The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), requests applications for the 2026 Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) grant program.
Donor Name: Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/05/2026
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
RFSP purpose is to support partnerships that connect public and private resources to plan and develop local and regional food systems.
The primary goals are to:
- Connect the regional food economy by bringing farmers, businesses, and communities together.
- Support the development of business plans, feasibility studies, and strategies for value-added agricultural production and local and regional food system infrastructure.
- Strengthen the capacity and development of regional food system through community collaboration and expansion of mid-tier value chains.
- Improve income and job opportunities for producers and food businesses.
- Simplify the application processes and reporting processes for the program.
Funding Information
Approximately $4.71 million is available to fund applications under this solicitation. In FY2025, AMS funded 7 (6.5%) of the eligible applications received and awarded a total of $4,712,934.
- Planning & Design
- Minimum Award: $100,000
- Maximum Award: $250,000
- Implementation & Expansion
- Minimum Award: $250,000
- Maximum Award: $1,000,000
Grant Period
- Planning & Design: 24 Mont
- Implementation & Expansion: 36 Month
Eligibility Criteria
All applicants must be domestic entities owned, operated, and located within the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or Tribal Governments.
Eligible entities include:
- Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Network or Association
- Formal groups of farms that work collectively to offer consumers regular (usually weekly) deliveries of locally grown farm products during one or more harvest season(s), often on a subscription or membership basis. This includes organizations or other businesses that assist, serve, or represent (CSAs) or CSA networks.
- Economic Development Corporation
- Organization whose mission is to improve, maintain, develop, and/or market or promote a specific geographic area.
- Farmer or Rancher Cooperative
- A business or service organization (1) that is owned and democratically controlled by the people who use its services and (2) whose benefits (services received and earnings allocations) are distributed to the userowners based on how much they use the cooperative.
- Food Council
- A business or service organization (1) that is owned and democratically controlled by the people who use its services and (2) whose benefits (services received and earnings allocations) are distributed to the userowners based on how much they use the cooperative.
- Local Government
- A food policy council or food and farm system network that represents multiple organizations involved in the production, processing, and consumption of food and local, Tribal, or State governments, that addresses food and farm-related issues and needs within a city, county, State, Tribal region, multicounty region, or other food system network.
- Majority-Controlled ProducerBased Business Venture
- A business venture in which more than 50 percent of ownership and control is held by one or more producers or one or more entities that are wholly owned and controlled by one or more producers. Entities described here include legal partnerships, limited liability corporations, limited liability partnerships, and corporations.
- Nonprofit Corporation
- Any organization or institution, including nonprofit with State or IRS 501 (c) status and accredited institutions of higher education, where no part of the organization or institution’s net earnings inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
- Producer
- An owner-operator or tenant that produces an agricultural crop or handles livestock and is entitled to a share of the farm income.
- Producer Network or Association
- A producer group- or member-owned organizations or businesses that provide, offer, orsell agricultural products orservices through a common distribution system for the mutual member benefit of the owners, including organizations that assist, represent, or serve producers or producer networks.
- Public Benefit Corporation
- A corporation organized to construct or operate a public improvement, where the profits inure to the benefit of one or more State or to the people therein.
- Regional Farmers Market Authority
- An entity that establishes and enforces State, regional, or county policies and jurisdiction over State, regional, or county farmers markets. State agencies are eligible if their State’s regulatory statutes identify the specific State agency as a regional farmers market authority.
- Tribal Government
- A governing body or governmental agency of an Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community (including any native village as defined in Section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act certified by the Secretary of the Interior as eligible for the special programs and services provided through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
