Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program

Beginning farmer education for adult and young audiences in the United States can generally be traced back to the advent of the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Land-Grant Acts.

But, for the first time, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub .L. No. 110-234, Section 7410) appropriated $75 million for FY 2009 to FY 2012 to develop and offer education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers.

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Applications may only be submitted by a collaborative state, tribal, local, or regionally-based network or partnership of qualified public and/or private entities. These collaborations may include the following entities: State Cooperative Extension Services; Federal, State, municipal or tribal agencies; community based organizations (CBOs); nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); junior and four-year colleges or universities or foundations maintained by a college or university; and private for-profit organizations. Inclusion of beginning and/or non-beginning farmers and ranchers as part of the collaborative group is strongly encouraged. Applications submitted by individuals, or by organizations that do not involve other entities in a network or partnership, are not eligible for consideration under any category applicable to the BFRDP and will be excluded from review. Multiple awards will not be made to the same organization or Project Director in the same calendar year. Further, organizations that have received a standard grant in the last two funding cycles (FY 2017 or FY 2018) are ineligible to apply for FY 2019 funding. For FY 2020, organizations that have received awards in FY 2018 or FY 2019, are ineligible to apply. ET awards and the Clearinghouse award are exempt from this restriction. An organization with a current ET award may receive a standard grant, and an organization with a current standard grant may receive one (1), but no more than one, concurrent ET grant.

NIFA Help Desk Phone: 202-401-5048 Business hours are M-F, 7:00 am -5:00 pm ET, excluding Federal holidays