FY 2020 Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program | USDA NIFA BFR 006970

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA BFR 006970

The FY 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) is a competitive grant opportunity run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to strengthen education, training, outreach, technical assistance, and mentoring for beginning farmers and ranchers. While farmer education in the U.S. has long roots going back to the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Land-Grant Acts, this program represents a more modern federal investment specifically aimed at preparing the next generation to enter and stay in agriculture in a sustainable way. The program reflects concerns driving national attention to new farmer development, especially the rising average age of U.S. farmers, expected declines in the number of farmers and ranchers over time, and a broad recognition that newer and more targeted support systems are needed for people just starting out.

The program was originally funded through the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, which provided $75 million across FY 2009 to FY 2012 to build and deliver beginning farmer and rancher education and support programs. That effort was extended by the Agriculture Act of 2014, which added $20 million per year from 2014 through 2018. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) then reauthorized BFRDP and provided mandatory funding specifically to support education, mentoring, and technical assistance initiatives for beginning farmers and ranchers. Under the 2018 Farm Bill schedule, funding was set at $15 million per year for FY 2019 and FY 2020, increasing to $17.5 million for FY 2021, $20 million for FY 2022, and $25 million for FY 2023. For this specific FY 2020 opportunity, the grant ceiling listed is $200,000.

A key feature of FY 2020 BFRDP is that it is designed for partnerships rather than stand-alone applicants. Only a collaborative state, tribal, local, or regionally based network or partnership of qualified public and/or private entities may apply. Eligible partners can include State Cooperative Extension Services; federal, state, municipal, or tribal agencies; community-based organizations and nongovernmental organizations; two-year and four-year colleges and universities (including university-maintained foundations); and private for-profit organizations. The program strongly encourages including beginning farmers and ranchers, and even non-beginning farmers and ranchers, as part of the collaborative group, which aligns with the program's emphasis on mentoring and peer learning. Applications from individuals, or from organizations applying alone without an actual network or partnership, are not eligible and are excluded from review.

The opportunity also includes notable restrictions intended to spread funding across organizations and avoid duplicate awards in the same year. Multiple awards will not be made to the same organization or the same Project Director within the same calendar year. For FY 2020 specifically, organizations that received BFRDP awards in FY 2018 or FY 2019 are not eligible to apply, with an exception noted for ET awards (as described in the notice). The rules also clarify how concurrent funding can work: an organization with a current ET award may receive a standard grant, and an organization with a current standard grant may receive one concurrent ET grant, but no more than one.

Eligibility compliance is treated strictly. If an applicant fails to meet an eligibility requirement by the application deadline, the proposal may be excluded entirely, or even if reviewed, NIFA may be unable to make an award. At the same time, the program allows award recipients to subcontract to organizations that are not themselves eligible to apply, as long as those subcontractors are necessary to carry out the project, which gives partnerships flexibility to bring in specialized capacity.

Administrative details in the source listing describe the opportunity as a discretionary grant program within the agriculture activity category, with CFDA number 10.311. The funding opportunity title is FY 2020 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, and the funding opportunity number is USDA NIFA BFR 006970. The opportunity was created on 2019-12-16, and the original application closing date was 2020-05-15.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2020 Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.311.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-12-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-05-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA BFR 006970

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