CDFA ANNOUNCES COMMENT PERIOD FOR BEGINNING FARMER AND FARMWORKER TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM

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SACRAMENTO, March 30, 2022 - CDFA’s Farm Equity Office is seeking public comments on a draft Request for Applications (RFA) for a proposed new grant program, the Beginning Farmer and Farmworker Training and Workforce Development Program Grant (BFFTP). The 30-day public comment period will begin today, March 30th, 2022, and comments will be accepted until April 30th, 2022.
 
This program will provide support to organizations to enhance or expand beginning farmer and farmworker training/apprenticeship programs. The overall goal is to ensure that resources are dedicated to strengthening support for historically underserved beginning farmers in the first ten years of business, and for farmworkers who need job skills training. A secondary goal of the program is to build and grow regional networks to ensure organizations can provide adequate support and training opportunities for those most underserved in the agriculture industry.
 
Applicants may apply for two types of awards: program planning and curriculum development grants of up to $100,000, or program implementation grants up to $1,000,000.

The following entities are eligible to apply for this program: non-profit organizations, tribal governments, and community colleges, which are eligible as co-applicants with local partner organizations. Entities applying must have demonstrated expertise in workforce development programs as well as assisting historically underserved, small-scale farmers and farmworkers.
 
The Draft RFA can be found at: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/bfftp/

Comments must be submitted via email to by 5 p.m. PT on April 30, 2022.

CDFA will consider all comments received before releasing a final RFA for this program. Comments will be accepted the following ways:
 
Written Comments: Please submit written comments via email to: carmen.carrasco@cdfa.ca.gov

Include “Beginning Farmer & Farmworker Training Program Comments” in the subject line of the email. Please specify which funding track each comment is regarding in the body of the email.
 
Live/ In-person Comments: The CDFA Farm Equity Office will host two listening sessions during the public comment period to welcome live feedback for each funding track.
 
The first webinar will be hosted April 12th at 11:00am via Zoom.
 
The second webinar will be hosted April 19th at 11:00 via Zoom. * This webinar will be hosted in English and Spanish and will have opportunities for public comments in both languages.
 
Information for these sessions is available on the CDFA Grants Page: CDFA - Grant Programs (ca.gov)

No registration is necessary for these sessions.

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