Vermont Agency Of Agriculture

Vermont Agency Of Agriculture, doing business as Vermont Transit, is a U.S. state government entity that acts as a federal grant recipient (97% of recent awards as prime recipient) in animal health surveillance, food safety inspection, exotic pest detection, and agricultural market development, with 285 total awards across 17 federal agencies and combined obligated dollars of $118 million.

The agency's federal footprint centers on cooperative agreements and project grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, with no federal contracts or contract vehicles in the source data. Vermont Agency Of Agriculture operates exclusively as a grant recipient; it does not pursue federal contracts, is not eligible for set-asides, and does not sit on GWACs, BPAs, or IDIQs.

The agency's primary capability portfolio spans four mission areas. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) funding anchors the work — 127 awards covering avian and cervid disease surveillance (highly pathogenic avian influenza testing, pullorum-typhoid screening, chronic wasting disease detection in deer herds), animal disease traceability (RFID tag distribution and database entry for livestock producers), and exotic plant pest surveillance under the Cooperative Agriculture Pest Survey (CAPS) program, including nursery pest surveys, oak commodity surveys, greenhouse crops pest monitoring, and exotic wood borer/bark beetle trapping. Representative recent work includes two FY26 cooperative agreements from APHIS for animal health surveillance (avian HPAI and cervid testing, swine traceability) and animal disease traceability (animal identification and movement tracking), both awarded April 1, 2026 with completion March 31, 2027. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) funding supports state-operated meat and poultry inspection programs — 31 awards including cooperative agreements for intrastate meat and poultry inspection ($1,984,000 for FY26), interstate meat and poultry inspection ($675,200 for FY26), and cross-utilization inspection, all under federal "at least equal to" standards requiring triennial FSIS audits. Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) funding spans specialty crop competitiveness grants, dairy business innovation centers, market news service operations, local food purchase assistance, and agritourism marketing — 44 awards including a three-year $3.45 million Dairy Business Innovation grant (awarded September 30, 2024, completion September 29, 2027) for the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center providing subawards to dairy farms and processors, and a three-year $317,432 Specialty Crop Block Grant (awarded September 30, 2025, completion September 29, 2028) funding seven subawards for maple, fruit, vegetable, and herb promotion and research. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 provides 18 awards under the Consolidated Pesticide Enforcement program (CFDA 66.700) for pesticide applicator certification, worker protection, water quality monitoring, and endangered species habitat protection; recent awards total $365,558 (FY26) and $483,034 (FY25) in project grants.

Customer concentration is high and heavily tilted toward USDA. The top five funding agencies account for 80% of awards: APHIS dominates with 127 awards, followed by AMS with 44, FSIS with 31, EPA Region 1 with 18, and FSIS again with 9. Combined obligated dollars stand at $118 million across all 285 awards, though combined potential value is reported as $246 thousand, a discrepancy that reflects the difference between obligated (invoiced) performance and estimated ceiling values on open cooperative agreements. By potential value, HHS Food and Drug Administration carries six awards worth $187 thousand (likely low-dollar food labeling or inspection work), while APHIS, AMS, FSIS, and EPA Region 1 dominate the remaining potential value share.

Activity has remained relatively stable year over year: 21 awards in 2022, 16 in 2023, 20 in 2024, 19 in 2025, and 3 in 2026 (reflecting the three-month window as of the source date of July 15, 2026). The agency operates no federal contracts and does not compete on federal contract vehicles; all federal revenue flows through cooperative agreements, block grants, and project grants from USDA and EPA. Nineteen awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and will require grant renewals or reapplication. The agency acts as a sub-recipient in nine awards, all flowing through Vermont Department Of Environmental Conservation (Lake Champlain phosphorus TMDL agricultural management work under Section 319 nonpoint source and TMDL programs) and Vermont Department Of Public Safety (disaster recovery assistance). These sub-awards represent water quality and emergency management coordination rather than core agricultural mission work.

Vermont Agency Of Agriculture serves as the operational arm of the state's agricultural regulatory, surveillance, and market development functions under federal partnership agreements. It maintains recurring annual awards for meat and poultry inspection, animal health surveillance, and pest detection, with multi-year grants for dairy innovation and specialty crop support. The agency does not pursue competitive federal contracts, operates entirely within cooperative agreement and grant structures, and maintains no federal contract vehicles or subcontracting relationships with federal prime contractors.