Dear Colleagues,
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is accepting applications to the 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP).
CDFA anticipates that up to $22 million will be awarded to projects enhancing the competitiveness of California specialty crops. Separate of the competitive process, CDFA may award up to $3 million for proposals that address urgent or critical issues affecting California specialty crop agriculture.
The SCBGP program is designed to support all sectors of California's specialty crop industry and improve the performance of California specialty crops within local, domestic, national, and international markets. Specialty crops are fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops (including floriculture). The SCBGP supports projects that enhance the competitiveness of California specialty crops. For a list of eligible and ineligible commodities and a comprehensive definition of specialty crops, visit: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/scbgp/specialty-crop
The program has three funding areas, with one to three categories within each area. In practice, concept proposals might seem to address elements from multiple funding areas and funding categories. However, applicants must select the one funding category that identifies the primary focus of their concept proposal.
- Funding Area I: Market Enhancement - Proposals in this funding area will focus on increasing sales of California specialty crops through promotion of the unique qualities of specialty crops grown in California, developing new markets, increasing opportunities in existing markets, improving availability, and increasing demand.
- Funding Area II: Access, Education, and Training - Proposals in this funding area will focus on improving the competitiveness of California specialty crops through improving access to and consumption of California specialty crops, providing nutritional education for consumers in order to increase consumption, and providing training for producers and growers to equip them for current and future challenges in specialty crop agriculture.
- Funding Area III: Research - Proposals in this funding area will focus on improving the competitiveness of California specialty crops through projects that invest in specialty crop research, including research that focuses on conservation and environmental outcomes, pest and disease control, and organic and environmentally sustainable production practices. While research may be the primary objective of proposals in this funding area, all SCBGP projects are required to include an outreach component that communicates project efforts to specialty crop stakeholders. In developing the outreach component, applicants are strongly encouraged to include outreach to historically underserved and socially disadvantaged farmers.
Grant amounts range from $100,000 to $500,000. The maximum grant duration is two (2) years, eight (8) months, and grant funds cannot be expended before November 1, 2023, or after June 30, 2026. Please note that cost share is not required and, as an unscored question, does not impact whether projects will be awarded funding.
Applicants must submit required Phase 1 Concept Proposal as the following link by September 16th: https://tinyurl.com/3dye9dc2
To learn more about this program and to review the full application requirements, please see the program's website at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Specialty_Crop_Competitiveness_Grants/
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)