This program awards grants that support planning, developing, and implementing farm to school programs that connect students to the sources of their food through education, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and local food sourcing for school meals.

USDA is partnering with the Urban School Food Alliance to provide trainings and tools to school districts that will help them purchase high quality foods, while keeping costs low. In recent years schools have faced challenges in obtaining healthy foods consistently, efficiently and effectively. This initiative will support schools with school meals procurement, including the development of tools and training.

OCCSP provides cost share assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products who are obtaining or renewing their certification under the National Organic Program (NOP). Certified operations may receive up to 75 percent of their certification costs paid during the program year, not to exceed $750 per certification scope. Fact sheet here.

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program is a decentralized competitive grants and education program operating in every state and island protectorate. SARE is divided into four different regions that operate as separate entities and run grant programs for their states.

Funding and grant programs for urban agriculture (USDA assists urban, small-scale, and innovative producers with growing, processing and selling. We provide technical and financial assistance for a variety of growing operations, including community farms and gardens, rooftop, indoor, and vertical farms, and hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic facilities).

Valuable resources and program information about access to capital, land management and conservation practices, managing risk, finding local markets, and other educational resources.

NIFA seeks to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness and provide a safer food supply by supporting research, education, and extension activities addressing current priority issues and multiple disciplines in food safety.

Program provides business training to American Indian producers in the West under the topics of business assistance, agricultural education and technical support. 

Health Care Without Harm’s guide, Anchored by health systems: Strategies for health care was released, offering approaches for evaluating, strategizing and operationalizing initiatives to support health care in building equitable relationships that power community health, wealth, and climate resilience.

Access the guide here.

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) Outreach’s newest bulletin, Best Practices for the Sustainable Urban Farm, outlines strategies that urban farmers use to tackle the unique opportunities and challenges associated with urban production.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) established a three-year cooperative agreement with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and the National Farm to School Network (NFSN) to develop a farm to school training program for agricultural producers. Using a tiered, train-the-trainer model, the Bringing the Farm to School training program prepares State agencies and other representatives with the knowledge, resources and skills necessary to offer trainings to local producers in their states.

Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,400 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada. They provide information, best practices, and solutions for greening the many facets of the health care industry. Read their recently updated Food Purchasing Standards document to support organizations in navigating the criteria, definitions, certifications and attributes, measures, and strategies to support and evaluate values-based procurement efforts.

Health Care Without Harm’s Food Waste Solutions Toolkit was designed to support health institutions with food waste reduction. With SB 1383 starting January 1, 2024, Tier 2 food generators (including health facilities with an on-site food facility and 100+ beds) will be required to donate the maximum amount of surplus edible food, establish contracts with food recovery organizations, and maintain records of the donations. More information can be found on the CalRecycle website.

The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance program provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) to: To help microenterprises startup and grow through a Rural Microloan Revolving Fund and provide training and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs.

Nonprofits, federally-recognized tribes and institutions of higher education may apply to be a Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs). Businesses located in an eligible area with 10 or fewer full-time employees are eligible to apply for a loan from the MDO as an ultimate recipient.

Application deadlines are on a quarterly basis.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) uses non-competitive cooperative agreements to provide up to $900 million of American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funding for state, tribal and territorial governments to purchase foods produced within the state or within 400 miles of the delivery destination to help support local, regional and underserved producers. Additional $115 million for tribal producers.

Application deadline is May 12, 2024.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) and the NASDA Foundation recognized a significant gap in available capital sources for underserved communities trying to start and grow their farm and ranch businesses. In an attempt to learn more about the specific barriers faced by socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, CDFA and the NASDA Foundation collaborated to release the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers & Ranchers Access to Capital Toolkit (2024), which defines how traditional development finance tools can launch and expand access to capital programs to support farmers and ranchers who have historically faced discrimination.

AgPlan is a free business planning tool developed by the University of Vermont, University of Minnesota Center for Farm Financial Management, Clemson University, University of California, and American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association.

This resource helps rural businesses develop a business plan by providing tips, resources, templates, and sample plans related to financial planning, risk management, strategic planning, clarity of vision and goals, legal and regulatory compliance, marketing and promotion, communication and collaboration, and continuous improvement.

The USDA Local and Regional Food Systems Resource Guide (December 2023) provides a list of resources related to technical assistance, grant opportunities, and more in several food system investment areas, including land conservation, processing, production, distribution, food loss and waste reduction and recovery, and more.

The Guide is intended to help stakeholders navigate USDA resources to strengthen local and regional food systems. Stakeholders can use these resources to partner with USDA to address climate change, create more and better market opportunities, support food and nutrition security, and advance racial justice, equity, opportunity and rural prosperity.

Farm Business Management for the Global Majority is providing an 10-week online course series for farmers of Color to develop skills to manage and grow their operations by working collectively to break down the many systemic barriers that keep them from farming or from participating in farmer support programs.

The Western SARE Farmer/Rancher Research & Education Grant Program aims to honor producer innovation by funding on-farm research that benefits and is led by producers themselves. This grant program involves agricultural producers (main applicants) and technical advisor(s) implementing projects to address identified needs in sustainable agriculture.

Projects with 1-2 producers may apply for up to $25,000 and projects with 3 or more producers working together may apply for up to $29,900.

The proposed project (1-3 years in scope) will conduct both research and outreach on a sustainable agriculture topic. With the support and guidance of the technical advisor, producers must integrate research and education to conduct on-site/on-farm experiments to address social, environmental, and economic aspects of agricultural sustainability.

The goal of this program is to achieve results that can be communicated to other producers and professionals; sustain and improve the environmental quality and natural resource base on which agriculture depends; improve the profitability of producers and associated agricultural businesses; and enhance the quality of life for producers in local communities. Outreach activities may include on-farm/ranch demonstrations, farmer-to-farmer educational activities, and other approaches to assist producer adoption of sustainable agricultural practices.

Application Deadline: October 23rd, 2024, 12:00pm MST

The USDA Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) is accepting applications for the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) program, which supports partnerships that connect public and private resources to plan and develop local or regional food systems. The program focuses on building and strengthening the viability and resilience of local or regional food economies through collaboration and coordination. RFSP supports public-private partnerships that plan and develop relationships between local and regional producers, processors, intermediaries, and institutional markets or institutional food service operations through local and regional producers and local and regional food systems.

RFSP offers two types of projects, 24-month Planning and Design and 36-month Implementation and Expansion Projects. Planning and Design projects range from $100,000 to $250,000, while Implementation and Expansion projects range from $250,000 to $1,000,000.

Eligible entities include producers, farmer or rancher cooperatives, producer networks or associations, majority-controlled producer-based business venture, community supported agriculture networks or associations, food councils, local governments, nonprofit corporations, public benefit corporations, economic development corporations, regional farmers market authorities, and tribal governments. Eligible partners include state agencies or regional authorities, philanthropic corporations, institutions of higher education, private corporations, and commercial, federal or farm credit system lending institutions.

Access the USDA LAMP Navigator Tool to explore LAMP grant inputs, activities, and project details: https://www.ams.usda.gov/data/lamp-navigator.

Application Deadline: May 14th, 2024

The USDA Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) is accepting applications for the The Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) funds projects that develop, coordinate and expand direct producer-to-consumer markets to help increase access to and availability of locally and regionally produced agricultural products by developing, coordinating, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, online sales or other direct producer-to-consumer (including direct producer-to-retail, direct producer-to-restaurant and direct producer-to-institutional marketing) market opportunities.

Eligible projects fall in the following four categories: 36-month Capacity Building; 36-month Community Development Training and Technical Assistance; 24-month Turnkey Marketing and Promotion; and 24-month Turnkey Recruitment and Training.

Entities that are eligible to apply include: Agricultural businesses and cooperatives; Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) networks and associations; Food councils; Economic development corporations; Local governments; Nonprofit and public benefit corporations; Producer networks or associations; Regional farmers’ market authorities; Tribal governments.

Access the USDA LAMP Navigator Tool to explore LAMP grant inputs, activities, and project details: https://www.ams.usda.gov/data/lamp-navigator.

Application deadline: May 14th, 2024

The USDA Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) is accepting applications for the Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP), which funds projects that develop, coordinate, and expand local and regional food business enterprises that engage as intermediaries in indirect producer to consumer marketing to help increase access to and availability of locally and regionally produced agricultural products.

Eligible projects fall in the following four categories: 24-month Planning; 36-month Implementation; 24-month Turnkey Marketing and Promotion; and 24-month Turnkey Recruitment and Training.

Eligible entities may apply if they support local and regional food business enterprises that process, distribute, aggregate, or store locally or regionally produced food products. Entities that are eligible to apply include: Agricultural businesses and cooperatives; Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) networks and associations; Food councils; Economic development corporations; Local governments; Nonprofit and public benefit corporations; Producer networks or associations; Regional farmers’ market authorities; Tribal governments.

Access the USDA LAMP Navigator Tool to explore LAMP grant inputs, activities, and project details: https://www.ams.usda.gov/data/lamp-navigator.

Application deadline: May 14th, 2024

The USDA Risk Management Agency has developed the Whole Farm/Micro Farm Agent List for 2024 Crop Year. The resource lists 1,135 crop insurance agents, in all 50 states, who have experience selling Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and Micro Farm policies.

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program (NOP) has published an online retail toolkit of consumer-focused, educational resources to highlight the unique value of the organic label. Consumer research shows that consumers do not always understand what the organic label means.

This toolkit was designed for retailers to use in stores and online to educate consumers on what the organic label means and how USDA protects the label. The toolkit will also increase consumer understanding of and trust in the USDA organic seal and label.

The UC ANR Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program hosted a webinar, where a panel of experienced extension professionals and farmers discussed creating meaningful co-learning partnerships in which producers and researchers work together to address sustainability challenges, try out creative ideas, and share information with other producers. Panelists discussed benefits and drawbacks of participatory extension, what personal and professional qualities are needed to make these partnerships successful, what’s in it for the producers and practical tips and suggestions for building successful partnerships, and more.

The 2022 Census of Agriculture provides a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Even small plots of land – whether rural or urban – count if $1,000 or more of such products were raised and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year. The Census of Agriculture, taken only once every five years, looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures. For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of Agriculture is their voice, their future, and their opportunity.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service has developed a fact sheet for all producers–farmers, ranchers, fishermen, or other food producers, large or small–on best practices and steps to sell local foods to schools.

The UC Davis Center for Precision Medicine and Data Sciences and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources have developed the report to serve as a resource to assist institutions’ purchasing strategies that support local, sustainable farms. Large institutions such as hospitals, schools, and prisons can play an important role in supporting the sustainability of local farms and food systems by purchasing, cooking and serving large quantities of locally-grown food from farms and ranches using sustainable farming practices. Institutional food services can learn from the experiences of institutions implementing similar programs.

The Agricultural Connection Community, created by the U.S. Department of Labor, provides T collection of workforce information and technical assistance resources that support career services and training for migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFW).

The National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) is a nationally-directed, locally-administered program of services for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents. Career Services and Training grant recipients help farmworkers and their dependents acquire necessary skills to either stabilize or advance in their agricultural jobs or obtain employment in new industries. To support better economic outcomes for farmworkers, Housing grant recipients work to meet a critical need for safe and sanitary permanent and temporary housing.

NFJP is currently accepting applications under Careers Services and Training. Learn more and apply here. Application deadline is May 3rd, 2024 11:59 EST.

Locate Programs in your area:
Career Services & Training Grantees
Housing Grantees

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting project proposals for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) now through July 2, 2024, that will help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation strategies to enhance natural resources while tackling the climate crisis. These projects in turn can save farmers money, create new revenue streams, and increase productivity.

The Western SARE Sabbatical Research & Education Grant Program is accepting proposals. This program provides an opportunity for faculty around the world to partner with farmers, ranchers, agricultural professionals, and researchers in the Western U.S. region to conduct research, education, and Extension activities. Projects focused on unexplored topics in underserved communities and understudied geographic locations are of special interest.

Application Deadline: 11/21/24

The USDA Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative expands access to conservation technical assistance for livestock producers and increases the use of conservation practices on grazing lands. Project proposals will identify and address barriers to accessing grazing assistance for producers.

Application Deadline: 5/26/24.

Western SARE is accepting applications for the Research and Education grant. This grant program involves scientists, agricultural producers, and others using interdisciplinary approaches to advance sustainable agriculture at local and regional levels. With the collaboration of producers, projects must integrate rigorous research and education aiming to advance the three components of sustainable agriculture- environmental, economic, and social- and use innovative educational outreach to disseminate new knowledge to students, producers, and other agricultural stakeholders.
Researchers from Western institutions may apply. Projects must incorporate research and education, and bring together a team of researchers, students, ag professionals, and producers. Project budget is $350,000 maximum, with project length 1-3 years.

Application Deadline: 5/23/24

Local Food Marketplace and Activate Food Arizona have developed a resource guide to assist businesses in understanding their eligibility and how to best navigate the Online SNAP/EBT implementation process.

The California Alliance for Family Farmers (CAFF) Small Farm Tech Hub has developed a quiz and accompanying resource to help guide small farms in making a strategic decision on adopting e-commerce or online sales.

“Achieving Food System Stability and Well-Being: A New Role in Global Development Finance” researches the interrelationships between food insecurity and food systems in order to best develop solutions and opportunities.

Western SARE is accepting applications for the Professional + Producer Grant Program. This grant program involves implementing projects to address identified needs in sustainable agriculture. Projects must integrate research and education aiming to advance sustainable agriculture through environmental, economic, and social components, as well as use innovative educational outreach to provide new knowledge to producers and other agricultural stakeholders.

Application Deadline: October 22nd, 2024

Western SARE is accepting applications for the Professional Development grant program, which focuses on educating and training agricultural professionals to increase their understanding and proficiency in sustainable agriculture so they, in turn, can educate and train other agricultural professionals.

Application Deadline: November 6th, 2024