{"id":28891,"date":"2025-02-25T09:53:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=28891"},"modified":"2025-02-25T09:53:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:53:34","slug":"specialty-crop-block-grant-program-now-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2025\/02\/25\/specialty-crop-block-grant-program-now-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Specialty Crop Block Grant Program Now Open\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Grant Applications Due by March 30<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 25, 2025)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The\u00a0Maryland Department of Agriculture<\/strong>\u00a0is now accepting proposals for the\u00a0Specialty Crop Block Grant Program<\/strong>, a reimbursement grant program aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Maryland\u2019s specialty crops. The department anticipates that approximately $400,000 in funding will be available, subject to availability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The program is seeking applications from eligible non-profit organizations, government entities, for-profit companies, and other organizations for projects that aim to promote or enhance the production of and access to Maryland specialty crops.\u00a0Specialty crops<\/a>\u00a0are defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as fruits, vegetables, culinary herbs and spices, honey, hops, grapes, maple syrup, Christmas trees, and nursery crops.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhether through diversification of their crops, or through entirely new endeavors, Maryland farmers are finding incredible rewards by growing specialty crops,\u201d said\u00a0Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cI encourage anyone in the speciality crop sector to apply for this grant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Competitive grants will be awarded for projects with a minimum of $15,000. In the past, Maryland Specialty Crop Block Grant Program grants have ranged from $15,000\u2013$140,000. Funds will be awarded for projects lasting up to two years in duration and that conclude by Nov. 15, 2027. Proposals will be evaluated based on their potential for the greatest impact on Maryland specialty crop producers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Applicants must be a Maryland resident or their business or educational affiliation must be in Maryland. Proposals can be completed online through Maryland\u00a0OneStop<\/a>. The\u00a0deadline<\/strong>\u00a0to apply is\u00a0Sunday,\u00a0 March 30 at 11:59 p.m<\/strong>. All applications submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program program manager and review committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Maryland Department of Agriculture administers Maryland\u2019s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program funding. Funding is made available by the U.S. Farm Bill through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An informational\u00a0Zoom session\u00a0<\/a>about the program will be held on Tuesday, March 4 at 12:30 pm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For questions about Maryland\u2019s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the application process, please contact the program’s administrator Karen Fedor at\u00a0scbgp.mda@maryland.gov<\/a>\u00a0or 410-841-5773. More information about the program is available on the department\u2019s\u00a0website<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

###<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grant Applications Due by March 30 ANNAPOLIS, MD (February 25, 2025)\u00a0\u2013 The\u00a0Maryland Department of Agriculture\u00a0is now accepting proposals for the\u00a0Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, a reimbursement grant program aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Maryland\u2019s specialty crops. The department anticipates that approximately $400,000 in funding will be available, subject to availability.\u00a0 The program is seeking  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28893,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28891\/revisions\/28893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}