Grant Opportunities for Farmers

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Taylor in Energy, Farmers Markets, Farming Resources, Funding, Local Food, Marketing, Research, Rural Development, Sustainable Agriculture, Urban Farming and Gardening // 0 Comments

Check out the following Grant Opportunities for Farmers and others – Alternative Crops, Farm Business Managements, Local Foods, Conservation Stewardship, Rural Energy, Sustainable Agriculture Research, Local Food, and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers. Get information and apply for these grant opportunities for farmers today.

Supplemental and Alternative Crops Competitive Grants Program – Closing date for applications is April 18, 2018.

The Supplemental and Alternative Crops Competitive (SACC) Grants Program will support the development of canola as a viable supplemental and alternative crop in the United States. The goal of the SACC program is to significantly increase crop production and/or acreage by developing and testing of superior germplasm, improving methods of planting, cultivation, and harvesting, and transferring new knowledge to producers (via Extension) as soon as practicable. Extension, education, and communication activities related to the research areas above must be addressed in the proposal. View the RFA and apply for the grant here.

Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Competitive Grant Program – Applications must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on April 20, 2018.

The goal of the Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Competitive Grant Program (FBMB) is to strongly support the intellectual talent and collaborative efforts to maintain the national, publicly available farm financial management database needed to meet the challenges facing the nation’s agriculture and food systems. Meeting these challenges will require innovative approaches that foster multi-disciplinary projects. This means that farm management producers must be educated and prepared to work effectively across disciplines in order to work to solve agricultural and educational challenges. The FBMB program engages producers in improving the United States farm management knowledge and skills by encompassing the USDA/NIFA’s food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. Further grant details, including application eligibility, can be found in the RFA.

Local Food Promotion Program – Applications are due May 7, 2018.

Applications are requested for the fiscal year 2018 Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP). LFPP’s purpose is to increase domestic consumption of and access to locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets, by developing, improving, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to, or assisting in the development, improvement, and expansion of local and regional food businesses (including those that are not direct producer-to-consumer markets) that process, distribute, aggregate, or store locally or regionally produced food products. Eligible applicants include agricultural businesses, agricultural cooperatives, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) networks, CSA associations, economic development corporations, local governments, nonprofit corporations, producer networks, producer associations, public benefit corporations, regional farmers markets authorities, and Tribal governments. View further details about this grant opportunity here.

MORE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR FARMERS:

Conservation Stewardship Program Renewals, Deadline: April 13, 2018

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), which is administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), provides financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to help them implement new, and actively manage existing conservation systems on land in production (also known as “working lands”). More information on CSP renewals can be found via NSAC’s blog.

Rural Energy for America Program, Deadline: Variable

USDA’s Rural Business Service administers the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP offers two types of assistance:

Grants and loans to farmers and rural businesses seeking to make energy efficiency improvements and/or purchase renewable energy systems
Grants to help farmers with energy audits and renewable energy development.

For farms or small businesses seeking renewable energy or energy efficiency improvement grants, for which the requested amount is less than $20,000, applications are due by 4:30 pm on April 30, 2018. Applicants who submitted applications by the previous deadline of October 31, 2017 do not need to reapply. For larger grants or for requests for a combination of a grant and a guaranteed loan, the deadline is also 4:30 pm on April 30, 2018. For farms and small businesses seeking a federal guarantee of a private loan (but no grant), there is a rolling deadline during which eligible applications will be reviewed and processed when received for periodic competitions.
More information on how to apply can be found on USDA’s website and on NSAC’s recent blog post here.

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Deadline: Variable

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program advances sustainable agriculture through farmer-driven research. There are many grant opportunities for farmers through SARE. Successful SARE grantees are producers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, and educators engaged in projects that address the “three Ps” of sustainability: profit over the long term; protection of the land and water; and people (communities) who depend on agriculture. SARE is administered through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and is run by four regional councils that set SARE policy and make grants. Currently SARE regions are accepting applications for their Graduate Student Grant program. Northeast Region grants can be submitted online until May 8, 2018.

Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program, Deadline: May 7, 2018

The Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) provides grant opportunities on a competitive basis for a wide spectrum of direct-to-consumer and local food marketing projects. FMLFPP is administered as two subprograms: FMPP and the Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP). The FMPP subprogram supports projects that have more of a direct farmer-to-consumer focus, such as: farmers markets, CSA (community supported agriculture) programs, roadside stands, pick-your own operations, and agritourism. In contrast, LFPP’s focus is on the farm to fork pipeline. LFPP supports projects including, but not limited to: processing, distribution, aggregation, and storage and marketing of locally or regionally produced food products sold through intermediated marketing channels. Applications for both FMPP and LFPP must be submitted electronically via https://www.grants.gov/.

Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program, Deadline: May 15, 2018

Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (also known as the “Section 2501 program”) is administered by USDA and supports competitively funded grant projects to help academic institutions, community-based organizations, nonprofits, and tribal entities provide critical resources, outreach, and technical assistance to historically underserved producers. The purpose of the 2501 program is to ensure that farmers of color and military veteran farmers have equitable opportunities to successfully acquire and maintain successful farm businesses, and to access USDA support and programs. Section 2501 supports a range of outreach and assistance activities, including: farm management, financial management, marketing, and application and bidding procedures. All applications must be submitted via grants.gov.

Learn more about grant opportunities for farmers and find other funding resources at https://www.beginningfarmers.org/funding-resources/

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