Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Foundational and Applied Science Program

What the official notice requires

Pulled from the official notice FY26-AFRI-FAS-NOFO-P-MOD6.pdf (126 pages) so you can see the requirements at a glance. Each item shows the notice's own words. Open the page to read it in context.

Award size and project length

• Project period: 2 years · p. 81

  “Applications must demonstrate that outcomes of the project period can be implemented within 2 years after the grant ends. h.” Open page 81

Registrations you need first (1)

• Grants.gov · p. 111

  “The electronic application for this RFA and additional resources are available on Grants.gov and Grants 101.” Open page 111

Registration is free but can take weeks, so start now, not when the deadline is close. Get-ready checklist

Steps before the deadline

• Loi · p. 7

  “The LOI must be submitted at least 195 days before the start of the Workshop.” Open page 7

• Letter of intent · p. 13

  “A Letter of Intent (LOI) is required for Workshop Grant applications.” Open page 13

• Loi · p. 14

  “The LOI must be submitted a minimum of 195 days before the Workshop begins. b.” Open page 14

• Loi · p. 48

  “The LOI must be submitted at least 195 days” Open page 48

What to submit

• Data management plan · p. 22

  “The data management plan should delineate responsibilities and actions for managing and stewarding each data type anticipated by the project and should include budgeted plans to increase public access to results, datasets, and metadata consistent with USDA’s…” Open page 22

• Letters of support or commitment · p. 25

  “Research proposals must include (1) how the cultivar will be released and marketed, (2) who owns the intellectual property, (3) letters of support from stakeholders, (4) how the research fits within the overall existing breeding program, and (5) how this…” Open page 25

• Timeline or schedule of completion · p. 86

  “ABCN projects must include a workplan that addresses all the following: i.” Open page 86

• Project abstract or summary · p. 101

  “Applicants must state in the last sentence of their application’s Project Summary section to which specific Priority Number their proposal is addressing.” Open page 101

• Budget narrative / justification · p. 110

  “To be considered for this waiver, the budget justification (see Part IV § C) must include a letter signed by the institution’s AR addressing the noted criteria.” Open page 110

• Form SF-424 · p. 112

  “Part IV Provide an accurate email address, where designated, on the SF-424 R&R.” Open page 112

Cost share or match

• Cost share / match · p. 110

  “Match not required – If the applied research or integrated project with an applied research component is not commodity specific or is national in scope, then no match is required.” Open page 110

Dates in the notice

• 1/20/2025 · p. 102

  “Proposals relating to events occurring between 1/20/2025 and the date of publication of this RFA must be submitted within 45 calendar days of the date of publication.” Open page 102

• June 20, 2025 · p. 109

  “USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements submitted for due dates after June 20, 2025, and/or research and development (R&D) contract proposals submitted to solicitations issued after June 20, 2025, for dangerous…” Open page 109

Mistakes that get applications rejected (8)

• Could get your application rejected: Requests exceeding budgetary guidelines will not be reviewed. b. · p. 15

  “Requests exceeding budgetary guidelines will not be reviewed. b.” Open page 15

• Could get your application rejected: Applications that primarily use non-agricultural or non-aquaculture species as models (i.e., encompassing... · p. 27

  “Applications that primarily use non-agricultural or non-aquaculture species as models (i.e., encompassing greater than 50% of the work proposed) will not be considered. d.” Open page 27

• Could get your application rejected: Requests exceeding budgetary guidelines will not be reviewed. · p. 33

  “Requests exceeding budgetary guidelines will not be reviewed.” Open page 33

• Could get your application rejected: Applications that do not adhere to these requirements will not be reviewed. e. · p. 80

  “Applications that do not adhere to these requirements will not be reviewed. e.” Open page 80

• Could get your application rejected: Applications that do not follow these requirements will not be reviewed. k. · p. 87

  “Applications that do not follow these requirements will not be reviewed. k.” Open page 87

• Could get your application rejected: If a PD submits more than one application to this program area priority the additional application(s) will... · p. 90

  “If a PD submits more than one application to this program area priority the additional application(s) will be returned without review. b.” Open page 90

• Could get your application rejected: Requests exceeding budgetary guidelines will not be reviewed. g. · p. 90

  “Requests exceeding budgetary guidelines will not be reviewed. g.” Open page 90

• Could get your application rejected: Applications that do not follow these requirements will not be reviewed. · p. 90

  “Applications that do not follow these requirements will not be reviewed.” Open page 90