Are you looking for ways to develop your innovative agricultural business?  Join us for a workshop designed to help you identify whether grants or other financial options might be right for you. Wisconsin farmers have used grants to develop value-added enterprises, try out innovative production and marketing techniques, and educate other farmers and the public […]

Check out these agricultural funding opportunities for Farmers and Ag Professionals as of mid-April 2016.

If you are interested in any of the funding opportunities below please contact Deirdre Birmingham at: deirdreb4@gmail.com Funding in WI to increase SNAP participation in farmers’ markets-Apply by Feb. 26 The Department of Health Services (DHS) is pleased to announce that Wisconsin has received funding from the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition […]

March 15 is the deadline for Wisconsin farmers to sign up for USDA’s new risk management program designed for diversified farmers.  Historically, farmers have only been able to buy insurance for major commodity crops, but non-commodity crops or those not commonly grown in their area offer lacked insurance coverage.  Farmers long frustrated by such traditional […]

Watch this webinar to learn more about USDA’s new Whole Farm Revenue Protection program, which provides diversified producers new options to cover various facets of their operation under one insurance policy. Watch the webinar to learn more!

MFAI and MOSES are hosting a free webinar on “How New USDA Risk Management Tools Can Help Diversified/Specialty Crop Growers.”

UW-Extension in partnership with USDA, SARE, DATCP and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, hosts 4 one-day Agricultural Grants Workshops held at 4 different locations around the state that help farmers and other value-added food entrepreneurs learn about potential grants, get the basics on putting together a strong grant proposal, learn about cost share programs and other financing options.

East Troy, WI – On Friday, August 14, 2015, the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, in collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service of WI, UW-Extension, and Organic Valley hosted the 2015 WI Cover Crops Conference.

Access to farmland remains one of the most difficult challenges that new farmers face when looking to start farming. Fortunately, since 2008, there has been a federal incentive program that encourages retiring landowners to sell or lease long term to new and underserved farmers.

EAST LANSING, May 7, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is calling on Michigan farmers and private forest owners to sign up for conservation planning assistance by June 12. Conservation planning identifies resource concerns on farm and forest land and helps landowners obtain USDA financial assistance to address them. “Conservation planning is the first […]

The USDA Value-Added Producer Grant Program was announced May 8th with the latest application deadline of July 7th for planning grants and working capital grants.

Many of us remember that around this time last year the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was in the process of trying to finalize a myriad of rules relating to food safety under the auspices of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This represented the first time since 1938 that significant food safety reform had been undertaken in the United States. Needless to say that rarely, over the course of 70+ years, do things stay the same — our food system being no exception.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) will begin accepting applications to re-enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) on July 11, 2014. This renewal option is specifically for farmers and ranchers who enrolled in CSP initially in 2010.

CSP is a comprehensive working lands conservation program that provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and ranchers to actively manage and maintain existing conservation systems and to implement additional conservation activities on land in production. Through CSP, participants take steps to improve soil, water, air, and habitat quality, and can also address water quantity and energy conservation issues.

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced a special funding opportunity to help landowners plant cover crops for erosion control, soil improvement or other conservation needs.

Here’s a compiled list of USDA funding opportunities. Some are for farmers, some are for organizations. Now that we have a farm bill, we are seeing a lot of these.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced the start of signups for the new Farm Bill easement programs. The new Agricultural Conservation Easement Program combines NRCS’ former Farm and Ranch Lands Protection, Grassland Reserve and Wetlands Reserve programs. As the news release below notes, the deadline for applying is June 6.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the availability of more than $19 million in grants to help train, educate and enhance the sustainability of the next generation of agricultural producers through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP).

Madison, WI – Last week, the USDA released a Notice of Funding Availability for the Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program, which is designed to help producers establish new product lines, expand their marketing reach and exposure, and increase their income. USDA has allocated $10.5 million for the VAPG Program for this round of grants. […]

Contained is a press release on the Specialty Crop Block Grants awarded in 2013. There is a link to the SCBG website if you would like to see the kind of projects they just funded in your state. They do not typically fund individuals, but organizations that meet the marketing or research priorities of this program for horticultural crops.

Earlier this year, farmer Calvin Sebranek of Fancy Creek Farms, Richland Center enrolled the 800,000th acre in the USDA’s Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for the State of Wisconsin. He will be receiving awards from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), highlighting his exemplary stewardship practices and years of commitment to implementing conservation in his operations.