: one page maximum

Include a schedule for the proposed project.

7. Value of Proposed Project

Length: one page maximum

Describe the value of the proposed project to the swine industry and its relevance to producer priorities.

8. Certification

Length: check the box on the proposal application cover page and include the appropriate contact information. 

Most institutions require approval of proposals before submission.

Please indicate this step has been completed by checking the box on the proposal application. Also supply the names, titles, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of the personnel from the grants office, college and department who have approved your proposal for submission.

Proposals may be rejected if this step is not completed.

9. Dissemination Plan

Length: one page maximum

Include a brief description of the plan to disseminate project outcomes and successful results to appropriate audiences and/or suggested methods for replication in additional states or regions.

10. Letters of Cooperation

Length: One page max for each letter

Include letters of cooperation from project co-investigators and other collaborators. Letters of support from industry, state pork associations or others are also encouraged.

11. Abridged Curriculum Vitae

Length: One page max for each individual

Include curriculum vitae for the primary investigator and each co-investigator.

Ready to Apply?

Is your proposal ready? Does it follow the standard format detailed above?

All grant proposals must be submitted via the Pork Checkoff Research Portal. Create an account and follow the prompts to submit.

Questions can be sent to Chelsey Van Genderen, Director of Industry Programs and Outreach, [email protected].