AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources seeks proposals for the 2024 USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

SCBGP is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Marketing Services. The competitive grant program funds projects designed to enhance, expand, and inform Maine’s specialty crop industry. Eligible applicants include non-profit organizations, local, state, and federal government entities, for-profit organizations, and colleges and universities, according to a news release from the department.

Eligible specialty crops include fruits, vegetables, maple, tree nuts, herbs, mushrooms, and nursery, floriculture, and horticulture crops.

Funded applications may be for projects designed to develop and implement research, promotion, marketing, nutrition, food safety and security, education, increased knowledge and consumption, improved efficiency and reduced costs of distribution systems, conservation, product development, food agricultural practices, good handling practices and/or good manufacturing practices. Grant funds will not be awarded for projects that solely benefit a particular commercial product or provide a profit to a single organization, institution, or individual. Single organizations, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate as project partners.

DACF administers the SCBGP each year and will evaluate all applications for eligibility based on the criteria listed in the RFA package. Qualified project applications will be reviewed and scored by a review panel. All DACF-approved projects will be incorporated into one state grant request and submitted to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service for funding approval.

“In 2023, Maine made nine project awards totaling $597,958. We anticipate awarding approximately $600,000 this year,” said DACF Agricultural Resource Development Division Director Michelle Webb. “These grant awards provide important opportunities for specialty crop research, innovation, marketing and promotion, food safety, education, product development, and improved practices and efficiencies.”

Projects must enhance the competitiveness of a Maine specialty crop, and they must benefit a specialty crop segment as a whole rather than to an individual or an organization. Awards have supported research into Maine’s most crucial specialty crops, developed pest management and soil health strategies, enhanced market promotion, and implemented and food safety practices.

Applications directly aligning with one or more DACF priority areas will be considered more favorably in the evaluation process. The 2024 priority areas are:

• Projects that enhance food safety education, primarily in relation to FDA rules regarding improved handling and processing of specialty crops;
• Projects to enhance soil and ecosystem health;
• Projects that market Maine specialty crops to diversified and expanded markets or that research potential market expansion efforts and strategies. Examples include increasing sales to institutions and other target markets that are new or have potential for growth in sales of Maine agricultural products;
• Projects that improve adaptation and increase resilience to climate-related crop disturbances in support of long-term farm business vitality and productivity, such as through projects that address specialty crop’s ability to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change, conserve agricultural land and water, detect and manage emerging pests and diseases, or implementation of practices that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, and/or improve soil health;
• And projects that alleviate supply chain disruptions for specialty crop inputs, processing, or distribution.

Since 2002, the SCBGP has awarded more than $7 million to Maine DACF to support the growing number of specialty crop producers selling into local and regional markets. DACF encourages applications that serve smaller farms, new and beginning farmers, underserved producers, veteran producers, and underserved communities. Agricultural associations, industry and producer groups, municipalities, community-based organizations, educational institutions, and non-profits are eligible for this grant opportunity.

Eligible groups must submit proposals for grants of up to $100,000 per project by 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 18. Those interested in applying should view RFA# 202402032 2024 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program on the Maine Division of Procurement Services RFP and RFA website at maine.gov for full application instructions and deadline information.

 

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