The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) awards Specialty Crop Block Grants to the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories. In Vermont, the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) administers these funds to enhance the competitiveness of Vermont and regionally grown specialty crops.
Donor Name: Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM)
State: Vermont
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 02/27/2022
Size of the Grant: $19,000 and $45,000
Grant Duration: 30 Months
Details:
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) funds enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops by–
- Leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops
- Assisting producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops
- Expanding availability and access to specialty crops
- Addressing local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers
Funding Information
There is no minimum or maximum award; however, they competitively award around $200,000 total each year. Over the past 5 years, they competitively awarded individual projects between $4,000 and $58,000. The average award over this period was around $30,000, and 50% of awarded projects received between $19,000 and $45,000.
Project period
Projects can be funded for up to 30 months (2 years, 6 months).
Project Types
USDA encourages projects to address the following issues affecting the specialty crop industry:
- Enhancing food safety
- Improving the capacity of all entities in the specialty crop distribution chain to comply with the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act, for example, by 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
- Investing in specialty crop research, including research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes
- Developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops
- Pest and disease control
- Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops
- Improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems
- Sustainability
Eligibility Criteria
Any business, organization, or individual can apply to the Vermont SCBGP. However, projects must benefit more than one specialty crop business, organization, or individual to be eligible for funding. Applicants should describe how a project will benefit a specialty crop industry, a group of producers or businesses, or the public rather than a single business or organization.
For more information, visit Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
