The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing availability of Grant Agreements for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources, addressing local natural resource issues, encouraging collaboration and developing State- and community-level conservation leadership in Minnesota.
Donor Name: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
State: Minnesota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/30/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,000,000.00
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
Proposed projects must be performed in Minnesota for the following initiatives and activities:
Water Management Systems
Water management systems play a critical role in water security amidst climate smart agriculture.
- Demonstrate or increase the use of water management systems, including surface and subsurface drainage water management, water retention, and irrigation water management.
- Show the connection of water management systems to environmental and economic impacts, climate resiliency, and mitigation.
- Develop promotional and technical materials related to water management.
- Host field days and other events such as demonstrations about water management systems.
Grazing and Livestock Assistance
- Grazing management benefits wildlife habitat, soil health, and climate smart agriculture.
- Provide grazing management expertise to livestock owners along with promoting livestock as a land management tool.
- Grazing systems provided by the grant recipient will promote flexible, short-term grazing on lands under easement, CRP, CREP, DNR or USFWS property, and other public or private land.
- Provide technical and financial assistance to encourage producers to utilize managed grazing on public and private lands.
- Subgrants could be provided to producers to facilitate practices in grazing management plans, such as temporary fencing and portable watering systems.
- Landowners and producers to be served include but are not limited to historically underserved and beginning farmers and ranchers.
- Provide grazing trainings, workshops, tours, and demonstration projects.
- Develop educational and technical materials promoting grazing management and grassland improvement to be published via traditional or social media such as TV, radio, podcasts, print, and social media.
Expand Minnesota Field to Fork Enterprises and Startups
Field to fork, or farm to table, connects consumers with farmers and broadens mainstream understanding and support for farming and conservation.
- Provide assistance for planning, developing, and implementing field to fork enterprises.
- Support specialty crop growers by providing conservation stewardship and practices, marketing services, upgrading and creating on-farm conveniences, and expanding value added resources for producers to enhance their products for marketability.
- Promote sustainable practices, as well as processing and/or marketing assistance to value added growers.
- Support and develop agritourism and conservation tourism to promote local and sustainably grown food and fiber, including specialty crops, traditional crops, and agroforestry.
- Subgrants could be provided to specialty crop, value added, or field to fork producers.
- Identify food deserts and provide local sustainable production opportunities.
- Expand farmers markets and locally grown initiatives.
- Increase adoption and understanding of local sustainable food systems though demonstration projects, field tours, marketing and social or traditional media such as TV, radio, podcasts, print, and social media.
- Connect specialty crop growers to consumers. Demonstrate how food is grown and how farmers conserve natural resources.
Connecting Agriculture Retailers with Conservation Delivery
Conservation services are available to all producers. Agricultural retailers and conservation agencies can support equity and equality in American agriculture through their shared customer base.
- Increase private land conservation and encourage wide-spread adoption of conservation solutions by providing liaisons for NRCS and private agricultural industry.
- Integrate conservation and support of NRCS services into agricultural retailers’ networks.
- Equip retailers with the knowledge of NRCS programs, the ability to cooperatively work with the Agency, and assist in the implementation of conservation.
- Build leadership and expertise within NRCS on the services provided by farmer cooperatives and agricultural retailers.
- Provide local NRCS offices with a better understanding of agronomic principals to better meet landowners’ needs and provide better understanding of the economic considerations in agronomic planning for NRCS staff. Increase Availability of Seedlings for Forestry and Agroforestry Smart forestry can mitigate climate impact and build climate resiliency in both rural and urban settings.
- Expand the availability of tree seedlings for urban, suburban, peri-urban, and rural reforestation including farm sites and windbreaks.
- Accelerate the capacity and number of forestry nurseries for in-state tree planting.
- Subgrants could be provided to entities or individuals for the development or expansion of forestry nurseries.
- Expand the availability of fruit and nut trees for local, sustainable, and/or urban food systems and individual use.
- Support seedlings growth of hardwoods, including maple and oaks, and regionally appropriate noninvasive species.
- Provide reforestation and/or forestry nursery training, workshops, tours, and demonstration projects.
- Increase both urban and rural landowners’ understanding of the benefits of appropriate reforestation and tree cover.
- Develop promotional and technical materials for landowners related to tree and forest management.
Funding Information
- The Federal funding agency expects to award approximately $4,000,000.00 through this opportunity. However, the agency retains the discretion to award a larger or lesser amount.
- The estimated funding floor for this opportunity is $75,000.00, and the estimated funding ceiling is $1,000,000.00.
Performance Periods
Projects may be up to three (3) years in duration Applicants should plan their projects based on an estimated project start date of July 3, 2023.
Eligible Applicants
Applicants and applications must meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline to be considered for award. Eligible applicant type is determined by the implementing program statute. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program.
Eligibility for this opportunity is limited to the following entity types:
- City or township governments
- County governments
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- Individuals
- Independent school districts
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Small businesses
- Special district governments
- State governments
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
