The Agricultural Preservation Restriction Improvement Program is designed to help sustain active commercial farming on land that Department funds have already protected.
Donor Name: Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
State: Massachusetts
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant | Reimbursement
Deadline: 04/10/2025
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The Program offers business planning assistance to farmers operating established, privately owned APR farms that have proven successful in producing and selling agricultural products. The Program goal is to help improve the productivity and profitability of participating farm businesses, to enhance the significance of APR operations and their contribution to the state’s agricultural industry. In Phase I, the AIP Plan will be developed with Program assistance that identifies the planned use of funds for farm infrastructure improvements. In Phase II, upon Departmental approval of the completed AIP Plan and proposed use of grant funds, participants may be offered grant awards, subject to funding availability.
To receive funding, it is mandated by the enabling legislation for this Program that at least one of the following program objectives be met through implementation:
- Improve the economic viability of the farm
- Retain or create private sector jobs and tax revenue either directly or indirectly associated with a farm business
- Improve farm productivity and competitiveness
- Expand farm facilities as part of a modernization or business plan
- Support renewable energy or environmental remediation projects on farms
- Expand and support markets and infrastructure to strengthen the farming industry.
Eligible Projects
Funds must be used for approved capital improvements to help maintain or enhance the APR property. Resource improvements or new or improved agricultural infrastructure on the farm property are eligible uses of funds. Examples of resource improvements include, but are not limited to, pasture improvements, fencing, reseeding hay land, establishing perennial crops, improving drainage, and installing irrigation. Examples of agricultural infrastructure include, but are not limited to, farm buildings such as farmstands, livestock housing, processing facilities, and barns for storage of hay, equipment or agricultural supplies to the extent such are permitted by the APR. Up to 10% of the grant award may be available for approved non-infrastructure uses, such as production, marketing improvements, or equipment. The site location for any new infrastructure is to be determined through the planning process and may be considered on APR or unrestricted land upon approval by the Department and APR Program.
Funding Information
The total amount available for the Program in Fiscal Year 2026 is expected to be around $1,000,000.
Grant Period
July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for participation in this program, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Applicant(s) must own or be a co-applicant with the owner of an APR in Massachusetts that was protected through Department funds and recorded on or before December 31, 2021
- Applicant(s) must legally comply with the APR program and the Department’s rules and regulations
- Applicant(s) must own, or operate through a written agreement, an APR that is currently in active agricultural or horticultural use, as defined by M.G.L. Chapter 61A Sections 1 and 2, and has been managed as a commercial agricultural operation by the applicant or co-applicant for at least the 3 previous years
- Gross Farm Income of the farm business of the applicant must have been at least $40,000 as shown on 2024 tax forms: Schedule F (Form 1040), Form 1120 or 1120S, or Form 1065, depending on the business structure
- All applicants, including landowners and farm business owners, must sign this application
- Applicants and landowners must be in good standing with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, ordinances, bylaws, or programs when the application is made, before, and at all times during the terms of the contract
- Must meet applicable federal, state, and local orders, regulations, ordinances, or other guidance issued in effect at the time of the Project.
For more information, visit MDAR.
