Project Grant ED19HDQ0200088

The Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration awarded a $6.1 million Project Grant to Aglaunch Initiative under the BUILD TO SCALE federal grant program (CFDA 11.024). The funding supports Aglaunch's AGRIX3 project to expand its accelerator platform across additional agricultural regions and leverage additional investment. Key products and services include scaling Aglaunch's Data Commons framework for collecting and housing farm-level and trial-specific data; scaling its Open...

The Emerging Prairie Agriculture Technology Venture Capital Fund, awarded $449,405 by the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration under the BUILD TO SCALE federal grant program (CFDA 11.024), aims to support North Dakota's agriculture technology industry through venture capital investment. The Fund will invest an initial $5M in seed-stage North Dakota agtech startups over the three-year period from October 2021 through September 2024. This will provide much-needed access to...

The Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Kansas City Commodity Office awarded Elevated Foods Inc. a $20 million Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Project Grant to expand markets for climate-smart fruits and vegetables in 11 states and the Navajo Nation from April 2023 to April 2028. Under the award, Elevated Foods will employ Croptrak's FarmAdvisor platform and modules to manage producers' land and assets and document their climate-smart practices and acreage. Decade Impact...

The Market Readiness for Local Farmers and Growers program, funded through a $733,492 Project Grant award from the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP), provides farmer training, financial planning tools, market access education, and food safety resources to local and regional food businesses in the Chicago metro area. Delivered through Familyfarmed, the multi-pronged program includes intensive yet...

Accelerated AG Technologies LLC received a $100,000 Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The award was provided under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) to support the development of collection and preservation technology to enable on-demand pollination in commercial hybrid wheat systems. The SBIR/STTR programs are intended to...

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service awarded Veggielution a $468,967 Project Grant under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) to develop Community Resilience Hubs in Santa Clara County, California from September 30, 2021 through September 29, 2024. Veggielution will train socially disadvantaged farmers and food entrepreneurs of color to start or expand their businesses through lack of access to resources, markets, and cultural barriers in the local...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award to Vitidore, Inc. for $248,912 will fund the development of a machine learning-based software modeling system to quantify soil carbon sequestration and other agronomic metrics associated with a hybrid perennial grass cover crop used in specialty crop farming systems. The prototype software system aims to enable third-party verification of high-quality carbon offsets, provide feedback on important...

The Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service awarded a $256,284 Project Grant under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program to Reap Food Group Inc. to design and pilot a wholesale farm fresh atlas and wholesale-ready program. The atlas and program aim to increase sales from small- and medium-scale farmers in Southern Wisconsin to institutional buyers by establishing a digital wholesale directory and building readiness support for farmers interested in scaling up...

The Central Illinois Farm-Fresh Enterprise Development Cooperative (FARMFED CO-OP) received a $239,565.60 Project Grant award from the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) to complete planning and establish operations. FARMFED CO-OP will connect rural producers in Central Illinois to institutional and retail buyers through processing and freezing local produce. Project outcomes will include a marketing...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service awarded a $225,000 Cooperative Agreement under the Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research program (CFDA 10.001) to Technology Matters (TECH Matters), a nonprofit strategic technology organization. The funding supports the development of technologies for sustainable land management, monitoring, and research over the period of Aug 15, 2023 to Mar 31, 2027. Key project activities include developing sustainable...