Specialty Crop Multi-State Program

ANNOUNCEMENT

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting proposals for the 2026 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP).

About The Program

The SCMP is a federal grant program offered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). The purpose of the SCMP is to competitively award funds to projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops by funding collaborative, multi-state projects that address regional or national level specialty crop issues, including food safety, plant pests and disease, research, crop-specific projects addressing common issues, and marketing and promotion. Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture). All prospective applicants are encouraged to review the 2026 SCMP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on the USDA, AMS website.

Funding And Duration

Grant awards will range from $250,000 to $1 million per project and projects may last for up to three years.

Eligibility And Exclusions

Specialty crop producer associations and groups, other state agencies, Tribal government entities, universities, nonprofits, and other stakeholder groups and organizations are eligible to apply. All SCMP proposals must include at least two organizations (referred to as "multi-state partners") with substantive involvement in the project, and the multi-state partners must be located in two different states to qualify for the program.

Cost-Share Requirements

The 2026 SCMP requires cost share contributions in an amount equal to 25 percent of the total Federal portion of the grant. Please reference the USDA Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for more information on this component.

Grant-Proposal Submission

The deadline to submit SCMP proposals to California is 1:59 pm PDT on August 31, 2026. Proposals must be submitted electronically to grants@cdfa.ca.gov. Late submissions will not be accepted. Applications must be submitted in one email and contain all of the elements on the 2026 SCMP Application Checklist. Additional information on the application requirements can be found on the SCMP Application Instructions.

Application Content and Format

Applicants are required to use the forms created by USDA-AMS for the 2026 SCMP Applications.

• Application Instructions
• Application Checklist
• Project Narrative Application
• Budget Narrative Instructions
• Supplemental Contractual Budget Template
• Signed Letter(s) of Verification for Cost Sharing Funds
• Signed Letter(s) of Commitment from Partners and Collaborators
• Personnel Qualifications

Webinar

CDFA will conduct a webinar on Thursday, June 18, 2025, at 1:00 pm PDT featuring an overview of the proposal application. There is no cost to attend; however, space is limited and CDFA requests that attendees register in advance.

Webinar registration

Questions

A list of FAQs is located here: 2026 SCMP Frequently Asked Questions.

Prospective applicants may contact CDFA’s Office of Grants Administration at grants@cdfa.ca.gov for additional information. Please stipulate in the subject line that your question is specific to the SCMP program.