Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program

Applicants for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) must meet all the requirements discussed in this RFA. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or, preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s Grants Overview provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process.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.Application submission of a project effort that is a duplicate of a current beginning farmer project will not be accepted for review under this program.Inclusions 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.To meet geographical diversity, multiple awards will not be made to the same organization, institution, or Project Director in the same calendar year. To assist BFRDP in meeting geographical distribution, Project Directors, and Co-Project Directors on current BFRDP projects are ineligible to apply for another BFRDP grant. Further, organizations and institutions that have received a standard or education team grant in the last two funding cycles (FY 2022 or FY 2023) are ineligible to apply. Please do not apply for another simplified standard grant if you were previously awarded a simplified standard BFRDP grant. Simplified standard grants are designed for new trainers who have never received grants nor gained more than three years of experience in assisting with the development of beginning farmers and ranchers.Failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the application deadline may result in the application being excluded from consideration or, if reviewed, will preclude NIFA from making an award. Award recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project.Duplicate or Multiple Submissions. NIFA will accept the most recent application if an applicant submits duplicate or multiple submissions. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s Grants Overview provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process.

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