California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting applications for the Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance (CSA TA) Grant Program.
Donor Name: California Department of Food and Agriculture
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/27/2023
Size of the Grant: $450,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
The CSA Technical Assistance Grant Program provides technical assistance to individual farmers and ranchers who are interested in applying for or have received incentive awards from CDFA’s Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), Healthy Soils Program (HSP) and State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP).
- The AMMP provides financial assistance for the implementation of non-digester manure management practices in California, which will result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions
- The HSP Incentives Program provides financial incentives to California growers and ranchers to implement conservation management practices that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), and improve soil health
- SWEEP provides financial incentives for California agricultural operations to invest in irrigation systems that reduce GHG emissions and save water.
Technical Assistance Program Objectives
TAPs are required to conduct pre- and post-award activities during the grant agreement term as described below. TAPs may also choose to assist CDFA with HSP and/or SWEEP project verification or several other optional objectives
- Objective 1: Pre-award technical assistance activities
- Pre-award technical assistance refer to activities conducted prior to an AMMP, HSP Incentives or SWEEP applicant receiving a grant award associated with funding allocated in 2022-23. These tasks and activities must include technical assistance provided to farmers and ranchers for application preparation and submission. These activities may further include, but are not limited to, outreach and education about the AMMP, HSP or SWEEP, project planning and design
- TAPs must assist farmers and ranchers in gathering and preparing AMMP, HSP and/or SWEEP application materials, including use of program specific tools as applicable
- TAPs will be required to provide internet and computer access to farmers and ranchers for preparation of their applications. The CSA incentive program solicitations may or may not have overlapping timeframes. If helping applicants of multiple CSA programs, TAPs should prepare to provide assistance during overlapping timeframes
- Conducting workshops for outreach or application support is not required but is encouraged. If choosing to conduct workshops, details such as date, time, location, languages in which assistance will be provided and name and contact information of the workshop lead person must be provided to CDFA two weeks prior to the workshop
- Following the selection of an AMMP, HSP Incentive or SWEEP project for an award, TAPs may support the agreement execution process by helping agricultural operations to navigate the steps of grant execution
- Pre-award technical assistance refer to activities conducted prior to an AMMP, HSP Incentives or SWEEP applicant receiving a grant award associated with funding allocated in 2022-23. These tasks and activities must include technical assistance provided to farmers and ranchers for application preparation and submission. These activities may further include, but are not limited to, outreach and education about the AMMP, HSP or SWEEP, project planning and design
- Objective 2: Project Implementation technical assistance activities
- Project Implementation Technical Assistance Activities refer to activities conducted after a farmer or rancher has received an executed agreement for an AMMP, Healthy Soils – Incentives Program or SWEEP grant and includes, but are not limited to, ongoing assistance provided to farmers and ranchers with project implementation, project coordination, information gathering and continued education of CSA-relevant topics. Providing implementation technical assistance to AMMP, HSP and/or SWEEP grant recipients must include, at a minimum:
- Contacting awarded farmers and ranchers in the organization’s service area and indicating the organization’s role as a technical assistance resource
- Assisting farmers and ranchers with all activities related to on-farm implementation of project activities including, but not limited to, working with service providers for implementation of healthy soils practices or installation of SWEEP- or AMMP- funded technologies
- Communicating with vendors and/or facilitating discussion between the farmer/rancher and vendors
- Assisting in Scope of Work revisions, Budget revisions, and/or Line-Item Shift Requests for on-farm projects
- Providing invoicing assistance, matching funds coordination and reporting to CDFA. Such assistance may include a variety of activities including, but not limited to, gathering receipts and records of plant species selected, compost analysis reports and soil testing for HSP recipients, gathering SWEEP or AMMP project component receipts and providing project oversight
- Providing regular follow-up with farmers and ranchers for their technical assistance needs. For example, assisting in evaluation of alternative choices and availability of allowable plant species for HSP projects
- Project Implementation Technical Assistance Activities refer to activities conducted after a farmer or rancher has received an executed agreement for an AMMP, Healthy Soils – Incentives Program or SWEEP grant and includes, but are not limited to, ongoing assistance provided to farmers and ranchers with project implementation, project coordination, information gathering and continued education of CSA-relevant topics. Providing implementation technical assistance to AMMP, HSP and/or SWEEP grant recipients must include, at a minimum:
- Objective 3: Project verification for HSP and/or SWEEP
- Technical assistance applicants may request funding to assist with HSP practice and/or SWEEP project verification. The activities required for verification include but are not limited to:
- Attend mandatory HSP/SWEEP verification training(s)
- Consult with CDFA HSP/SWEEP program staff to assign projects within TAP service area
- Communicate with HSP/SWEEP awardee regarding project verification
- For HSP, review practice implementation guidelines and verification documents requirements in Appendix A of Healthy Soils – Incentives Program Request for Grant Applications (RGA) document
- Visit HSP/SWEEP project sites at time of practice implementation (HSP) or project completion (SWEEP)
- Collect and review documents to verify practice is implemented according to HSP program requirements or project is implemented according to SWEEP grant agreement.
- Complete HSP/SWEEP verification forms or templates as required
- Submit all documents to assigned HSP/SWEEP program staff
- Retain verification documents for three years after agreement expiration date
- Technical assistance applicants may request funding to assist with HSP practice and/or SWEEP project verification. The activities required for verification include but are not limited to:
- Objective 4: Other Activities
- In addition to the three primary objectives listed above, several other activities are allowable to provide flexibility to technical assistance providers and to support training and capacity-building within organizations. Technical assistance grant funding may be utilized to:
- Provide AMMP-, HSP- or SWEEP-relevant technical training to agricultural operation staff
- Prepare compelling case-studies noting outcome and benefits of AMMP, HSP or SWEEP grants
- Consult with farmers and ranchers who did not receive funding in previous solicitations and advise them on ways to improve competitiveness of applications
- Obtain training related to manure management, soil health or irrigation practices for personnel working on the technical assistance. The purpose of this training would be to strengthen the expertise of technical assistance providers
- Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Grant proposals should limit the estimated budget for these four items combined to no more than 20% of the total grant request.
- In addition to the three primary objectives listed above, several other activities are allowable to provide flexibility to technical assistance providers and to support training and capacity-building within organizations. Technical assistance grant funding may be utilized to:
Funding Information
CSA TA applicants may request funding to provide technical assistance for one, two or all three of the CSA programs.
- The total maximum grant award will be $450,000 ($150,000 per program) over three years to support AMMP, HSP and SWEEP
- To ensure continuity of service to farmers and ranchers over the full 3-year grant period, no more than $100,000 can be reimbursed in a single year per program that is supported
- To illustrate the limitation on a single year of funding, if an organization is awarded the maximum award of $450,000 to support all three programs, the maximum that the organization could request reimbursement for in any one year of the grant agreement would be $300,000 ($100,000 for each of the three programs served)
- CDFA reserves the right to offer an award amount different than the amount requested
- Technical assistance grant funds may not be expended prior to full execution of the grant agreement and the start of the project term.
Providing support for farmers and ranchers in languages other than English is an important priority for CDFA. To encourage technical assistance providers to offer bilingual support, CDFA will provide an increased maximum award to organizations that can support non-English speakers with the expectation that outreach, application technical assistance and implementation technical assistance will be made available to non-English speakers. Applicants requesting an award above the maximum offered for English-only services will indicate on their application budget the expenditures that are estimated to be dedicated to providing technical assistance to non-English speakers. To receive the higher award, applicants will commit at least 25% of the award to direct costs related to supporting non-English speakers.
Funding Scenarios – CSA Program and Bilingual Services
- One Program
- Language Supported: English only
- Maximum Award: $90,000
- One Program
- Language Supported: English and another language
- Maximum Award: $150,000
- Two Programs
- Language Supported: English only
- Maximum Award: $180,000
- Two Programs
- Language Supported: English and another language
- Maximum Award: $300,000
- Three Programs
- Language Supported: English only
- Maximum Award: $270,000
- Three Programs
- Language Supported: English and another language
- Maximum Award: $450,000
Eligibility Criteria
The following entities are eligible to apply for the CSA Technical Assistance Grants: Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs), University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), and non-profit organizations. Entities applying for CSA Technical Assistance Grants, hereafter referred to as Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs), must have demonstrated technical expertise in the implementation of agricultural practices and technologies supported through AMMP, HSP and/or SWEEP.
For more information, visit CDFA.
