Specialty Crop Block Grants

Program Basics

The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) provides grants annually to assist State Departments of Agriculture in enhancing the competitiveness of specialty crops (fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops). To receive grants, States must submit an application and plan outlining how the grant funds would be spent. Each state then can use the funds to supplement state programs or make grant funds available for projects to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.

Grant funds cannot be used to solely benefit a single organization, institution, or individual but rather must be used for projects that impact and produce measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the public. Examples of project areas that would qualify for funds include, but are not limited to:

  • Food safety
  • Food security
  • Nutrition
  • Trade enhancement
  • Education
  • Research
  • Promotion
  • Marketing
  • Plant health programs
  • ‘‘Buy local’’ programs
  • Increased consumption
  • Enhanced innovation
  • Improved efficiency and reduced costs of distribution systems
  • Environmental concerns and conservation
  • Product development
  • Cooperative development.

2008 Farm Bill Changes

The new farm bill replaces the authorization for appropriations for this program in previous law with mandatory funding. The minimum grant each State is eligible to receive under the program was amended from $100,000 to an amount that is equal to the higher of $100,000 or 1/3 of 1 percent of the total amount of funding made available for the fiscal year. Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were added as eligible States and the definition of specialty crops was expanded to include horticulture.

Legislative Authority

Section 10109 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008 amends Section 3 and Section 101of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004, to be codified at 7 U.S.C. Section 162 note.

Funding

The program has relied on appropriations every year since its inception, but with passage of the 2008 Farm Bill, will now receive mandatory funding.

Specialty Crop Block Grant Program Funding

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

$18.4 M^

$49 M

$55 M

$55 M

$55 M

^ The 2008 Farm Bill only provides $10 M in mandatory funding for FY 2008, but the program had already received $8.4 M in the FY 2008 Appropriations Bill under its old authorization for appropriations.

Each State Department of Agriculture that submits an application that is reviewed and approved by AMS is guaranteed to receive a minimum of $100,000 or 1/3 of 1 percent of the total amount of funding available for the entire program for that fiscal year. The rest of the funds are then allocated to states based on the proportion of the value of specialty crop production in the state in relation to the national value of specialty crop production.

Please note: The funding levels in the chart above show the amount of mandatory funding reserved by the 2008 Farm Bill for this program to be provided through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation.  However, Congress does at times pass subsequent appropriations legislation that caps the funding level for a particular year for a particular program at less than provided by the farm bill in order to use the resulting savings to fund a different program.  Therefore, despite its “mandatory” status, the funding level for a given year could be less than the farm bill dictates should the Appropriations Committee decide to raid the farm bill to fund other programs under its jurisdiction.

Implementation Basics

In FY2008, AMS is administering two separate specialty crop block grant programs. The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) is the pre-2008 Farm Bill version of the program. State Departments of Agriculture are eligible to apply for grants under this program until March 5, 2009.

The 2008 Farm Bill version of the program is the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program-Farm Bill (SCBGP-FB). For this program, USDA announced the availability of $10 million in FY2008 funds, less USDA administrative costs, on July 20, 2008. This funding had a tight turn around time and the date for applications closed on September 8, 2008.

USDA published a Final Rule for SCBGP-FB on March 27, 2009 and the Agriculture Marketing Service announced the availability of approximately $49 million in grant funds in May. Grant applications must be received by August 26, 2009. More information can be found at http://www.ams.usda.gov/scbgp.html or through State Departments of Agriculture.

Examples of Past Grant Recipients

Kansas Department of Agriculture

One of the seven projects the Kansas Department of Agriculture funded with its $102,197.15 Specialty Crop Block Grant in 2006 was a project working with 30 farmers’ markets and 5 five stands to develop a “Buy Fresh/Buy Local” campaign to promote the purchase of fresh, local foods including specialty crops. The project was carried out in partnership with the Kansas Rural Center.
www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5069112

Washington State Department of Agriculture

One of the five projects the Washington Department of Agriculture funded in 2007 with the $182,441.82 it received was partnering with the Organic Seed Alliance to develop a premium national market for specialty grown organic vegetable seed and launch a Growers Organic Seed Cooperative as a producer-owned business.

www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5069113

Implementing Agency and Website

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service: http://www.ams.usda.gov/scbgp.html.

Trista Etzig, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, trista.etzig@usda.gov, 202-690-4942.

For more information about how your State is planning to use its block grant funding, go to the website of your State department of agriculture. You can find the address by clicking on your state on the map located at www.nasda.org.