Value-Added Producer Grants – July 2
The Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program provides
competitively awarded grants to individual independent agricultural
producers, groups of independent producers, producer-controlled
entities, organizations representing agricultural producers, and farmer
or rancher cooperatives to create or develop value-added producer-owned
businesses. These grants may be used to fund business and marketing
plans and feasibility studies or to acquire working capital to operate a
value-added business venture or alliance. On May 8th , the U.S.
Department of Agriculture announced the availability of $30 million in funding through the competitive VAPG Program. The deadline to submit paper applications is July 7. Electronic applications submitted through Grants.gov are due July 2.
Organic Certification Cost Share Programs – Reimbursement On-going
USDA offers farmers two programs to help defray a portion of the annual costs associated with organic certification: the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (NOCCSP) and the Agricultural Management Assistance Organic Certification Cost Share Program (AMA).
Both programs are noncompetitive financial assistance programs that
help defray the costs of organic certification and are administered by
the National Organic Program (NOP). NOCCSP is available nationally,
while AMA is available only in certain states in the northeast and west.
On May 14, the USDA announced the availability of approximately $11.9 million in funding for organic certification cost-share assistance for
organic producers and handlers through state departments of
agriculture.
Payments for certification-related expenses incurred from
October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015 can reimburse up to 75% of an individual producer’s or handler’s certification costs and up
to a maximum of $750 per farm certification.
