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California Underserved and Small Producers Program

Grantor:
CA Department of Food and Agriculture
Portal ID:
5962
Status:
Active
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

The California Underserved and Small Producers (CUSP) Grant Program is designed
to facilitate direct assistance to individual small-scale, mid-scale and socially
disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who need support applying for economic relief
grant programs and assistance with business planning and marketing strategies. 

Description:

The CUSP Grant Program has two components for which applicants can apply for one or both:

Part 1: Technical Assistance for Underserved Farmers and Ranchers – Funding for
technical assistance providers to support farmers and ranchers in applying for economic
relief grant programs and assistance with business planning and marketing strategies
and other business economic recovery activities.

Part 2: Direct Grant Assistance for Underserved Farmers and Ranchers – Eligible
entities are also able to apply as a “regional administrator” for grant funds to distribute
directly to farmers and ranchers to aid in economic recovery and relief measures and/or
leverage existing economic relief funding programs

The grant duration is two (2) years, beginning June 1, 2021 - March 31, 2023.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Nonprofit
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

Eligible entities for the Technical Assistance Grants and/or administer the block grant funds for farmers/ranchers include: Non-profit organizations, Tribal Governments and Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs).

Entities applying for Technical Assistance grants referred to as Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) must meet the eligible criteria outlined on page 4 of the Request for Proposals. 

Important Dates

Application deadline The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantor.
Expected award announcement The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
5/19/2021
Period of performance The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
06/01/21- 03/31/23

Funding Details

Total estimated available funding The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$2,000,000
Expected number of awards A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Estimated amount per award Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
$25,000 – $150,000
Letter of Intent Required? Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Requires Matched Funding? Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
No
Funding Source: The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State

Funding Source Notes:

$2 million available for the CUSP Grant Program, which approximately $1.35 million available for Part 1: Technical Assistance for Underserved Farmers and Ranchers and $550,000 available for Part 2: Direct Grant Assistance for Underserved Farmers and Ranchers. Awards range between $25,000- $100,000 for Part 1, and up to $150,000 if applying for Part 1 and 2.  CDFA reserves the right to offer an award amount different than the amount requested.

Funding Method: The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Reimbursement(s)

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
Thea.Rittenhouse@cdfa.ca.gov, 1-916-657-3231, Thea.Rittenhouse@cdfa.ca.gov

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