Grants to USA small to medium-sized farm owners and operators and agricultural nonprofits to implement sustainable farming activities. Funding is intended for projects that strengthen local communities and encourage farms to operate more sustainably. Applicants must be established working farms with at least one year of experience.
Preferences for 2023 - Projects are scored on their impact to help farms operate more sustainably as well as strengthen community, including but not limited to:
Water Conservation (for example, drip irrigation & rainwater catchment)
Natural Pest Control (for example, owl or bat boxes)
Pollination (for example, beehives & pollinator hedgerows)
Soil Health (for example, cover crops & minimizing tillage)
Energy Efficiency (for example, renewable energy options like solar, geothermal & wind)
Heirlooms (for example, not using GMO seed, saving heirloom seeds, using heritage varieties)
Increase Low-Income Consumers’ Access to food (for example, expanding free or low-cost CSA shares)
Equity, Community Building & Education (for example, sustainability education for new farmers, students, refugees, etc.)
Support beginning and under-represented farmers including BIPOC and women
Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)
Additional Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility
1. Applicant is an owner/operator of the farm or has long-term, legal access to the land. If farming on leased land, a letter of support from the landowner specifying length of the lease agreement must be provided with the grant application.
2. Agricultural nonprofits are also encouraged to apply.
3. The applicant farm must be an established working farm with at least 1 year of experience that is looking to improve operations.
4. Farms are welcome to re-apply for the same project or a different one if you have not been funded in an earlier grant cycle.
5. Farm is small to medium-sized as determined by acreage in agricultural production. Farms with more than 300 acres in agricultural production are ineligible to apply.
Ineligible
Funding will not be provided for:
- Non soil-based farming operations (i.e. hydroponic/aquaponic growing systems)
- Land purchases
- Costs associated with labor (the budget should only include materials and supplies)
- Projects that require a percentage of the award be used for consultants or administration
- Requests that are dependent upon receiving funding from a separate, larger grant
- General marketing costs
Applications are not currently being considered from farms that have already received a FGCF grant.
Pre-Application Information
The 2023 application portal will be open Monday, January 2, 2023 at 00:01 am PST through Monday, January 30, 2023 11:59 pm PST.
Timeline
- Submit a Letter of Intent by Monday, January 30, 2023 11:59 p.m. PST
- Finalists will be notified by late February to provide a full application
- 2023 Grantees will be notified in early April.
- Award checks issued to grantees in early May
- Awarded projects should be implemented over the remainder of 2023 and successfully complicated by December.
Farms can submit a Letter of Intent for the initial round via the online application portal. Projects that are chosen as finalists by the public volunteer grant review committee are invited to complete a second, more-detailed application.
Number of Grants
Up to twenty (20) finalists will be invited to submit full applications.
