U of I team accepting applications for small food business grants

A University of Idaho Extension-led team is now accepting in-state applications for two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants supporting post-production work by small- and mid-sized food and farm businesses.

Business Builder grants are offered through the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Food Business Center for business, market and supply-chain development projects aimed at “increasing business viability, developing regional marketing opportunities and expanding value chain capacity.”

The center — which serves Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado and Wyoming — is part of USDA’s new Investments in Farms and Rural Communities program. Colette DePhelps, area Extension educator of community food systems, and Tayler Reinman, regional food system program manager for UI Extension’s northern district, are co-leads of the center’s Idaho operations.

The center will accept applications through Jan. 15 for a total of $100,000 allocated to Business Builder grants specifically for Idaho food and farm businesses. Grants of $3,000 to $15,000 will be awarded to help Idaho recipients access markets within 450 air miles of where they are located. Qualifying businesses must earn under $1 million in annual gross income. No matching funds are required to receive a grant.

DePhelps explained grants can be used for a wide range of purposes, such as developing a marketing strategy, revising a brand, product development, assessing the feasibility of expanding into local or regional markets, obtaining a food-safety certification, developing contracts for sourcing goods directly from local farms or improving an on-farm packing facility.

“This is a really amazing opportunity for us to invest in Idaho businesses — both farm and food businesses that are doing work post field and post pasture — to get local Idaho-grown products into local and regional markets,” DePhelps said.

In about a year, the center will begin accepting a second round of applications from eligible Idaho businesses for $120,000 in Business Builder grant funding.

The center is also accepting applications through March 1 for $120,000 in funding through its Diverse Markets for Climate Resilient Agriculture grant, which will be open to farmers and food businesses throughout its six-state service territory to develop markets for artisan grains, pulses and pseudocereals. Grants of $3,000 to $50,000 will be awarded. The funding is available for grain, pulse and pseudocereal products that are segregated from general commodity markets to capitalize on a unique market trait, such as flavor profile or sustainable production practices used in cultivation. Pseudocereals, such as quinoa and buckwheat, are not true seeds but are used like cereals in baking and cooking.

Participating producers define what it means to be climate resilient in their operation. Many farm applicants have opted to raise crops with climate-smart growing practices such as eliminating tillage, reducing reliance on chemical inputs, intercropping and cover crops.

“These are market niches that are missing in our local and regional food system,” DePhelps said. “That’s why we’re focusing our Diverse Markets for Climate-resilient Agriculture on some shelf-stable products that we rarely see within our local and regional markets but we’re so good at growing at all different scales.”

The six-state program will open for a second round of applications for $200,000 in funding in about a year. Businesses are eligible to receive multiple grants from the center and may apply for funds in consecutive years but are subject to a $100,000 combined cap over 3.5 years.

“There is interest on both the consumer and producer side in local and regional markets and breaking away from international and large-scale commodity systems,” Reinman said. “When we’re reliant on really large-scale, single-pathway food systems, if there is a break in that system then it creates a sense of food insecurity and makes it harder for us to access goods we need, while also limiting market access and opportunities for producers to sell their crops.”

In May 2023, USDA awarded $360 million to finalists to establish 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers to provide essential local and regional food systems coordination, technical assistance and capacity building.