A cooperative agreement has been reached between New York State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service that will offer over $14.7 million in grant funding to provide technical assistance to farmers and food businesses operating at the middle of the supply chain, helping to enhance coordination throughout the food system and improve access to markets for farmers. Applications for the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program are open now through June 28.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) will partner with Farm and Food Growth Fund, Inc (FFGF) to administer the grant program and to fund projects that expand statewide capacity and infrastructure for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution of targeted local and regional agricultural food products (excluding meat and poultry products). Successful projects will focus on increasing the supply of New York-sourced food products available in New York markets and will benefit multiple producers and multiple markets.
AGM will also partner with Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust to provide technical assistance to producers to improve supply chain coordination activities. Additionally, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York Program will conduct an updated assessment of New York State processing infrastructure to identify barriers and opportunities for growth, as well as an analysis of the State’s institutional purchasing to provide market information to New York State producers.
Two grant opportunities will be available for New York agricultural businesses:
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Infrastructure Grants: This competitive opportunity is focused on funding infrastructure for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution of agricultural food products (excluding meat and poultry products). Applications may be submitted for projects ranging from $100,000 to $3 million.
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Equipment-Only Grants: This competitive opportunity is focused on funding equipment for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution of agricultural food products (excluding meat and poultry products). This opportunity will be released separately in 2025. Eligible applicants may request awards in the amount of $10,000 to $100,000.
Eligible applicants may visit the FFGF website for more information about RFSI requirements, program resources, and application details, and to access the application portal: ffgrowthfund.org/rfsi. The deadline for infrastructure grant applications is June 28 at 5:00 pm.
For more information on program details and how to apply, applicants may view a recorded webinar online at ffgrowthfund.org/rfsi. Potential applicants may also join the RFSI team at two open office-hour events to ask questions about the program. Office hours will be held on May 29 and June 12 from 12 pm-1 pm. More details will be posted on the FFGF website.
AMS encourages applications that serve smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, underserved producers, veteran producers, and underserved communities.
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