USDA Announces $400 Million in Funding Available to Create USDA Regional Food Business Centers

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2022 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the availability of approximately $400 million to provide essential local and regional food systems coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building services through USDA’s new Regional Food Business Centers.

USDA will fund at least six regional centers, to include a national tribal center and at least one center serving each of three targeted areas: Colonias (counties on the US/Mexico border), persistent poverty or other communities of high need/limited resources areas of the Delta and the Southeast, and high need areas of Appalachia as well as centers in other regions of the country.

The Regional Food Business Centers will provide coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building to help farmers, ranchers, and other food businesses access new markets and navigate federal, state and local resources, thereby closing the gaps or barriers to success. The Regional Food Business Centers will assist small and mid-sized producers and food and farm businesses with the goal of creating a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published today a Request for Applications (RFA) for this program. AMS is soliciting applications from organizations across the nation to develop the Regional Food Business Centers that will be geographically based, serving regional needs. Applicants must define the regions that their proposed Regional Food Business Center will serve, specifying high-needs priority areas within that region. The Regional Food Business Centers serving these high-need priority areas will identify farm to market linkages across its proposed geographic area to reach a variety of markets. Further guidance for applications is available in the RFA.

Applications must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 22, 2022. To receive funding, the applications will undergo an administrative review to ensure the proposed activities fulfill the purpose of Regional Food Business Centers. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered for funding.

AMS encourages applications for initiatives that benefit smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, underserved producers, veteran producers, and underserved communities. For grants intending to serve these entities, applicants should engage and involve those beneficiaries when developing projects and applications. For more information about grant eligibility, visit the Regional Food Business Centers Program webpage, or contact us at RegionalFoodCenters@usda.gov.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.

To learn more about grant funding opportunities to enhance and strengthen agricultural systems, visit the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Grants and Opportunities webpage.