Grants for Farmers
Grant Opportunities
Updated May 2024
New Hampshire:
Vermont:
NRCS Programs for 2025: deadline has been moved up from October to August 23.
NRCS application deadline, Vermont. It's early this year! Talk to your Conservation District or NRCS contact for details. August 23. August 23. August 23.
Strengthening the Region's Food Supply Chain - Funding Opportunity
Supporting innovative ideas and collaborations that result in increased regional sourcing by New England’s educational institutions.
The Henry P. Kendall Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the 2024 New England Food Vision Prize. The Prize program aims to increase the amount of regionally-produced food served in K-12 school districts, colleges, and universities across New England.
We believe that educational institutions are uniquely positioned to support a thriving and resilient regional food system by leveraging their purchasing power to support local and regional producers and by using their nutrition and dining programs to directly engage students as consumers - showing them how food choices impact health, community, the economy, and the environment.
$1 million will be awarded in prizes ranging from $25,000 to $200,000 to teams seeking to build resiliency, relationships, and capacity within New England’s food supply chain through projects that result in increased preparation, sourcing, serving, or use and consumption of local and regional food in K-12 cafeterias and higher education dining halls.
Since 2018, the New England Food Vision Prize has supported more than 27 unique projects that test innovative ideas, invest in leaders, and help make measurable progress toward a more self-reliant regional food system. Now in its fifth year, we look forward to supporting ideas and projects that help advance our region toward producing 30% of its food by 2030. Read about past winners and their projects on our website!
Starting April 10th, we invite New England school nutrition and campus dining teams, together with their nonprofit, government and municipality, and for-profit partners from across the region to submit their best ideas for increasing regionally-sourced food on their menus. Prize criteria, eligibility, and timeline can be found on our website.
May 31, 2024 : Deadline for Letters of Interest
Letters will briefly explain the idea, how the project meets the criteria, and which institutions and partners will collaborate to realize the goal. Letters should be no longer than two pages. Instructions, details on submission, and more information on the Letter of Interest process here.
Submit Letters of Interest (starting Apr. 16)
June 21, 2024 : Invitation for Full Proposal
The Foundation will review all submitted Letters of Interest and invite a subset of teams to submit full proposals for consideration.
August 9, 2024 : Proposal Deadline
Proposals will expand on the original idea to include responses to a series of prompts, which will be the basis upon which applications are scored by staff and externals reviewers.
Click to Submit Letters of Interest
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets announces new grant targeting the "Middle of the Supply Chain" to build food systems resiliency
USDA Resilient Food System Infrastructure Grant will distribute $3.2 Million to Vermont Businesses
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets is releasing grant details for a new USDA initiative to build resilience in the food supply chain, provide more and better markets to farms and food businesses, support the development of value-added products, and promote equitable and safe jobs. These Resilient Food System Infrastructure grants, or RFSI, will reach all 50 states and territories. Vermont is awarding over $3.2 million in grants, broken into two rounds, to Vermont businesses and organizations that strengthen local and regional food systems.
Grants will support critical sectors of the “middle of the supply chain,” meaning everything between farm production and selling in stores. This includes aggregation, distribution, manufacturing, processing, storage, transportation, and wholesaling of Vermont food products. RFSI’s goal is to reduce bottlenecks and offer more infrastructure to get quality, Vermont made products to customers.
“These grants will help strengthen our food supply chain that helps feed us,” Vermont Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts said. “Strengthening these important links will help build resiliency and prosperity in Vermont’s working lands. This was a recommendation of Governor Scott’s Future of Agriculture Commission. It’s great we are acting on this recommendation.”
This grant program supports products such as specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and value-added products. Per USDA requirements, meat and poultry are excluded from this opportunity.
The first round of RFSI grants will be for infrastructure projects for things such as increasing processing capacity; modernizing storage, tracking, and IT systems; constructing new facilities; increasing dry and cold storage; installing climate-smart equipment; or modernizing facilities to ensure food and worker safety. Details for this grant are announced today in the Request for Application which can be found online, along with a FAQ that will be updated periodically. There is approximately $2 million available for this round. Grants will range from $100,000 - $500,000 with a 50% match (25% reduced match available). Projects will run from Fall of 2024 to early 2027.
The second round of RFSI grants will be for equipment-only projects that fall within the program’s goals of enhancing the middle of the supply chain. Approximately $1.2 million will be available for this round, with grants ranging from $30,000 to $100,000 with no match requirement. Full grant details will be available in August 2024 and projects will begin in early 2025.
To review the RFSI program and begin the application process, visit the program website here:
https://agriculture.vermont.gov/grants/resilient-food-systems-infrastructure
Due Date: Applications are due via WebGrants by June 5, 2024 at 1:59pm. Contact Julia Scheier with any questions at Julia.Scheier@vermont.gov or 802-522-7042.
Other VT Programs
AgCWIP - grants for local and regional partners to work with farms to improve water quality. To help come into compliance with regulations, reduce pollution, improve climate resiliency and/or soil health, improve economic and environmental viability of farms. This includes a wide range of projects! Ask Mike or your Conservation District if you have ideas and aren’t sure if they apply. Due December 20, 4:30 pm. Here for more information.
Best Management Practices - technical assistance and cost share to comply with RAPs. Here for more information.
Pasture and Surface Water Fencing (PSWF) Program - technical assistance and cost share for pasture improvements and livestock exclusion from surface water. Here for more information.
Grassed Waterway and Filter Strip (SWFS) Program - technical assistance and cost share to create perennial vegetated areas (that can be harvested!), grassed waterways, filter strips and critical source areas. Here for more information.
Conservation Reserve Enhancement (CREP) - funds to reduce sediment runoff (erosion) and improve water quality, by taking land out of production for vegetated buffers. Here for more information.
Goat & Sheep Dairy Supply Chain Development Grants (opens in December?) - funds to develop or expand goat and/or sheep dairy products or markets that will positively impact multiple businesses within the goat and/or sheep dairy supply chain. Projects will increase the exposure and promotion of regionally produced goat/sheep dairy products through supply chain impacts. $15,000 - $50,000 with 25% match. Here for more information.
Dairy Food Safety & Certification Grant (opens in December?) - grants for dairy farmers, processors, and/or producer associations to take actionable steps to improve the safety of dairy products. Projects funded through this program will support increased production safety standards with the goal of accessing new markets. Here for more information.
Specialty Crop - grants to enhance competitiveness of specialty crops (vegetables, tree nuts, nursery crops, honey, hops, maple, mushrooms…). 2024 Vermont SCBGP Information Session Webinar. Register here for the event on December 12, 2023 at 3:00-4:00 PM. Submit your pre-application in WebGrants by January 14, 2023 at 11:59 PM. Here for more information.