Specialty Crop Multi-State Program

Background
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), requests applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP). AMS will competitively award funds to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops through collaborative, multi-state projects that address the following regional or national level specialty crop issues: food safety; plant pests and disease; research; crop-specific projects addressing common issues; and marketing and promotion.

Grant Details
The Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP) competitively awards funds to multi-state partnerships to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. A multi-state partnership is a project that implements activities with measurable outcomes that benefit two or more U.S. States and/or Territories. Projects address regional or national level specialty crop issues such as food safety, plant pests and disease, research, crop-specific projects addressing common issues, and marketing and promotion. The legislative authority for this program is provided in section 101 of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 as amended by section 10107 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Public L. No. 115—343 (the Farm Bill).

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include domestic entities owned, operated, and located within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Eligible applicants include state departments of agriculture in participating states, local governments, Indian tribes, institutions of higher education, or nonprofit organizations residing in nonparticipating states.

Period of Performance
Projects must be completed within 3 years.

Grant Value
Approximately $10 million is available to fund applications under this solicitation. Individual project awards range from $250,000 to $1,000,000.