State Senator Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo) announced today that due to high demand the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has extended the application deadline for the Urban Agriculture Grant program until January 17, 2019. The Urban Agriculture Grant is one of several offered under the Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation Grant program.
“I hope we see a flood of interest in this opportunity,” said Sen. Anderson. “Those of us outside the seven county metro know how important agriculture is to our daily lives, and grants like this can help pass on that interest to a new generation who might not necessarily be exposed to it.”
According to a notice from the Department of Agriculture, “a total of $250,000 in grant funding is available to aid organizations and communities in obtaining the materials and services necessary to successfully promote urban youth agricultural education and urban agriculture community development.”
ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES
Applicant Eligibility — the following groups are eligible to apply:
- For-profit businesses
- Non-profit organizations
- Schools
- Local government entities
- Native American tribal communities
Project eligibility — eligible grant projects include: the purchase and installation of equipment; capital expenditures (costs incurred to make physical improvements to, or construct a facility); and/or dedicated staff contractor time. Projects must be located in or serve communities that meet one of the following criteria:
- Cities with a population over 10,000, or
- Cities with a population between 5,000 and 10,000, where at least of ten percent of the population is living at or below 200 percent of the poverty line and/or at least ten percent of the population is comprised of people of color and/or Native American tribal community members as determined by the United States Census Bureau, or
- Located within the boundaries of federally recognized tribal land and serving tribal community members, regardless of population size. You’ll find a list of eligible cities and tribal areas in the Request for Proposals.
For more information and application instructions, visit www.mda.state.mn.us/urbanaggrant.