ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of
Agriculture (MDA) has another round of funding available for projects to help
farmers, producers and processors add value to their operations. A total of $1
million in funding has been made available through the Agricultural Growth,
Research and Innovation Program (AGRI), established by the legislature to
advance Minnesota’s agricultural and renewable energy industries.
The MDA will distribute the funds through its AGRI Value
Added Grant Program which aims to increase sales of Minnesota agricultural
products by diversifying markets and by increasing market access and food
safety. Specifically, these grants are intended to:
· start,
expand or update livestock product processing businesses;
· purchase
equipment to start, upgrade, or modernize value added businesses;
· increase
on-farm food safety, such as implementation of a food safety plan
· increase
farmers’ processing and aggregating capacity to sell to schools, hospitals or
others
Applications with a meat processing, farm-to-school (or
other institution) component, or are addressing Good Agricultural Practices
(GAP) or similar type of food safety plan will receive priority, but all value
added proposals are encouraged to apply.
Equipment purchases or physical improvements are eligible
for 25 percent of the total project cost up to a maximum grant award of
$150,000. There is a minimum grant of $1,000. Equipment purchases and facility
improvements must accomplish the goals of the grant and address improved
efficiency, expansion, modernization, or profitability.
This round of applications must be received no later than 4:00
p.m. on March 6, 2015. Grant applications are submitted through our online
system. The application is accessed through a link on the MDA Value Added
website: www.mda.state.mn.us/valueadded.aspx. If you cannot apply using this process, you may submit an
application by e-mail, mail, or by dropping it off at the MDA. An application
must be received by MDA staff by the deadline to be included in this round of
applications.
