Funding

Unknown if grant is being awarded during FY 2016. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) have joined in a collaborative partnership to administer and manage the National Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Competitive Grants Program: Regional Center Grants to Enhance Food Safety. This program is designed to develop and implement a comprehensive food safety training, education and technical assistance program for those affected by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The intention of this program is to begin building an infrastructure that will support a national food safety training, education, extension, outreach, and technical assistance system and provide significant opportunities for funding through subcontracts and for partnerships with eligible stakeholder groups, including community-based and non-governmental organizations.

Deadline Passed 07/19/2018. Deadline Unknown for 2019. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development (EWD) (formerly the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences Education and Literacy Initiative, or ELI) focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences. In FY 2018, EWD invites applications in four areas: professional development opportunities for K-14 teachers and education professionals; training of undergraduate students in research and extension; fellowships for predoctoral candidates; and fellowships for postdoctoral scholars. See EWD Request for Applications for specific details.

Deadline Passed 11/01/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. This program was designed to assist 1994 Land-Grant Institutions (Tribal Colleges) in building institutional research capacity through applied projects that address student educational needs and meet community, reservation or regional challenges. 

Deadline Passed 4/4/2018. Deadline for 2019 Unknown. The Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants (SPECA) program seeks to: (a) promote and strengthen secondary education and two-year postsecondary education in the food, agriculture, natural resources and human (FANH) sciences in order to help ensure the existence of a workforce in the United States that's qualified to serve the FANH sciences system; and (b) promote complementary and synergistic linkages among secondary, two-year postsecondary, and higher education programs in the FANH sciences in order to advance excellence in education and encourage more young Americans to pursue and complete a baccalaureate or higher degree in the FANH sciences.

The Endowment fund is an interest-bearing account. Congress appropriates funding for this account annually. Each 1994 Land-Grant University receives an annual funding allotment based in part on the previous year's interest earned and the number of American Indian students attending the institution. Recipients can update NIFA about the work that was done with Endowment funding using the pdf form below. They can also use the form SF-425 on this page to report on financial data relating to this funding. The 1994 Land-Grant presidents can use these funds at their discretion. They may restore or upgrade infrastructure, supplement other NIFA grants, or keep the funding indefinitely as a resource to address future or unanticipated needs.

Deadline passed as of August 19, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown. This Challenge Area Focuses on the societal challenge to end obesity among children, the number one nutrition-related problem in the US. Food is an integral part of the process that leads to obesity and USDA has a unique responsibility for the food system in the United States. This program is designed to achieve the long-term outcome of reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents 2-19 years. The Childhood Obesity Prevention Program supports Multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants.

Deadline: 07/01/2021. Applications to the FY 2019 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) Request for Applications (RFA) must focus on approaches that promote transformational changes in the U.S. food and agriculture system within the next 25 years. NIFA seeks creative and visionary applications that take a systems approach, and that will significantly improve the supply of abundant, affordable, safe, nutritious, and accessible food, while providing sustainable opportunities for expansion of the bioeconomy through novel animal, crop, and forest products and supporting technologies. These approaches must demonstrate current and future social, behavioral, economic, health, and environmental impacts. Additionally, the outcomes of the work being proposed must result in societal benefits, including promotion of rural prosperity and enhancement of quality of life for those involved in food and agricultural value chains from production to utilization and consumption. See AFRI SAS RFA for details.

Previous Deadline: July 29, 2021. View the RFA for more information. The AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. The six priority areas are: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Research-only, extension-only, and integrated research, education and/or extension projects are solicited in this Request for Applications (RFA). See Foundational and Applied Science RFA for specific details.

Deadline is ongoing. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, increased soil health and reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, improved or created wildlife habitat, and mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility. EQIP may also help producers meet Federal, State, Tribal, and local environmental regulations.

Past Deadline: 05/03/2021. CIG is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies for agriculture production. CIG promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities among communities, governments, and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users. Non-federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, Tribes or individuals are eligible. Applications are due via Grants.gov. NRCS OR CIG Applications are due 7 May. NRCS ID CIG Applications due 3 May by 11:59 pm ET.

REAP (formerly known as the "006" program) offers grants and/or loan guarantees for the purchase and installation of renewable energy generating systems. Assistance is limited to small businesses, farmers and ranchers. Projects must be located in a rural area. REAP grants and guarantees may be used individually or in combination. Together, they may finance up to 75 percent of a project's total cost. Grants can never finance more than 25 percent f a project or $500,000 -- whichever is less. While applications are accepted continuously, funding is not always available. Please see website for opportunity to sign up to be notified about funding availability.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing a new initiative to significantly accelerate adoption of sustainable clean and energy efficiency strategies in remote rural Alaskan communities. For the purposes of this initiative, “remote or rural areas” include communities with a population of 5,500 or less that are not connected by an all-weather road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks, or with a population of 1,500 or less that are connected by road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks. Through the proposed competitive process, the Remote Alaskan Communities Energy Efficiency Competition is being designed to empower Alaskan communities to develop solutions for effectively advancing the use of reliable, affordable, and energy efficient solutions that are applicable throughout rural communities in Alaska and potentially in other Arctic regions.

Deadline Passed 01/23/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) requests proposals to substantially expand and accelerate wood products markets and wood energy markets throughout the United States to support forest management needs on National Forest System and other forest lands. The agreements awarded under this announcement will support the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-79), Rural Revitalization Technologies (7 U.S.C. 6601), and the nationwide challenge of disposing of hazardous fuels and other wood residues from the National Forest System and other forest lands in a manner that supports wood products markets and wood energy markets.

Deadline Passed 12/05/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The USDA Forest Service delivers world-class science, technology, and land management to sustain the Nation's forests and grasslands in collaboration with communities and our partners. In 2017, the agency launched the Citizen Science Competitive Funding Program (CitSci Fund) to support innovative projects that address science and resource management information needs while connecting people to the land and one another.