The state agriculture agencies in Washington, California and Arizona are now accepting applications from entities that are the lead on projects with multiple state partners for the 2021 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP).

Nearly $10 million is available for these multi-state specialty crop grants, available to benefit specialty crops across several states in the country.

These grants aim to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops by funding collaborative, multi-state projects that address regional or national level issues including: food safety; plant pests and disease; research; crop-specific projects addressing common issues; and marketing and promotion.

The SCMP is a federal grant program offered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).

All prospective applicants are encouraged to review the 2021 SCMP Request for Applications on the USDA, AMS website. 

Grant awards will range from $250,000 to $1 million per project and projects may last up to three years. Specialty crop producer associations and groups, other state agencies, Tribal government entities, universities, nonprofits, and other stakeholder groups and organizations are eligible to apply.

All SCMP proposals must include at least two partners (referred to as "multi-state partners") with substantive involvement in the project, and the multi-state partners must be located in two different states to qualify for the program.

Applications are due in to state offices by Nov. 4.

Source: Washington State Department of Agriculture, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.