Agriculture Development Grants

Maple Grants

Meat & Produce Grants

In November 2022, the Governor's Commission on the Future of Vermont Agriculture recommended competitively awarded grant funding for small and mid-sized agricultural producers and value-added processors in the meat, produce, and maple industries. This recommendation resulted in a one-time, $2,300,000 state legislative appropriation in Act 78 of 2023 (H.494) to fund Agriculture Development Grants (ADG) for meat, produce, and maple producers and processors. 

Businesses may apply for a Maple Agriculture Development Grant beginning in October 2023 or a Meat and Produce Agriculture Development Grant in January 2024.  

Businesses may also apply for a Working Lands Grant this year. However, businesses may only accept either a Working Lands or Agriculture Development Grant award, but not both, during state fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2024). 

Maple Agriculture Development Grants 

The Maple Agriculture Development Grant application period is now closed. Applicants should expect to hear award decisions in January 2024.

Eligibility 

Grants for the maple industry will fund production or processing projects that address at least one of the following priorities: climate resiliency, operational efficiency, and/or food safety and quality. This could include projects such as infrastructure, equipment, storage and processing upgrades, or training. Maple producers or processors, including sap-only operations, are eligible to apply. 

• Ineligible applicants include retail-exclusive operations, technical service providers, and research projects. 
• Ineligible projects include marketing/branding, agritourism, business management (accounting, legal services, etc) and research. 

Timeline 

• Grant details announced: October 10, 2023
• Application Open: October 17, 2023 – November 21, 2023 at 11:59 PM. 
• Applicant Webinar: Register here for applicant webinar on October 17, 2023 
• Applicants Notified of Award: January 2024 
• Project Length: January 2024 – December 2025 

Size and Scope

Approximately $540,000 is available in funding. Grant size will be $15,000 - $100,000. Matching funds are not required.  

As of December 2023, no additional funding has been allocated for Maple Agriculture Development Grants. Please stay tuned for updates regarding future rounds of funding opportunities.

Please note that maple businesses may also apply for a Working Lands Business Enhancement Grant this year, which will be open on October 6th, 2023. The Business Enhancement Grant will award up to $530,000 with a minimum award of $15,000 and a maximum award of $50,000. Matching funds or a match request waiver are requested for Working Lands Grants.  However, businesses may only accept either a Working Lands Business Enhancement Grant or a Maple Agriculture Development Grant award, but not both, during state fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2034).  

How to Apply 

1. Read the Maple ADG Request for Applications by clicking here.
2. Review the WebGrants Application Guide. 
3. Submit your application in WebGrants by November 21, 2023 at 11:59 PM. 

Questions?  

Contact Madison Berry at Madison.Berry@vermont.gov or (802) 622-4626.  

Meat and Produce Agriculture Development Grants 

The Agency of Agriculture is implementing the meat and produce ADG grant by focusing investments on three priority areas:

1. Climate Resiliency
2. Infrastructure, Operations, and Capacity Growth
3. Worker and Food Safety and Product Quality

Eligible projects will implement these priorities through strategic updates, upgrades and expansion in production and processing systems and infrastructure. Eligible projects are quite broad and may include items such as construction projects, equipment purchase, trainings, and safety plan development.

Ineligible projects include: purchasing land and housing, marketing, branding, agritourism, business management (bookkeeping, legal fees, etc), or research. 

Applicant Eligibility 

The meat and produce ADG funding opportunity is available to for profit businesses and operations who are:

• Produce operations (as defined here under "produce" and excludes corn grown for animal feed)
• Produce operations that process their own products
• Meat producers
• Businesses offering meat slaughter and primary processing services
• Operations diversifying into at least one of the above activities

Ineligible applicants include value-added processors that do not also grow produce or meat or perform slaughter or slaughter-adjacent activities; non-profit entities; hydroponic operations; retail-only operations, ie grocery stores; or technical service providers.

Timeline 

• Grant Details Announced: January 5, 2024 
• Application Open: January 19, 2024 – February 26, 2024 
• Applicant Webinar: January 16th 2024 at 2:00pm - register here
• Applicants Notified of Award: April 2024 
• Project Length: April 2024 – April 2026

Size and Scope

Grants awards will be between $35,000 and $300,000. Approximately $1,600,000 is available in total funding. Matching funds are not required. 

Please note that meat and produce businesses may also apply for a Working Lands Grant. However, businesses may only accept either a Working Lands Grant or a Meat and Produce Agriculture Development Grant award, but not both, during state fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2024). See below for more details. 

How to Apply 

1. Read the Meat and Produce ADG Request for Applications
2. Review the WebGrants Application Guide. 
3. View the recording of the Applicant Informational Webinar, below
4. Submit your application in WebGrants  

Applicant Informational Webinar

Questions?

Contact Sarah McIlvennie at Sarah.Mcilvennie@vermont.gov or 802-261-5866. 

Overlap with Working Lands Funding 

Please note that businesses may only receive either an ADG grant or a Working Lands grant this year. If you elect to apply for both a Working Lands grant and an ADG grant, please do so knowing you can only receive one grant.  

For the maple industry, ADG and Working Lands Business Enhancement review will happen concurrently. For businesses that apply to both opportunities, we will make award decisions based on best fit for either grant program and award one.  

For the meat or produce industry, businesses will be notified of an ADG award in April 2024. If a business has applied to an ARPA Primary Producer Impact or Working Lands Supply Chain Impact Grant, they will need to decide to accept or decline the ADG grant in April prior to hearing if they are awarded the Working Lands grant in May 2024. 

We encourage applicants to research both ADG and Working Lands grants to understand the best fit for their business needs. Please explore this overview table below and research each opportunity’s details, eligibility, and fit.  

For questions about Working Lands opportunity, please contact Clare Salerno at Clare.Salerno@vermont.gov or 802-917-2637.