Specialty Crop Block Grant Program ? Farm Bill 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), requests applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) to award grants to eligible State departments of agriculture to carry out projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. The SCBGP assists State departments of agriculture in the 50 States, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops by leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops, assisting producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops, expanding availability and access to specialty crops, and addressing local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers. Some examples of projects that could be funded include enhancing food safety, improving the capacity of all entities in the specialty crop distribution chain to comply with the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act, investing in specialty crop research, developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops, pest and disease control, increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops, and improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems. Key information to consider when evaluating this opportunity includes the eligibility criteria for SCBGP projects and applicants, the application forms and associated instructions needed to apply for a SCBGP award, and the evaluation criteria that will be used to review grant applications.