Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCGBP)

This program may have additional incentives or benefits for those who are underserved. Learn more about our terminology.

SCGBP enhances the competitiveness of specialty crops by funding projects to do the following:

Leverage efforts to market and promote specialty crops
Assist producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops
Expand availability and access to specialty crops
Address local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers

Managing USDA Agency	Type of Assistance	Who Should Apply	Learn More
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)	Grant: Amount of available funding varies by State	State departments of agriculture	Visit

Programs that have been funded in the past include:

Researching new cultivars
Providing outreach opportunities on specialty crops to youth, families, seniors, and the overall community
Marketing apples through a targeted promotional campaign

Eligible applicants include:

Eligible applicants are state departments of agriculture* in the 50 States, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.
A State department of agriculture is the agency, commission, or department of a state government responsible for agriculture within the State.

Eligible crops include:

Specialty crops. Specifically, fruits and vegetables
Dried fruit, tree nuts, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture)

Eligible projects must adhere to the following:

Have a definitive beginning and end
Have an overarching goal that the applicant wants to accomplish through a series of individual activities or tasks
Enhance the competitiveness of U.S. or U.S. territory-grown specialty crops in either domestic or foreign markets
Must benefit more than one product or organization. The SCBGP will not award funds for projects that solely benefit a single commercial product or provide a profit to a single organization, institution, or individual.

Visit the AMS SCBGP page for details on the next round of funding.

AMS encourages applications that benefit smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, socially disadvantaged producers, veteran producers, and/or underserved communities.
Single organizations, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate as project partners.
States are encouraged to develop projects pertaining to the following issues affecting the specialty crop industry: Enhancing food safety; Improving the capacity of entities to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act; Investing in specialty crop research; Developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops; Pest and disease control; Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops; Improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems; and Sustainability.