The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources has entered a $3.267 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service under the Resilient Food System Infrastructure (RFSI) Program.
Donor Name: South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SD DANR)
State: South Dakota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/10/2024
Size of the Grant: $1 Million to $50 Million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program will support middle of the supply chain projects that improve capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products.
The RFSI is an exciting investment in food supply chain resilience, farm and food business market access, and value-added agriculture industry development. A more resilient, secure, and diversified local food system benefits producers, consumers, and rural communities, delivering the benefits of South Dakota agriculture to all South Dakotans:
- Producers and Processors: Food systems infrastructure that supports competitive and profitable market access for domestic farm products
- Consumers: Create more diverse local and regional market options
- Communities: Economic opportunities for communities that allow them to retain more of the value chain dollar.
Program Goals
Support producers and businesses throughout South Dakota to promote a stronger local and regional food system for the efficient, integrated, reliable, and safe delivery of the products of our number one industry to all South Dakotans.
Funding Priorities
Prior to the release of this RFP, DANR asked local food system partners and stakeholders throughout South Dakota for input on food system supply chain gaps and infrastructure needs that should be addressed through this program. This yielded four main priorities for the South Dakota RFSI Infrastructure Grants:
- Processing capacity, including through commercial kitchens, to unlock market access, enable value-added product development, and support increased producer production levels.
- Cold storage, necessary near both production areas and closer to major food markets. Cold storage supports processing ability, market access, transportation logistics, and food safety.
- Transportation (potentially connected to aggregation) for market access and distribution.
- Equipment upgrades and modernization.
Funding Information
- Infrastructure Grants: $100,000 – $2,958,529
- Infrastructure project awards will be at least $100,000 with an equal applicant match.
- Historically underserved producers and small disadvantaged businesses contribute 25% of total project cost.
- Simplified Equipment-Only Grants: $10,000 – $100,000
- Equipment-only project awards may be $10,000 – $100,000 for amounts equal to the cost of the equipment. No associated costs may be included. Applicants must substantiate equipment costs through quotes/contracts/etc.
- No match is required for this grant type.
Project Period
Infrastructure Grants awarded under the RFSI program may be for up to three years. Project duration may be from May 25, 2024 to May 24, 2027.
Eligibility Criteria
Entities eligible to apply for Infrastructure Grants include:
- Agricultural producers or processors, or groups of agricultural producers and processors
- Nonprofit organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products
- For-profit entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, or distribution of targeted agricultural products, whose activities are primarily focused for the benefit of local and regional producers, and that meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards are eligible.
- For-profit entities must meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards matched to industries described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
- Local government entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products
- Tribal governments operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products
- Institutions such as schools, universities, or hospitals bringing producers together to establish cooperative or shared infrastructure or invest in equipment that will benefit multiple producers middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
For more information, visit SDDANR.
