The Texas Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Program, Texas RFSI State Plan under USDA-AMS, for projects that support the expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry.
Donor Name: Texas Department of Agriculture
State: Texas
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/15/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS),entered into a cooperative agreement with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to work in partnership to make competitive subawards in the form of grants to eligible entities to support equipment needs along the middle of the food supply chain across the state.
The purpose of the RFSI Program is to build resilience across the middle of the state’s food supply chain for food crops. For this program, ” middle-of-the-food-supply-chain ” refers to activities and operations that occur in between post-harvesting of food crops and before food goods are being sold at a store or market, excluding the marketing of food products or services.
The RFSI Program will offer two grant types, “Equipment-Only” and “Infrastructure” grants, to eligible entities to support the expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry.
The RFSI “Equipment-Only” grant supports the expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry.
The RFSI Program also aims to:
- Support development of value-added products available to consumers;
- Support proposals that provide fair prices, fair wages and new and safe job opportunities that keep profits in rural communities; and
- Increase diversity in processing options in terms of business model approaches, geography, and availability to underserved communities.
Funding Information
- Funding minimum: $10,000.00
- Funding maximum: $100,000.00
Project Period
Project Implementation Period: 1-year to complete project.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications will be accepted from the following individuals, organizations, and/or institutions:
- Agricultural producers or processors or groups of producers/processors;
- Nonprofit organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities;
- For-profit, small business, organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities that meet the Small Business Administration (SBA)size standard for federal contracting;
- Local government & tribal government entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities; and
- Institutions such as schools, universities, or hospitals bringing producers together to establish cooperative or shared infrastructure or invest in equipment that will benefit multiple producers.
For more information, visit TDA.
