Massachusetts Department Of Agricultural Resources

Massachusetts Department Of Agricultural Resources, a state government agency and subsidiary of The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, receives federal cooperative agreements and block grants to perform plant pest and disease surveillance, pesticide regulatory enforcement, animal health traceability, and specialty crop marketing assistance as a prime recipient across multiple USDA and EPA grant programs.

MDAR operates entirely as a federal grant recipient with no contract prime or subcontractor footprint. The agency is a U.S. state government entity headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its federal work concentrates on cooperative agreements under USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and smaller grant programs from USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agency has received 188 total federal awards since 2006, with combined dollars obligated of $69.8 million. Recent activity shows a slight decline: 11 awards in 2022 and 2024, 12 in 2023, 9 in 2025, and 6 through September 2026.

MDAR's capability portfolio is narrowly specialized in state-level agricultural regulatory and surveillance programs. The agency conducts statewide pest and pathogen surveys targeting invasive threats to Massachusetts nurseries, orchards, and natural resources—including spotted lanternfly (SLF), Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), box tree moth (BTM), and Phytophthora ramorum. Representative work includes a $350,000 APHIS cooperative agreement awarded July 1, 2026, for spotted lanternfly survey and rapid response through June 30, 2027; a $2.284 million EPA Consolidated Pesticide Enforcement program award (CFDA 66.700) from October 1, 2025, for pesticide applicator training, worker protection, compliance monitoring, and field enforcement through September 30, 2026; and a $441,530 specialty crop block grant from USDA AMS awarded September 30, 2025, to enhance competitiveness of specialty crops including cranberries, herbs, spices, and produce through sub-awards to regional partners. MDAR also administers animal disease traceability cooperative agreements with APHIS and serves as fiscal agent for local food purchase assistance and resilient food systems initiatives under AMS.

Customer concentration is extreme and concentrated within a single agency. APHIS funds 104 of 188 awards (covering 95% by the agency count metric)—primarily plant pest and disease cooperative agreements and animal health surveillance work. Within APHIS, MDAR serves both the plant protection and animal health divisions with recurring annual agreements. AMS funds 44 awards, including specialty crop block grants, local food purchase assistance agreements, and country-of-origin labeling compliance reviews. EPA Region 1 (with 9 awards) and EPA national programs (2 additional awards) fund the pesticide regulatory and enforcement cooperative agreements under CFDA 66.700. Food and Nutrition Service contributes 11 awards related to food distribution and local purchasing. No single prime contract customer exists; all awards are grants and cooperative agreements.

MDAR holds no parent vehicles (GWACs, IDIQs, or agency-wide BPAs) and does not bid on federal contracts. It is a direct recipient of cooperative agreements and block grants issued annually or multi-year by grantor agencies. Nine awards face ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months and will require recompete or renewal application.

The agency's federal footprint reflects its statutory role: MDAR executes state-delegated pest surveillance and regulatory functions under APHIS cooperative agreements, manages EPA-delegated pesticide enforcement authority, and administers USDA specialty crop and food system grants on behalf of Massachusetts agricultural stakeholders. Across both plant protection and pesticide regulatory programs, MDAR partners with regional extension services (notably UMass Extension) and local food system organizations to deliver outreach, education, and field compliance work. The work is performed in Massachusetts with no subordinate sites, and MDAR does not sub-award federal grant dollars to other entities—it acts as the sole recipient and implementing agency for each award.