Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program

Notice of Funding Opportunity Summary

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making up to $300,000,000 available for the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program through this funding opportunity. USDA is committed to funding projects that support a diverse set of farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and operators (producers) on the edge of viability, moving them from surviving to thriving as they address core barriers to attain land, capital, and market access.

USDA will achieve this goal by funding cooperative agreements or grants to organizations, to be known as Awardees, that will develop and run programs that are designed to align with and respond to land, capital, and market access needs of the target audience while concurrently providing wraparound technical assistance to ensure that program participants have the information, training, and customized support they require.  

USDA is seeking proposals to fund projects across four tiers of effort as described below:

                i.           Large, national land access projects

               ii.           Mid-sized, national projects to test innovations in design

               iii.           Regional projects to test innovations in design

               iv.           Local, state, territory, county, and community projects to test innovations in design

The primary focus of this funding opportunity is to strengthen land access with additional opportunities to focus on capital access and market access for use in agriculture. The ability to access capital and markets allows landowners and operators to retain access to their lands or seek new lands/expansion of existing operations. These issues are inextricably intertwined. Projects must focus on strengthening land access with at least one of the following related areas of concern: 

                i.            Capital access concerns that affect the ability to access land;

               ii.            Market access concerns that affect the ability to access land; or

               iii.            A combination of one or more of land, capital, and market access concerns. 

Eligibility for this opportunity is limited to the following domestic entity types:

a.      State, County, City, Local, Territorial, and Township governments

b.     Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education

c.      Not for profit institutions of higher education

d.     Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education), including Foundations and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)

e. Native American Tribal governments (Federally or State recognized)

f.      Native American Tribal government instrumentalities

g.       Native American Tribal organizations (other than Federally or State recognized Tribal governments)

h.     Native American Tribal financial institutions

Please refer to Section C.1 of the full Notice of Funding Opportunity for additional eligibility information.

Eligible applicants are domestic entities. Individual persons are not eligible for this funding opportunity. Farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, will not be eligible to apply to this program directly but must be the ultimate beneficiaries of the awarded projects and may be represented via partnership groups.

Awardees are required to coordinate with USDA and all other awardees in a manner as determined by USDA. Individuals that are the ultimate beneficiaries of the program investments and accompanying technical assistance must be underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, including veterans, limited resources producers, beginning farmers and ranchers, and/or farmers, ranchers and forest landowners living in high poverty areas.

Funding will be provided through four funding tiers[1]: 

·        Large, national land access tier: Proposals from $20,000,000 to $40,000,000 to include large-scale national projects/models that are designed to increase land access for targeted producers across a national landscape. These projects must be for a five-year funding period. We anticipate funding up to two projects at this level.

·        Mid-sized national land access tier:  Proposals from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 to include large-scale national projects/models that are designed to increase land access for targeted producers across a national landscape. These projects must be for a five-year funding period. 

·        Regional land access tier: Proposal from $5,000,000 to $8,500,000 to include regional-scaled projects/models designed to increase land access for targeted producers across a regional landscape. These projects may be for up to a five-year funding period. 

·        Local/State/Territorial land access tier:  Proposals from $250,000 to $2,500,000 to include local/state targeted producers focused on increasing land access within one local area (sub-state/territory), one state, one territory or one Tribal landscape. These projects may be for up to a five-year funding period.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for the tier funding level best suited for their project design. Approved funding levels within each project tier will depend on the quality and scope of the applications received and deemed eligible for funding. Applicants are only allowed to submit one application for this funding opportunity. Multiple applications will not be accepted.

The USDA will work cooperatively with Awardees as they develop and implement programs to increase access to land, capital, and markets while providing technical assistance during the proposed project period of up to five years and as they work towards successful completion of the purposes and activities outlined in the Statement of Work. 

For new users of Grants.gov, see Section D.1. of the full Notice of Funding Opportunity for information about steps required before submitting an application via Grants.gov.

Key Dates

Applicants must submit their applications via Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 18, 2022.

For technical issues with Grants.gov, contact Grants.gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov. Awarding agency staff cannot support applicants regarding Grants.gov accounts. Please limit questions to those regarding specific information contained in this NFO (such as dates, page numbers, clarification of discrepancies, etc.). Questions related to eligibility or the merits of a specific proposal will not be addressed.

The agency anticipates making selections by winter 2022/2023 and expects to execute awards by spring 2023.

Federal Funding Floor and Ceiling Amounts

The estimated funding floor for this opportunity is $250,000 and the estimated funding ceiling is $40,000,000. The funding floor means the minimum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded. Each agreement selected for funding will be for a period of no more than five (5) years. The ceiling is the maximum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded. These numbers refer to the total agreement amount, not any specific budget period.

Federal Financial Assistance Training

The funding available through this NFO is Federal financial assistance. Grants 101 Training is highly recommended for those seeking knowledge about Federal financial assistance. The training is free and available to the public via https://www.cfo.gov/grants-training/. It consists of five modules covering each of the following topics: 1) laws, regulations, and guidance; 2) financial assistance mechanisms; 3) uniform guidance administrative requirements; 4) cost principles; and 5) risk management and single audit. FPAC agencies also apply Federal financial assistance regulations to certain non-assistance awards (e.g., non-assistance cooperative agreements).

[1] Due to the unique nature of land access among Tribal communities, Tribal projects may be either large, national land access tier, mid-sized national tier, regional tier, or local/state/territorial tier in scope. It is expected that territories may be either regional tier or local/state/territorial.