Funding Wizard

The Supplemental and Alternative Crops (SAC) Competitive Grants Program will support projects that lead to expanded adaptation and increased acres in the United States of canola grown for oil and industrial hemp grown for value added products. The SAC supports the breeding, testing, and development of superior performing canola and industrial hemp varieties and production practices that result in improved cost efficiencies, reduced grower risks, and wider use in production systems. Research results and technology developed are expected to be rapidly transferred to producers and other users through effective extension outreach and other engagement efforts.

Projects supported by the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program will: (1) address a state, regional, national, or international educational need; (2) involve a creative or non-traditional approach toward addressing that need that can serve as a model to others; (3) encourage and facilitate better working relationships in the university science and education community, as well as between universities and the private sector, to enhance program quality and supplement available resources; and (4) result in benefits that will likely transcend the project duration and USDA support.

Applications to the 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. NIFA seeks creative and visionary applications that take a systems approach for projects are expected to significantly improve the supply of affordable, safe, nutritious, and accessible agricultural products, while fostering economic development and rural prosperity in America. These approaches must demonstrate current needs and anticipate future social, cultural, behavioral, economic, health, and environmental impacts. Additionally, the outcomes of the work being proposed should result in societal benefits, including promotion of rural prosperity and enhancement of quality of life for all those involved in food and agricultural value chains from production to utilization and consumption. See AFRI SAS RFA for details.

The Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) seeks to solve critical organic agriculture issues, priorities, or problems through the integration of research, education, and extension activities. The purpose of this program is to fund projects that will enhance the ability of producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. Priority concerns include biological, physical, and social sciences, including economics. The OREI is particularly interested in projects that emphasize research, education and outreach that assist farmers and ranchers with whole farm planning by delivering practical research-based information. Projects should plan to deliver applied production information to producers. Fieldwork must be done on certified organic land or on land in transition to organic certification, as appropriate to project goals and objectives. Refer to the USDA National Organic Program for organic production standards.

The purpose of this program is to support research, education/teaching, and extension projects that increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in STEM. NIFA intends this program to address educational needs within broadly defined areas of food and agricultural sciences. Applications recommended for funding must highlight and emphasize the development of a competent and qualified workforce in the food and agricultural sciences. WAMS-funded projects improve the economic health and viability of rural communities by developing research and extension initiatives that focus on new and emerging employment opportunities in STEM occupations. Projects that contribute to the economic viability of rural communities are also encouraged.

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will work collaboratively to develop a national workforce strategy for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), to help shape the integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility principles across the broader nutrition services workforce.

The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program competitive grant programs are authorized under 7 U.S.C. 7517, for fiscal years 2019 through 2023 with mandatory growth in annual funding from $45 million to $56 million to be appropriated over 5 years. The 2018 Farm Bill allows the Secretary to provide funding opportunities to conduct and evaluate projects providing incentives to income-eligible consumers to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables and prescriptions for fresh fruits and vegetables. By bringing together stakeholders from various parts of the food and healthcare systems, GusNIP projects help foster understanding to improve the health and nutrition status of participating households, facilitate growth in underrepresented communities and geographies, as well as collect and aggregate data to identify and improve best practices on a broad scale. GusNIP includes three competitive grant programs, Nutrition Incentive Program, Produce Prescription Program, and the Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information Centers.

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 detail.

Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Centers Cooperative Agreements offer training, technical assistance, evaluation, and informational support services to potential applicants, nutrition incentive projects, produce prescription projects, and to GusNIP as a whole.

The GusNIP Nutrition Incentive Program aims to fund and evaluate projects intended to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by USDA SNAP participants in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Virgin Islands and the USDA NAP participants in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands by providing incentives at the point of purchase.