Applicants for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) must meet all the requirements discussed in this NOFO. 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 About Grants 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); non-governmental organizations (NGOs); junior and four-year colleges or universities or foundations maintained by a college or university; and private for-profit organizations. Collaboratives led by State Cooperative Extension Services; federal, state, municipal or tribal agencies will be given funding priority. 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. Incorporating 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 regional balance, multiple awards will not be made to the same organization, institution, or Project Director in the same calendar year. Further, organizations and institutions that have received a regular standard or education team grant in the last funding cycle (FY 2024) are ineligible to apply. To avoid chances of Project Directors providing oversight on two BFRDP grants concurrently, Project Directors of active awards can apply for new BFRDP awards when they are in their final year of project work. It is unallowable to have a new project and at the same time have a project that has not yet been terminated. 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. USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants proposals for dangerous gain-of-function research, as defined in Section 8 of E.O. 14292. 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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