Specialty Crop Multi-State Grant Program 2026

The Specialty Crop Multi-State Program is a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. The program supports collaborative multi-state partnerships designed to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, tree nuts, horticulture, and nursery crops, including floriculture. For this funding opportunity, approximately $14.3 million is anticipated to be available. Individual projects may request between $250,000 and $1,000,000 in Federal funding. The anticipated project period is three years, with approximate dates of September 30, 2026 through September 29, 2029, although start dates will be established at the time of award. Projects must address regional or national specialty crop issues and produce measurable benefits for specialty crop growers in at least two States or territories. Eligible project areas include food safety, plant pests and disease, research, crop-specific projects addressing common issues, and marketing and promotion. Each project must define its geographic target area, identify the specialty crops that are its focus, and involve at least two partners located in different States. Projects may support activities such as food safety research and monitoring, pest and disease management, plant breeding and genetics research, production and supply chain improvements, research concerning consumer preferences, and multi-state marketing and promotional efforts. Projects may not solely benefit a single organization, institution, individual, or commercial product, unfairly compete with private businesses, duplicate existing food safety training materials, provide certain direct financial assistance for audits, or generate no direct and assessable benefit for U.S. specialty crop producers or the agricultural community. A mandatory cost share applies at the project level. Cost share from non-Federal sources must equal 25 percent of the Federal funds requested and may consist of cash and or in-kind contributions. Participating State departments of agriculture administering the program are not subject to cost share for their State administrative costs, but each project or subaward must satisfy the project-level requirement. Cost sharing must consist of allowable direct costs, must be committed or secured when an applicant is selected for an award, and cannot consist of Federal funds or program income. Indirect administrative costs are limited to 8 percent of total Federal funds provided under the award. Federal funds must supplement rather than supplant applicable State expenditures. Project budgets must also include travel for at least one identified key staff member to attend an AMS sponsored grant management meeting during the performance period. Eligible applicants must be domestic entities owned, operated, and located within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the Northern Mariana Islands. Participating State departments of agriculture may submit proposals to AMS on behalf of interested entities and administer resulting awards. In participating States, entities must apply through their State department of agriculture and cannot apply directly to AMS. In nonparticipating States, local governments, Indian tribes, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations may apply directly to AMS or may work through the most relevant participating State. Every partnership must include two or more States or territories. Partners and collaborators may be public or private and for-profit or nonprofit, but the applicant eligibility rules remain controlling. A complete application includes the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance, SF-424A Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs, the required SCMP Project Narrative, signed Letters of Verification for every cost share resource, and signed Letters of Commitment from all partners and collaborators. A NICRA must also be submitted when applicable. The Project Narrative must use the required template, be single-spaced in 11-point font, and contain no more than 15 pages of applicant-entered content beyond the existing template. Its executive summary may not exceed 250 words. The narrative must describe project objectives and goals, activities, applicable outcome indicators, fiscal plan, and resources. Applicants submitting directly to AMS must use Grants.gov and must have a UEI, active SAM.gov registration, Grants.gov account, and authorized organizational representative. Fax, email, and postal mail submissions are not accepted. Applications first undergo screening for completeness, eligibility, funding-range compliance, required documentation, and timeliness. Applications passing that review are evaluated by independent peer reviewers. Technical scoring totals 100 points: Alignment and Intent is worth 25 points, Technical Merit 25 points, Achievability 20 points, Expertise and Partners 20 points, and Fiscal Plan and Resources 10 points. AMS then conducts an administrative review of top-scoring applications, considering program scope, budget allowability, available funding, geographic coverage and variety, USDA priorities, and organizational risk. Risk review considers financial stability, management systems, prior Federal grant performance, audit findings, capacity to implement Federal requirements, and relevant responsibility and qualification records. Successful applicants receive an electronic Notice of Award, while unsuccessful applicants are notified by email and receive anonymized consensus review comments. The revised deadline for Multi-State Partners submitting to Participating States is 5:00 PM Eastern Time on October 16, 2026. Participating States and entities in Nonparticipating States submitting to AMS have a deadline of 11:59 PM Eastern Time on December 4, 2026. AMS recommends submitting applications at least two weeks before the applicable deadline. Program questions may be directed to sagpgrants@usda.gov. Grants.gov technical assistance is available at support@grants.gov or 1-800-518-4726. Recipients must submit annual performance reports and Federal financial reports and must submit final performance, financial, and applicable closeout documentation after the performance period ends.

Clearly define the regional or national specialty crop problem and measurable objectives; demonstrate benefits across multiple States and meaningful engagement with intended beneficiaries; present a realistic work plan and schedule with measurable tasks; document strong partner commitments and relevant project-team expertise; explain how indicator targets will be measured and how restrictive factors will be addressed; include a comprehensive plan for sharing positive and negative results and lessons learned; directly connect each budget item to project activities and outcomes; document all required cost share; use the required Project Narrative template without modification; include every required attachment; submit early enough to resolve Grants.gov or registration issues.