Boulder County invites farmers, agricultural producers, the private sector, and non-profit organizations to apply for one-time capital grant funding to undertake environmental sustainability projects that benefit Boulder County’s food system and agricultural lands.
Donor Name: Boulder County
State: Colorado
County: Boulder County (CO)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/05/2023
Size of the Grant: $150,000
Details:
This funding opportunity will be provided to those who wish to use it in five broad local food and agriculture areas:
- On-farm regenerative agriculture and soil health practices;
- Farmer/producer education, conferences, and workshops that focus on sustainable and regenerative agriculture demonstrations;
- On-farm and farmer’s market infrastructure;
- Sustainable local food and crop production;
- Programmatic and resource support for frontline farm workers and organizations.
Project Categories and Examples
There are five categories in which applicants may apply.
Regenerative agriculture/soil health
Projects must improve existing or new farm operations in ways that facilitate some or all of the following:
- Carbon sequestration
- Soil health
- Non-synthetic soil amendments
- Cover crops + crop seed
- Perennials
- Compost subsidies
- Ag enterprise areas
Education and workshops
- Support for sharing best practices, farm demonstrations, soil health conferences, backyard soil science efforts.
Infrastructure
- Farmer’s market infrastructure
- Farm infrastructure relative to sustainable operations
- Coop infrastructure
- Special equipment needed for sustainable operations
- Storage & refrigeration
- Processing equipment
Local food and crop production / innovation processing
- Support for organic and or local food production
- Innovative local processing ideas
- Food hub development
- Local food systems grant financing
Fiber (hemp, sheep, flax linen, and etc.) production
Programmatic and resource support for frontline farm workers and organizations.
- Support for the frontline farming community
- Initiatives to increase health and safety for frontline workers
- Education
- Nonprofit support and collaboration
Funding Information
- Small Budget Funding Level: Maximum of $5,000 can be applied for and minimum is $2,000. These applications will be scored separately from the large budget funding level. The total small budget funding is $25,000 pending BOCC approval.
- Large Budget Funding Level: Maximum of $150,000 can be applied for and minimum is $40,000. Any infrastructure project over $75,000 must benefit multiple farmers. The total large budget funding is $380,000 pending approval.
Eligibility Criteria
- Boulder County’s Sustainable Food and Agriculture Funding 2023 is open to Boulder County farmers, local agricultural tenants, farmers markets, non-profits and private sector entities.
- To be eligible for funding, projects must follow all federal, state/local land use regulations and permit requirements. Project applicants must be registered as a business, an official non-profit organization, or a governmental entity. Projects must also be based within Boulder County boundaries.
- For the 2023 grant round, there will be two funding levels you can apply to. The rules, objectives, and reporting requirements are the same for both the small and large budget levels.
- If you have received a grant award from the Boulder County Sustainable Food and Agriculture Fund in the past, you must wait two years to be eligible for funding again. For example, if you received funding in 2022, you must wait until 2024 to reapply. Exception: Projects that received funding in the Small Budget Funding Level in 2022, do not need to wait the two years, and may apply to the Large Budget Funding Level in 2023.
For more information, visit Sustainable Food and Agriculture Fund.
