The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (the Department) is pleased to announce the Urban Farms and Community Gardens Grant Program to support the development and expansion of community gardens, school gardens, and urban farms across the state.
Donor Name: New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/05/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
For the purposes of this grant program, Urban Agriculture is defined as growing food and raising animals in moderate to heavily populated areas. Urban farms are often accompanied by complementary activities such as processing and distributing food, collecting and reusing food waste and rainwater, and educating, organizing, and employing local residents.
Across New York State, there are thousands of community growing spaces in both rural and urban landscapes, and there is demand to establish more and expand existing sites. There is little capital to help maintain these plots and coordinators of these spaces are often not-for-profits with limited support to expand and sustain capacity, develop infrastructure, and secure reliable tenancy to the land. This funding is intended to address these needs and support growing spaces.
Projects must advance the goal of the Urban Farms and Community Gardens grant program, which is to support the development and expansion of community gardens, school gardens, and urban farms across the state, focusing on food production, food safety, and food distribution while creating a lasting impact on local food resiliency.
Funding Information
- $2,500,000 Total Available
- Individual Awards of $25,000 – $50,000.
Grant Period
January 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027.
Eligible projects
- Eligible projects must:
- Establish new or expand current community gardens, school gardens, or urban farm projects.
- Include at least one subaward to a community organization to support start-ups and capacity building.
- Projects may include but are not limited to:
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants include:
- Not-for-profit organizations
- Not-for-profit educational institutions, including K-12 schools and universities
- Municipal government entities
- Community-led groups can work with a fiscal sponsor to apply
- Indian tribal organizations.
For more information, visit NYSDAM.
