AGRI Works Grant Program

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture administers the Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation program, which was established to advance Minnesota's agricultural and renewable energy industries. The AGRI Works Grant Program supports entities and organizations that provide regional and statewide development, education, research, and marketing services that promote agriculture, horticulture, and rural communities. The primary goal is to advance agriculture, horticulture, and rural community and economic development through marketing, promotion, research, and education. The program prioritizes legislatively created entities and organizations and projects that are not eligible for other Minnesota Department of Agriculture grant opportunities. Projects affecting or serving Native American Tribal Communities are encouraged. Approximately $485,625 is expected to be awarded through a competitive process. Individual grants range from $5,000 to $75,000, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture anticipates making between 5 and 15 awards. A 1:1 cash match is required, meaning 50 percent of total project costs must come from other non-state sources. Cash match sources may include non-state cash, loans, other grants, or liquid capital assets dedicated to the project. In-kind contributions do not qualify as match. Eligible expenses include employee salary and fringe benefits, project-related travel, contracted services, equipment, supplies, and eligible construction and other project costs. Applicants may request indirect costs of up to 15 percent of salaries, wages, and applicable fringe benefits of W-2 employees. Ineligible expenses include costs incurred outside the grant contract period, double-dipped expenses, excess overhead or indirect costs, advertising and public relations costs, applicant donations and in-kind contributions, fines and penalties, entertainment, fundraising, most taxes, lobbying and political contributions, bad debts and finance charges, and generally out-of-state transportation and travel. Eligible applicants must be entities or organizations supporting regional and statewide development of Minnesota agriculture, horticulture, or rural communities. Only nonprofit organizations, units of government, and most colleges and universities are eligible. Individuals and organizations incorporated as for-profit entities, including for-profit colleges and universities, are not eligible. Applicants must be in good standing with the State of Minnesota, appropriately licensed and authorized to conduct business in Minnesota, have no disqualifying back taxes or defaults on Minnesota state-backed financing, maintain acceptable performance on past MDA grants, comply with current state regulations, and not be suspended or debarred. MDA employees and their spouses, farms, LLCs, or businesses principally operated by them are ineligible. Collaboration is permitted but not required. Joint applicants must identify the organization that will contract directly with MDA, and proposed partners must provide letters of support. Applications were required through the MDA online application system by 4 p.m. Central Time on December 16, 2025. New users were required to create an account and, after logging in, select AGRI Works Grant. Late and incomplete applications are not accepted, and applicants are advised to submit at least 24 hours early. Application content includes organizational and contact information, eligibility attestations, prior Minnesota grant information, project name and financial information, a public project summary, project purpose and objectives, organization and financial sustainability narratives, priority-area responses, outcome measurement, stakeholder and partner information and letters, a work plan and timeline, and detailed budget tables and justifications. At least one stakeholder letter of support is required, and letters are required from each project partner. Applications are competitively evaluated in two phases. Phase one uses the Project Evaluation Profile, which assigns 15 points each to organizational capacity, community engagement, project objectives and activities, work plan and timeline, and budget and match; 20 points are assigned to projects not eligible for other MDA grants, and 5 points are assigned to legislatively created entities, for a total possible score of 100. Reviewers may recommend full or partial funding, and the commissioner of agriculture makes award decisions. Geographic distribution, prior state grant performance, regulatory compliance, and capacity to perform the proposed work may also be considered. Applicants advancing to phase two are asked for additional organizational capacity and pre-award documentation. A formal pre-award risk assessment is required for potential awards of $50,000 or greater. The published timeline listed December 9, 2025 at 4 p.m. Central Time as the deadline to ask grant program questions and December 16, 2025 at 4 p.m. Central Time as the application deadline. Phase one review was scheduled for mid-December 2025 through mid-January 2026, followed by phase two in late January 2026. The RFP states that applicants would be notified of decisions on February 10, 2026, with an expected project start date of March 1, 2026 after the grant contract was fully signed. Grants may last up to three years from the contract start date, with anticipated end dates in early 2029. Eligible costs may be incurred only after the agreement is fully executed, has reached its effective date, and the grantee has authorization to begin work. Recipients must provide annual progress reports, a final report, and requested information concerning long-term impact for up to three years after the grant period. Questions concerning the grant program or application are directed to MDA.AGRIGrants@state.mn.us with AGRI Works in the subject line. Assistance with the online application system is available through the same email address or by telephone at 651-201-6500. Grant funds are paid on a reimbursement basis and require proof of purchase and proof of payment. Reimbursement requests must be submitted no later than 60 calendar days after the grant end date. Recipients must comply with applicable procurement, reporting, monitoring, publicity, nondiscrimination, audit, and other state requirements. The solicitation does not state that AGRI Works is recurring on an annual or other regular schedule, so no future cycle is projected from the expired Fiscal Year 2026 deadline.

Use plain and easily understood language for reviewers who may not have specialized knowledge of the organization or industry; answer all questions completely within stated character limits; respond to optional questions or provide optional documents where practical because MDA strongly recommends doing so; review and write directly to the Project Evaluation Profile; demonstrate organizational capacity and strong community support; include strong letters of support showing broad impact; present realistic objectives and a thorough work plan with estimated dates; clearly detail all project costs and the source and amount of cash match; support planned purchases with quotes or other sources; emphasize if the project is not eligible for another MDA grant because this priority is worth 20 points; submit early because late and incomplete applications are rejected.