Financial Support for Food Safety Certification

USDA Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops Program

The FSCSC program provides financial assistance for specialty crop operations that incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses related to obtaining or renewing a food safety certification in calendar years 2022 or 2023. This program helps offset costs to comply with regulatory requirements and market-driven food safety certification requirements. 

Risk Management Education Grant

USDA Risk Management Education Partnership Program

RMA recently announced $2 million is available for cooperative agreements for risk management education and training programs that support farmers, ranchers, including underserved producers, small-scale farmers, organic operations, and climate-smart farm practices.

Proposals are due April 24, 2023. The notice of funding has additional details View Opportunity | GRANTS.GOV. Interested organizations must apply through the Results Verification System at http://rvs.umn.edu.

 

USDA Microloans

USDA Farm Service Agency

The focus of Microloans is on the financing needs of small, beginning farmer, niche and non-traditional farm operations, such as truck farms, farms participating in direct marketing and sales such as farmers’ markets, CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture), restaurants and grocery stores, or those using hydroponic, aquaponic, organic and vertical growing methods.

Cultivate Growth Grant Program

Greenstone Farm Credit Services

Helping small and beginning farmers of all production styles obtain and maintain the resources they need is a top priority for GreenStone. CultivateGrowth provides financing in unique and individualized situations through our relaxed underwriting standards to help the next generation of agriculture overcome the farming's financial challenges. Our expertise in agricultural financing, in addition to our understanding of specialized Farm Service Agency (FSA) programs, allows us to better understand your business cycles and the details in your operation as we provide loans for young, beginning or small farmers.

Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program

USDA Rural Development

The Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program is a part of USDA’s Build Back Better initiative to strengthen critical supply chains and our food system. This program guarantees loans of up to $40 million for qualified lenders to finance food systems projects, specifically for the start-up or expansion of activities in the middle of the food supply chain. The program will support new investments in infrastructure for food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, and distribution to increase capacity and create a more resilient, diverse, and secure U.S. food supply chain. This program is fully funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Farmers Market Promotion Program Grants

USDA Local Agriculture Market Program

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. A 25% match is required.

All applicants must be domestic entities owned, operated and located within the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands to be considered eligible. 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

Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program

USDA Rural Development

This program provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) to help microenterprises startup and growth through a Rural Microloan Revolving Fund and provide training and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs.  

The following are eligible to be a Microenterprise Development Organization:

• Nonprofits.
• Federally-recognized tribes.
• Institutions of higher education.

The following are eligible to apply for a loan from the MDO as an ultimate recipient:

• Businesses located in an eligible area with 10 or fewer full-time employees.

Local Food Promotion Program Grants

USDA Local Agriculture Market Program

The Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) 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. Grants can be used for the planning stages of establishing or expanding a local and regional food business enterprise or to improve or expand a food business that supports locally and regionally produced agricultural products and food system infrastructure by performing feasibility studies, market research, training and technical assistance  for the business enterprise and/or for producers working with the business enterprise. A 25% match is required.

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.

All applicants must be domestic entities owned, operated and located within the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands to be considered eligible. 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.

Regranting Fund: Returning Stolen Wealth

CoFund

We are excited to open our next round of, CoFUND, our regranting program, aimed to support and build the collective resilience of food and land-justice based cooperatives; led by Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous People of Color of all ages. Through this fund, CoFED will re-grant funding to cooperative and farmer-based organizations that are building and working to transform the food system.

Honey production guide for Michigan beekeepers

Michigan State University Extension

A guide from MSU Extension and the Center for Regional Food Systems outlines best practices for processing and selling liquid honey for beekeepers who make $15,000 or less in annual honey sales