Georgia Department of Agriculture is pleased to announce the competitive solicitation process to award the 2023 USDA/AMS (Agricultural Marketing Service) Specialty Crop Block Program grant (SCBGP).
Donor Name: Georgia Department of Agriculture
State: Georgia
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/03/2023
Size of the Grant: $20,000 -$100,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
The purpose of the SCBGP is to provide funding for projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in Georgia. Your proposal must focus on research, education, or marketing, and it must benefit the specialty crop industry.
Specialty crops eligible for the SCBGP are: fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, Christmas trees, turfgrass/sod, and nursery and greenhouse crops (including floriculture).
Funding Priorities/Focus Areas
The following have been identified as funding priorities for the SCBGP for Georgia:
- Increasing consumption of specialty crops in Georgia’s schools by expanding child knowledge of and improving access to the nutritional benefits of specialty crops;
- Enhancing specialty crop food safety, particularly in regard to helping farmers/growers/producers prepare for and comply with the provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA);
- Assisting all entities in the specialty crop production/distribution chain in developing “Good Agricultural Practices,” “Good Handling Practices,” “Good Manufacturing Practices,” and in cost-share arrangements for funding audits of such systems for small farmers, packers and processors;
- Research projects, including those which focus on helping specialty crop growers reduce the financial costs and/or environmental impact of their operations, including improved pest and disease management techniques, efficient water management, integrated pest management, and/or sustainable production;
- Developing and researching new and improved specialty crop varieties that are better adapted to Georgia’s soils and climate and/or result in longer shelf-life;
- Increasing sales and marketability and driving demand for commercially grown specialty crops.
Funding Information
Individual project award funding requests require a minimum request of $20,000 up to a maximum of $100,000 (marketing projects may be subject to higher limits on a case-by-case basis). Awarded projects will have up to 3 years to complete the requirements of the grant.
Eligibility Criteria
- Your group MUST be based in Georgia.
- Your group MUST fall into one of the following categories: grower associations, commodity commissions, colleges, universities, state/local governments, and IRS-designated non-profits (in partnership with a Georgia college or university).
- Individuals and businesses (including farms) are NOT eligible to apply for the SCBGP.
- Non-profit organizations that are applying for the first time MUST partner with a principal Investigator (PI) from a Georgia college or university, preferably from either of Georgia’s Land Grant institutions (UGA or FVSU).
- If you have submitted the same project to GDA twice in the past and it hasn’t been funded, it cannot be submitted again. You’re welcome to submit a new project for consideration.
For more information, visit Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
