Regional Food System Partnership Fiscal Year 2026
Last verified by NonDilute: 2026-04-29. Official notice and agency instructions control.
If you're building a regional food network or marketplace infrastructure through formal partnerships, this USDA grant offers up to $1M with manageable competition—but only if you already have partners locked in.
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What this is
This USDA Agricultural Marketing Service program funds collaborative partnerships (not solo ventures) to build infrastructure for direct-to-consumer agricultural marketing, local/regional food networks, and value-added farm products. With $4.71M available and a 6.5% funding rate in FY2025, competition is intense. Awards range $100K–$1M. Applicants must form multi-sector partnerships involving public and/or private entities; solo farmers or solo tech founders will not qualify without established partners.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants include nonprofits, state/local government agencies, tribal organizations, research institutions, and agricultural businesses that can form formal partnerships (see full text for complete list). Solo founders and individuals are not eligible; applicants must represent an organization or lead a documented coalition/partnership with public and/or private partners.
Eligible applicant types
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
Full description — from the agency
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), requests applications for the 2026 Fiscal Year (FY) Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) grant program. RFSP purpose is to support partnerships that connect public and private resources to plan and develop local and regional food systems.RFSP is part of the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) umbrella program. AMS welcomes applications that meet LAMP goals (see section 3.1) to support the development, coordination, and expansion of direct producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets and enterprises, and value-added agricultural products.Approximately $4.71 million is available to fund applications under this solicitation. In FY2025, AMS funded 7 (6.5%) of the eligible applications received an awarded a total of $4,712,934.This announcement identifies the eligibility criteria for RFSP projects and applicants, and the application forms and associated instructions needed to apply for an RFSP grant. AMS will award these grants competitively to eligible applicants proposing high quality projects that meet the purpose and requirements of the program. All applications will be reviewed using merit and evaluation procedures.
Topics: regional food systems · local agriculture marketing · producer partnerships · direct-to-consumer · value-added agriculture · usda grant
Public-source funding discovery only. This summary is generated from public agency data and may be incomplete or stale. NonDilute is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any government agency. Official notices and agency instructions control. NonDilute does not determine eligibility, provide grant-writing advice, or guarantee funding.