Stakeholder Announcement USDA Makes Grant Funding Available to Support New Market Opportunities for U.S. Food and Agricultural Products

Date
March 10, 2016

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is making approximately $1 million in grant funding available to support research projects addressing challenges and opportunities in marketing, transporting, and distributing U.S. agricultural products domestically and internationally.

The Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP), administered by AMS, provides nearly $1 million in matching funds to state departments of agriculture, state colleges and universities, and other appropriate state agencies.

Grant applications must be submitted electronically through www.Grants.gov.  Applicants should start the Grants.gov registration process as soon as possible to ensure that they meet the deadline.  Applications for FSMIP are due by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on May 12, 2016.

AMS will host a teleconference for FSMIP applicants on March 24, 2016, at 2 p.m. (Eastern Time).  For more information about webinars, visit the AMS grants website: www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants.

In addition, AMS will host www.Grants.gov webinars on March 22 (registration link) and March 29 (registration link), both at 2 p.m. (Eastern Time), to explain how to submit grant applications via www.Grants.gov.

For more information about this grant programs, including program background, visit the FSMIP website: www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/fsmip.  The website also contains a link "What AMS Grant is Right for Me?" under which applicants can use a grants decision tree to determine which AMS grant fits their project best.