Community Agriculture Grants | USDA NRCS WI 23 NOFO0001225

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS WI 23 NOFO0001225

The Community Agriculture Grants opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number: USDA NRCS WI 23 NOFO0001225) is a discretionary funding program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). It is structured as a cooperative agreement and is designed to push conservation planning and hands-on conservation practice demonstrations in urban, suburban, and other small-scale agricultural settings. The program places particular priority on proposals that either launch new community gardens or strengthen, expand, and improve existing community agriculture efforts, with the expectation that projects will produce clear, real-world conservation benefits while also delivering education and community value.

At its core, the grant is looking for projects that do more than simply grow food. Competitive proposals are expected to build conservation learning experiences for urban, suburban, and Tribal communities, meaning the work should include a strong education or demonstration component that helps people understand and adopt conservation practices. The program also directly targets community needs tied to food access, encouraging applicants to design projects that address food desert concerns. In addition, it explicitly supports Tribal priorities by encouraging projects that advance Tribal food sovereignty, which generally means strengthening a Tribe's ability to control and shape its own food systems in ways that align with community goals, culture, and long-term resilience. Across all project types, NRCS emphasizes positive and measurable natural resource conservation outcomes, so proposals should be prepared to define what will improve (for example, soil health, water quality, stormwater management, erosion reduction, habitat benefits, or reduced runoff) and how those improvements will be measured and documented.

Applications were required to be submitted through Grants.gov, with a stated deadline of 11:59 pm Eastern Time on July 7, 2023. The notice makes a clear distinction between technical help and programmatic questions: technical issues with the Grants.gov platform are handled only by Grants.gov Applicant Support (1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov), and agency staff are not able to assist with Grants.gov account problems. For questions about the content of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO), applicants are directed to the federal awarding agency contact listed in Section G, and questions are expected to be narrowly focused on clarifying details in the NFO itself (such as dates, page references, or discrepancies), not on whether an applicant is eligible or whether a particular project idea is strong.

Funding levels for individual awards were expected to range from a federal share minimum (floor) of $5,000 up to a maximum (ceiling) of $250,000 per agreement, with those figures applying to the total award amount rather than being tied to a specific budget period. The agency expected to make about 10 awards. The timeline provided indicated anticipated selections by September 1, 2023, with awards expected to be executed by September 30, 2023, though the notice notes these dates are estimates and can change.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of public and community-serving entities. Eligible applicants listed in the notice include state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (so long as they are not institutions of higher education in that nonprofit category). The program is associated with CFDA/Assistance Listing 10.902 and falls under the agriculture, environment, and natural resources funding activity areas.

Because this opportunity is federal financial assistance, the notice also points applicants toward foundational training on how federal grants work. It recommends the free "Grants 101" training available through the CFO.gov grants training site (https://www.cfo.gov/grants-training/). The training covers the basic structure and expectations behind federal assistance, including laws and regulations, common funding mechanisms, the Uniform Guidance administrative requirements, cost principles, and risk management and single audit topics. This emphasis is a signal that applicants should be ready to follow federal compliance and reporting expectations typical of financial assistance awards, and to manage funds with appropriate documentation and oversight.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Community Agriculture Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 22, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 07, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA NRCS WI 23 NOFO0001225

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