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Beginning farmer education for adult and young audiences in the United States can generally be traced back to the advent of the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Land-Grant Acts. But, for the first time, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub .L. No. 110-234, Section 7410) appropriated $75 million for FY 2009 to FY 2012 to develop and offer education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers.The Agriculture Act of 2014 provided an additional $20 million per year for 2014 through 2018. The reasons for the renewed interest in beginning farmer and rancher programs are as follows: the rising average age of U.S. farmers; the 8% projected decrease in the number of farmers and ranchers between 2008 and 2018; and the growing recognition that new programs are needed to address the needs of the next generation of beginning farmers and ranchers.The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (aka the 2018 Farm Bill) reauthorized the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and provides mandatory funds for which supports education, mentoring, and technical assistance initiatives for beginning farmers and ranchers.The funding is $15 million a year for Fiscal Years (FY) 2019 and 2020, $17.5 million for FY 2021, $20 million for FY 2022, and $25 million for FY2023.
Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-NIFA-BFR-006970. Assistance Listing: 10.311. Funding Instrument: G. Category: AG. Award Amount: $50K – $200K per award.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Eligible applicants: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification). Applications may only be submitted by a collaborative state, tribal, local, or regionally-based network or partnership of qualified public and/or private entities. These collaborations may include the following entities: State Cooperative Extension Services; Federal, State, municipal or tribal agencies; community-based organizations (CBOs); nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); junior and four-year colleges or universities or foundations maintained by a college or university; and private for-profit organizations. Inclusion of beginning and/or non-beginning farmers and ranchers as part of the collaborative group is strongly encouraged.Applications submitted by individuals, or by organizations that do not involve other entities in a network or partnership, are not eligible for consideration under any category applicable to the BFRDP and will be excluded from review.Multiple awards will not be made to the same organization or Project Director in the same calendar year. For FY 2020, organizations that have received awards in FY 2018 or FY 2019, are ineligible to apply. ET awards are exempt from this restriction. An organization with a current ET award may receive a standard grant, and an organization with a current standard grant may receive one (1), but no more than one, concurrent ET grant.Failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the application deadline may result in the application being excluded from consideration or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude NIFA from making an award. Award recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project. Cost sharing or matching funds are required. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows $50K – $200K per award. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
The published deadline was May 15, 2020, which has passed. Check the official notice for any future application windows before investing time in a proposal.
Yes — FY 2020 Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program is offered by National Institute of Food and Agriculture and this listing comes from Grants.gov, an official U.S. federal source. Federal applications generally require registrations (for example SAM.gov or an agency submission portal), so allow extra lead time.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
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