National Institute of Food and Agriculture

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is a sub-agency within USDA that administers competitive grants and cooperative agreements to support research, education, and extension activities across the food and agricultural sciences. NIFA's mission centers on building human capital and institutional capacity in agriculture, natural resources, and related fields through awards to land-grant universities, tribal institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, and other eligible organizations. NIFA operates a dual portfolio: a small but active contracting footprint and a massive grant-making operation that dominates its business model.

Contract activity at NIFA remains minimal and highly fragmented. The agency has awarded 945 contracts cumulatively since 2003 for a combined potential value of $169.1 million, with $149.1 million obligated. Activity has slowed considerably, declining from 11 awards in 2022 to 4 awards each in 2025 and year-to-date in 2026. Among recent awardees, competitive concentration is highly fragmented: the top five primes by award count hold 33 percent of recent awards but claim only $1.5 million combined potential value, while the top five by potential value hold just 8 percent of combined recent value. Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc. leads by count with 4 awards worth $185 thousand, while Blake Willson Group LLC commands the value hierarchy with a single $7.5 million award. Across 366 distinct prime contractors, 90 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation; small business set-asides (competitive and sole-source 8(a), and SDVOSB combined) account for 10 percent of the award base. The contract portfolio appears to emphasize support services and operational spending rather than substantive research or development work.

Grant activity dominates NIFA's footprint. The agency has obligated $38.16 billion in federal grant funding across 67,500 awards since inception, with $52.14 billion in total project value when non-federal matches are included. Awards per year have declined from 2,254 in 2022 to 642 year-to-date in 2026, but the baseline remains robust. Among the top five recipients over the last five years, North Carolina State University, Regents of the University of Minnesota, and University of Florida collectively account for only 3 percent of federal dollars obligated, indicating highly fragmented recipient concentration across 3,330 distinct institutions. North Carolina State leads by federal dollars with $263.4 million across 158 awards. The grant portfolio tilts heavily toward Project Grants (63 percent of awards) and Formula Grants (36 percent), with Cooperative Agreements comprising 2 percent.

Recent grant solicitations reflect NIFA's statutory focus on capacity building, workforce development, and mission-critical research. Active opportunities include the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs Phase II (due November 17, 2026), Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants (due December 3, 2026), 1890 Institution Teaching, Research, and Extension Capacity Building Grants (due November 4, 2026), Tribal Colleges Extension Program Special Emphasis (due November 2, 2026), Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension pre-applications (due November 2, 2026), Non-Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture Capacity Building Grants (due November 10, 2026), Tribal Colleges Education Equity Grants (due October 7, 2026), and Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowships (due October 15, 2026). Most opportunities require institutional eligibility tied to statutory land-grant, tribal, or HSI status. No recent contract opportunities are recorded against NIFA or its subordinate offices.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is a research and grant-making organization focused on agricultural issues. To find your local Cooperative Extension office, consult the county government listings in your local telephone directory.