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USDA has announced the Specialty Crop
Block Grant Program, through the Agricultural Marketing Service
(AMS).
This is a flow-through program whereby
individual states apply for federal funds, which they will use
for grants within their states. Most states are waiting
for USDA to release the funds before announcing their state
programs, though some (e.g., California) have already
announced their programs.
California:
The
California Department of Food and Agriculture opened the
application period for 2010 Specialty Crop Block Grants (SCBG)
on January 11, 2010. This is a federal flow-through program;
CDFA expects USDA to make approximately $17 million available
for SCBG grant awards in California. Concept proposals are due
February 1, 2010.
See
below information regarding:
General
Purpose
Key dates
How to apply
Matching funds
Success rates
Questions and more information
Grant writing
Other States
General
information:
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Two-step process.
Applicants must first submit a concept proposal. CDFA will
select applicants from among the concept proposals to submit
full proposals. Specifics of the requirements for full
proposals will be released later.
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Eligible applicants
include non-profit organizations, local, state and federal
government entities, for-profit organizations, and
universities.
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Specialty crops
are defined as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits,
horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).
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Grant amounts:
Projects will be funded in amounts between $75,000 and
$500,000.
-
Changes from 2009:
The basic purpose of the program is unchanged, as is the
two-step application requirement. However certain aspects
have changed, including the evaluation criteria.
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Multiple applications:
Applicants can submit applications for multiple Concept
Proposals so long as each submission represents a unique
project. CDFA can, and does, give more than one award to a
single applicant.
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Purpose:
Funds
will be awarded for projects that enhance the competitiveness of
California specialty crops. The SCBG program is industry
focused; grant funds will not be awarded for projects that
solely benefit or profit a single organization or individual.
The listed funding areas and related areas of emphasis are:
Research
Marketing
Nutrition
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Food
Security
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Healthy
Eating
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Key
dates:
February
1: Concept proposals due
March
25: Invitations to submit grant proposals to be issued by CDFA
April
26: Grant proposals due
July
2010: Grant proposals to USDA for approval
October/November 2010: Announce and award grant agreements
Grant
funds cannot be expended before October 1, 2010 or after June
30, 2013.
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How to
apply:
All
applicants must register and receive a logon account to the
Financial Assistance Application Submittal Tool (FAAST) in order
to submit Concept and Grant Proposals. (Morrison & Company can
do this for you.) All applications must be submitted through
FAAST; no paper submissions allowed.
We have
found FAAST to be quirky but more reliable than electronic
submission processes such as PureEdge.
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Matching
funds:
Matching
funds and in-kind donations are not required but are strongly
encouraged. Unlike 2009, the scoring criteria for concept
proposals do not show scoring points for matches; this may
change for the final proposals.
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Success
rates:
Based on
what we heard at CDFA’s SCBG workshops, they received
approximately 250 concept proposals in 2009. About 20 percent
of these were funded.
Morrison
& Company wrote two full 2009 California SCBG proposals, both of
which were funded.
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Questions
and more information:
CDFA will
not advise and/or provide individuals with any information
regarding specific proposals during the solicitation process;
they state that this is “in order to maintain the integrity of
the competitive grant process.” They will accept emailed
questions and plan to post answers on the following schedule:
Questions Received by / Responses Posted by:
1/19/10 –
5:00 PM PDT / 1/21/10 – 5:00 PM PDT
1/25/10 –
5:00 PM PDT / 1/26/10 – 5:00 PM PDT
1/28/10 –
5:00 PM PDT / 1/29/10 – 5:00 PM PDT
Click here to see the full to
the full Notice of Funding Availability
(NOFA)
for concept proposals.
Click here for Morrison &
Company contact information.
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Grant
writing:
Click here for more
information on our grant writing services. Please contact us at
your convenience for more information or a fee estimate.
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Other
States:
Morrison & Company works
with SCBG applicants in any state.
Individual states have
leeway in designing their programs; however, the program's
general purpose is to enhance the competitiveness of US grown
specialty crops. Examples given include:
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Increasing
child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty
crops
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Improving
efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems
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Assisting
entities in the specialty crop distribution chain in developing
“Good Agricultural Practices,” “Good Handling Practices,” “Good
Manufacturing Practices,” and cost-share arrangements
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Specialty
crop research, including organic research to focus on
conservation and environmental outcomes
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Food
safety
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Developing
new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops
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Pest
and disease control
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Sustainability
Projects should potentially impact and produce
measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the
public rather than a single organization or individual.
Eligible applicants will generally include state, local, and
tribal governments; colleges and universities; non-profits, and;
for-profit organizations (including non-exempt cooperatives in
most cases).
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