Agriculture Funding Opportunities and More

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Taylor in Beginning Farmers, Farming Resources, Funding, Local Food, News, Policy, Politics // 0 Comments

Agriculture Funding Opportunities, Conservation Reserve Program Signup, Local Food Projects, Appropriations News, and More from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)…

AGRICULTURE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

$14 Million Available to Help Train the Next Generation of Farmers – Agriculture Funding Opportunities

On December 16, 2019, USDA released the FY 2020 Request for Applications with $14 million available to help launch new and expand existing programs to train beginning farmers and ranchers through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Organizations interested in applying for grant funding must submit an electronic application through Grants.gov by 5:00pm EST on Thursday, March 19, 2020.

$37 Million Available for the Value-Added Producer Grant Program – Agriculture Funding Opportunities

On December 11, 2019, USDA announced the availability of at least $37 million and a 90 day application period for VAPG grants. Stay tuned, NSAC will publish more information, including its updated and free Farmers’ Guide to Applying for the Value-Added Producer Grant Program, in the new year. Paper applications must be submitted by March 10, 2020 and electronic applications must be submitted on Grants.gov no later than 12:00pm EST on March 5, 2020.

LOCAL FOOD NEWS

$23.5 Million to Support Local Food Projects Awarded

USDA offers competitive grant support through FMLFPP to better connect farmers with local and regional consumers and markets. FMLFPP funds direct-to-consumer marketing strategies and provides support for local and regional food business enterprises (such as food hubs) acting as intermediaries between producers and consumers. Last week, AMS awarded $23.5 million in grant funding to support 91 local food projects for FY 2019. In this blog post, we highlight NSAC members that received FMLFPP awards and provide details on their projects.

CONGRESS NEWS

Congress Clears FY 2020 Appropriations Packages

Yesterday, after months of delay, Congress passed a much-anticipated deal to fund the government through the end of FY 2020 (September 30, 2020). The two “minibuses” that were passed totaled $1.4 trillion in discretionary spending, including $23.49 billion for USDA and related agencies. Overall, NSAC is pleased with the final FY 2020 appropriations for agriculture spending, since it provides discretionary support for several critical programs – including LAMP, FOTO, FRSAN, and RMAP. Farmers and food producing communities can finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that at least one cloud of uncertainty has been swept from the horizon. In this blog post, we analyze funding allocations across sustainable agriculture and food systems priorities.

CONSERVATION NEWS

Conservation Reserve Program Signup Begins, USDA Announces New Rule

Through CRP, USDA pays farmers to take highly erodible and environmentally sensitive land out of crop production and set it aside for grass or tree cover for a period of 10 or 15 years. Earlier this month, USDA released the interim final rule to implement changes to CRP included in the 2018 Farm Bill and opened up general sign-up for the program. USDA will accept public comments on the rule through February 4, 2020, and CRP general sign-up will be open until February 28, 2020. In this blog post, we cover CRP sign-up details and provide a brief analysis of the interim final rule.