The U.S. Department of Agriculture is calling for feedback on its $76 million Value-Added Producer Grant Program, which provides funding for rural businesses, ranchers and farmers to grow their income by developing and marketing new products. The program hosts a national competition to award $75,000 planning grants and $250,000 working capital grants to independent … [Read more...]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is soliciting feedback on how to better award grants to launch, grow and enhance cooperatives in rural areas. Specifically, the department wants to know how it can improve the application process, eligibility requirements and evaluation criteria for its Rural Cooperative Development Grant program. The RCDG program hosts a national … [Read more...]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to know how its Agriculture Innovation Center Program can better support farmers and rural businesses that sell value-added agricultural products, such as ethanol, jam, flour, or beef jerky. The USDA Agricultural Innovation Center Program was created to stimulate economic development in rural areas by supporting producers of … [Read more...]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it is accepting applications for grants to establish and operate Agriculture Innovation Centers. USDA is making $7.4 million available under the Agriculture Innovation Center Program. Agriculture Innovation Centers may use the grants to provide technical assistance to help agricultural producers develop and … [Read more...]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is accepting applications for financing to build or improve water and waste infrastructure in rural communities. Last year alone, Rural Development invested $2.09 billion nationwide to improve water and waste systems serving 2.1 million rural residents. The Water and Waste Disposal Program provides loans and grants … [Read more...]