Grant Programs at CDFA

Alternative Manure Management Program

Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) awards competitive grants to California dairy and livestock operations implementation of non-digester manure management practices in California that will result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Tribal Gov.

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Beginning Farmer and Farmworker Training Program

This program will help support and improve new or existing beginning farmer training programs and agricultural apprenticeship programs, strengthen networks, and develop strategies to overcome barriers, including but not limited to education and training programs, land access, capital and equipment for production and marketing of crops with a focus on prioritizing direct assistance to historically underserved groups to ensure the transition to farm ownership is successful.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag TA; Healthy Food Systems
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education, Non-Profit, Tribal Gov.

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Biologically Integrated Farming Systems Program

The Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) grant program is designed to provide outreach of innovative, biologically integrated plant-based farming systems that reduce chemical pesticide inputs.

Program Type:	Outreach and Education; Research
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education; Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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California Agriculture License Plates

A competitive solicitation process awards CalAgPlate grant program funds that promote agricultural education and leadership activities for students at K-12, post-secondary, and adult education levels.

Program Type:	Outreach and Education, Research
Eligible Entities:	Government; Non-Profit; Schools (K-12); Tribal Gov.

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California Livestock Methane Measurement, Mitigation and Thriving Environments Research Program (CLIM³ATE-RP)

The California Livestock Methane Measurement, Mitigation and Thriving Environments Research Program (CLIM³ATE-RP) will award competitive grant(s) to California based Institutions for research projects that address key barriers to achieving goals aligned with California's efforts to successfully implement climate smart agriculture.

Program Type:	Research
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education, Non-Profit, Other Business, Tribal Gov.

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California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP)

The California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP) encourages the purchase and consumption of healthy, California–grown fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts by nutrition benefit clients. Housed within the Office of Farm to Fork, the program provides monetary incentives for the purchase of California grown fruits and vegetables at Certified Farmers Markets and small businesses.

CNIP provides competitive grant funding to organizations to provide incentives to nutrition benefit shoppers, support program operations and outreach.

Program Type:	Healthy Food Systems; Outreach and Education
Eligible Entities:	Non-Profit; Other Business

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California Underserved and Small Producers Program (CUSP)

The California Underserved and Small Producers (CUSP) Grant Program is designed to facilitate direct assistance to individual small and 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. This program also includes direct relief payments for historically underserved and small producers impacted by COVID-19 and drought.

Program Type:	Economic Development
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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Conservation Agriculture Planning Grant Program

The Conservation Agriculture Planning Grants Program (CAPGP) is designed to fund the development of a plan that will help farmers and ranchers identify actions for climate change mitigation and adaptation, further environmental stewardship on farms and ranches and ensure agricultural food security into the future.

Program Type:	Outreach and Education; Research
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Higher Education; Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program

Technical assistance in the form of hands-on application assistance to farmers and ranchers is critical to the success of CDFA’s Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) programs including the Healthy Soils Program (HSP), the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) and the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP). One-on-one technical assistance improves accessibility of incentive funding to agricultural operations that otherwise may not have the resources or technical expertise to complete the application process and implement the CSA programs incentivized practices.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag TA
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education; Non-Profit

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Dairy Digester Research and Development

The Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP) awards competitive grants to California dairy operations and digester developers for the implementation of dairy digesters that result in long-term methane emission reductions on California dairies and minimize or mitigate adverse environmental impacts.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Other Business; Tribal Gov.

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Dairy Plus Program

The Dairy Plus Program will award competitive grants to California dairy farms for the implementation of advanced manure management practices that reduce both methane emissions and nutrient surplus.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Tribal Gov.

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Fairground and Community Resilience Center Grant Program

The purpose of this program is to advance local communities’ resilience in the face of natural disasters by upgrading fairground infrastructure. Additionally, the program will also provide grants to local governments to engage stakeholders in the development of community resiliency plans and to upgrade facilities identified in the plans.

Program Type:	Outreach and Education
Eligible Entities:	Government; Non-Profit; Other Business; Tribal Gov.

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Farm to Community Food Hubs Program

CDFA’s Farm to Community Food Hub Program will provide planning and implementation grants to mission driven food hubs throughout the state of California.

Program Type:	Healthy Food Systems; Economic Development
Eligible Entities:	Non-Profit; Other Business

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Farm to School Incubator Grant Program

The California Department of Food and Agriculture Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F) 2021 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program is focused on supporting local and regional farm to school projects that promote nutrition education, sustainable food production and procurement, and high-quality student engagement through experiential learning.

Program Type:	Healthy food systems, Outreach and Education
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Non-profit; Schools (K-12); Tribal Gov.; Government; Higher Education

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Fertilizer Research and Education Program

The Fertilizer Research and Education Program (FREP) funds and facilitates research and outreach to advance the environmentally safe and agronomically sound use and handling of fertilizing materials. FREP serves growers, agricultural supply and service professionals, extension personnel, public agencies, consultants, and other interested parties.

Program Type:	Outreach and Education; Research
Eligible Entities:	Government; Higher Education; Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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Healthy Refrigeration Grant Program

Through this program, CDFA funds energy efficient refrigeration units in corner stores and small businesses in low-income or low-access areas throughout the state to stock California-grown fresh produce, nuts and minimally processed foods. The purpose of the program is to improve access to healthy food choices in the small retail environment for underserved communities, while promoting CA-grown agriculture.

Program Type:	Economic Development; Healthy Food Systems
Eligible Entities:	Government; Higher Education; Non-Profit; Other Business; Tribal Gov.

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Healthy Soils Program

Healthy Soils Program consisting of Incentives Program and Demonstration Projects, provides grants for incentivizing and demonstrating the implementation of conservation agricultural management practices that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases and improve soil health.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag TA
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Higher Education; Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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Livestock Enteric Methane Emission Reduction Research Program

The California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) 2023 Livestock Enteric Methane Emission Reduction Research Program (LEMER-RP) will award competitive grant(s) to fund demonstration trials evaluating additives and dietary modifications that have the potential to reduce enteric methane emissions in the dairy and livestock sectors.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education; Non-Profit; Other Tribal Gov.

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Organic Transition Pilot Program

The purpose of the Organic Transition Pilot program is to fund assistance to farmers and ranchers who want to transition land to organic certification. The program is designed to provide direct financial assistance for eligible expenditures and improve access to knowledge and technical assistance, including business planning, for farmers and ranchers with land under transition to organic (pre-certification).

Program Type:	Economic Development
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education; Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board Research and Outreach Grant Program

The Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board accepts proposals for research and outreach projects addressing Pierce’s disease, glassy-winged sharpshooter, and other designated pests and diseases of winegrapes. These competitive grants are funded through a special assessment paid by the California winegrape industry.

Program Type:	Research and Outreach
Eligible Entities:	Government; Higher Education; Non-Profit

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Pollinator Habitat Program

The Pollinator Habitat Incentive Program will provide financial incentives to farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that promote pollinator habitat and forage on working lands, such as cover crops and hedgerows.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag TA
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education, Non-Profit, Tribal Gov.

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Proactive Integrated Pest Management Solutions Program

The Proactive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Solutions grant program is designed to anticipate which exotic pests are likely to arrive in California and to identify and test IPM strategies that can be rapidly implemented if the pests become established in California.

Program Type:	Outreach and Education; Research
Eligible Entities:	Government; Higher Education; Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program

The purpose of the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program is to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain, to provide more and better markets to small farms and food businesses, to support the development of value-added products for consumers, fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities.

Program Type:	Economic Development
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Government; Non-Profit; Other Business; Tribal Gov.

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Safe Animal Feed Education (SAFE) Program

The Safe Animal Feed Education (SAFE) program of California uses outreach, education, and a comprehensive Voluntary Quality Assurance program to lead the nation in ensuring a safe and wholesome supply of commercial feed.

Program Type:	Outreach and Education; Research
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education

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Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program

The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program is 100 percent federally funded and provides seniors 60 years of age or older who are on a limited income access to fresh produce from local farmers throughout California.

Program Type:	Healthy Food Systems
Eligible Entities:	Government; Non-Profits

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Spay and Neuter Grant Programs

CDFA offers two Spay and Neuter Grant programs that are available on a competitive basis. The Animal Homelessness and Cruelty Fund (AHCF) Program and the Pet Lover's License Plate Program. The AHCF is supported by California taxpayer contributions while the Pet Lover's License Plate Program is supported by the purchase of the Pet Lover's Specialty License Plates. Both programs distribute funds to offer low-cost or no-cost spay and neuter services within California.

Program Type:	Veterinary
Eligible Entities:	Non-Profit; Government; Other Businesses

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Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

Each year, CDFA conducts a two-phase competitive solicitation process to award funds to projects that solely enhance the competitiveness of California specialty crops. Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).

Program Type:	Healthy Food Systems; Outreach and Education; Research
Eligible Entities:	Government; Higher education; Non-Profit; Other Business; Schools (K-12); Tribal Gov.

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Specialty Crop Multi-State Program

This program is offered by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. The SCMP competitively funds projects to solely enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops through 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.

Program Type:	Healthy Food Systems; Outreach and Education; Research
Eligible Entities:	Government; Higher education; Non-profit; Other Business; Tribal Gov.

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State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program

CDFA awards grants to eligible projects that implement on-farm water irrigation systems that reduce energy use resulting in greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission reductions and water savings.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag
Eligible Entities:	Farmers and Ranchers; Tribal Gov.

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Urban Agriculture Grant Program

CDFA’s Urban Agriculture grant will help urban farmers and community-based organizations by 1) funding urban food system infrastructure (land access, capital equipment purchases, facilities, etc.); 2) supporting jobs, internships, and professional development opportunities, ensuring youth from all backgrounds have access to paid positions developing urban food systems; and 3) backing experienced technical assistance providers to mentor, train, and support urban farmers and community-based organizations.

Program Type:	Healthy Food Systems
Eligible Entities:	Non-Profit; Tribal Gov.

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Water Efficiency Technical Assistance Program

The Water Efficiency Technical Assistance (WETA) grant program is designed to facilitate technical assistance to agricultural operations for on-farm water and energy use efficiency and nutrient management.

Program Type:	Climate Smart Ag TA
Eligible Entities:	Higher Education; Non-Profit, Tribal Gov.