At the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s 2024 Winter Policy Conference, Secretary Vilsack announced that Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Utah and West Virginia have now opened their Request for Applications for the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, joining the 28 states that are already offering grant funding for projects that support supply chain infrastructure. Currently, there is $230 million available in Infrastructure Grant funding across the country.

“These unprecedented investments into our nation’s supply chain infrastructure will not only benefit consumers by ensuring they have dependable access to fresh and locally produced food, the investments will benefit producers and rural communities by providing more options and creating more, new and better markets for small and mid-size producers,” Vilsack said. “USDA also recognizes that the work through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program is made possible by the strong partnerships we [maintain] with state agricultural agencies.”

In May 2023, USDA announced the availability of up to $420 million through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, to create food systems infrastructure to support competitive and profitable market access for domestic farm products and create more economic opportunities for communities, allowing them to retain more of the value-chain dollar. The program is also supporting the creation of new, safe job opportunities with fair wages that keep profits within rural communities. The RFSI program is authorized by the American Rescue Plan.

Through the program, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Utah and West Virginia will fund projects that expand capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling and distribution of food products. This can include specialty crops, dairy, grains, aquaculture and more, but excluding meat and poultry.

• Colorado, $4.1 million awarded, $3 million available in Infrastructure Grants.
• Connecticut, $2.7 million awarded, $2.1 million available in Infrastructure Grants.
• Delaware, $2.1 million awarded, $1.7 million available in Infrastructure Grants.
• Kentucky, $8.6 million awarded, $7 million available in Infrastructure Grants.
• Louisiana, $6.2 million awarded, $4.6 million available in Infrastructure Grants.
• Utah, $3 million awarded, $2.3 million available in Infrastructure Grants.
• West Virginia, $4.5 million awarded, $3.6 million available in Infrastructure Grants.

Those interested in receiving a subaward should apply directly through their respective state department of agriculture. Updates for each state’s Request for Applications for the RFSI program are available on the AMS website.

Through the program and in addition to the Infrastructure Grant funding, the states will support supply chain coordination and technical assistance to farmers and food businesses operating in processing, aggregation and distribution.

For more information, visit the AMS Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure web page.

Source: USDA's AMS