The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) has entered into a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to administer the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Program for the State of Mississippi.
Donor Name: Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce
State: Mississippi
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/15/2024
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The purpose of this program is to assist states in building resilience in the middle-of-the-supply chain and strengthening local food systems by creating new revenue streams for producers. The goal of the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program is to create additional and better processing options for local producers across the state’s food supply chain.
This program 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 profit in rural communities; and
- Increase diversity in processing options in terms of business model approaches, geography, and availability to underserved communities.
Infrastructure Grants must be used for the purpose of expanding middle-of-the-food-supply chain capacity for locally and regionally produced foods and offer more and better market opportunities and new streams of revenue to small and mid-sized agricultural producers, including those who may not have access to value-added opportunities or processing to meet market demand for premium or value-added products, such as underserved producers.
The RFSI program will focus on funding Infrastructure Grant activities that:
- Expand capacity for processing, aggregation, and distribution of agricultural products to create more and better markets for producers;
- Modernize manufacturing, tracking, storage, and information technology systems;
- Enhance worker safety through adoption of new technologies or investment in equipment or facility improvements;
- Improve the capacity of entities to comply with federal, state, and local food safety requirements;
- Improve operations through training opportunities;
- Support construction of a new facility;
- Modernize or expand an existing facility (including expansion and modifications to existing buildings and/or construction of new buildings at existing facilities);
- Construction of wastewater management structures, etc.;
- Modernize processing and manufacturing equipment; and
- Develop, customize, or install equipment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency in water use, improves air and/or water quality, and/or meets one or more of USDA’s climate action goals.
The RFSI program will focus on funding Infrastructure and Equipment-Only Grant projects that:
- Offer family-supporting job quality and treatment/safety of workers;
- Focus on small and medium-sized enterprises that add options and choices for consumers and producers (emphasis on value-added);
- Demonstrate local support for the project;
- Support underserved communities; and
- Are submitted by cooperatives, farmer- and worker-owned enterprises.
Funding Priorities
After hearing from a number of farmers within the State of Mississippi through outreach sessions and written public comments, it was determined that there is a great need for middle of-the-supply-chain infrastructure in Mississippi.
The most immediate needs identified by Mississippi farmers, industry and stakeholders were:
- Processing equipment to increase capacity to process agricultural products;
- Post harvest transportation of agricultural products;
- Processing facilities;
- Storage, cold storage warehousing and distribution facilities;
- Traceability systems and quality control measures; and
- Expansion of markets.
Projects Eligible for Funding
Projects eligible for funding include:
- Expanding processing capacities, including adding product types, increasing production volumes, and supporting new wholesale/retail product lines;
- Modernizing equipment or facilities through upgrades, repairs, or retooling; (e.g., adapting product lines for institutional procurement or adding parallel processing capacity);
- Purchase and installation of specialized equipment, such as processing components, sorting equipment, packing and labeling equipment, or delivery vehicles;
- Modernizing manufacturing, tracking, storage, and information technology systems;
- Enhancing worker safety through adoption of new technologies or investment in equipment or facility improvements;
- Construction of a new facility;
- Increasing packaging and labeling capacities that meet compliance requirements under applicable laws (e.g. sealing, bagging, boxing, labeling, conveying, and product moving equipment)
- Increasing storage space, including cold storage;
- Develop, customize or install climate-smart equipment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency in water use, improves air and/or water quality, and/or meets one or more of USDA’s climate action goals;
- Modernize equipment or facilities to ensure food safety, including associated Hazard, Analysis, and Critical Control Points (HACCP) consultation, plan development and employee training; an
- Training on the use of all equipment purchased under the grant and associated new processes.
Funding Information
- MDAC will award over $5.8 million in Infrastructure Grants and Equipment-Only Grants.
- Infrastructure Grants will be awarded at the minimum of $100,000 and a maximum of $3,000,000.
- Equipment-Only Grants will be awarded at a minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $100,000.
Project Period
- Infrastructure Grants: Funds will be awarded no earlier than July 1, 2024, and projects must be completed by May 31, 2027.
- Equipment-Only Grants: Funds will be awarded no earlier than July 1, 2024, and projects must be completed no later than January 30, 2026.
Eligibility Criteria
Agricultural producers or processors, or groups of agricultural producers and processors.
- Nonprofit organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
- For-profit entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, or distribution of targeted agricultural products, whose activities are primarily focused for the benefit of local and regional producers, and that meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards are eligible
- Local government entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
- Tribal governments operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
- 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 middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural product.
- All applicant businesses and organizations must be domestically owned, and applicants’ facilities must be physically located within the State of Mississippi.
For more information, visit MDAC.
