Specialty Crop Block Grant Program - Farm Bill

The U.S. Department of Agriculture�s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) implements the Specialty Crop Block Grants through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) and the Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP) to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops by: (1) leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops; (2) assisting producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops; (3) expanding availability and access to specialty crops; and (4) addressing local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers. (5) for such other purposes determined to be appropriate by the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with specialty crop stakeholders and relevant State departments of agriculture.

Eligible entities for the SCBGP include the State department of agriculture, agency, commission, or department of a State government responsible for agriculture within any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Eligible entities for SCMP are the same; however, non-Federal entities residing in nonparticipating States may apply for, compete, and if merited receive a grant directly from AMS.

Criteria for selecting proposals are within guidelines established for the program as described in the RFA. The most current RFA is available via Grants.gov or www.ams.usda.gov/grants.

Fiscal year 2025: One project that was completed under the SCBGP was to assess the profitability of specialty crop production in the state to demonstrate economic opportunities for producers to adopt or expand local fruits and vegetables by performing analysis of current fruit and vegetable production and marketing. At the conclusion of this award, five specialty crop products were identified and analyzed, with the results disseminated through online materials and producer workshops. A project completed under SCMP was for the development and evaluation of an integrated robotic system for the purpose of precision pollination of tree fruit crops. The automatic precision spraying system made for apple chemical thinning enhanced growers� knowledge of the technology and will assist with future adoption. Please see https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/scbgp/awards and https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/scmp/awarded-grants for a full list of projects funded to date.