The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) has been awarded $3,040,043.28 through the USDA AMS Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, which aims to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain, provide more and better markets to small farms and food businesses, and support the development of value-added products for consumers.
“The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is excited for the opportunities for our producers that the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant funding will bring,” said UDAF Commissioner, Craig Buttars. “Programs like this make a tremendous difference in our state’s ability to support the economic viability of farms and food businesses and keep legacy farms in operation. Increasing in-state processing as well as distribution and storage capacity are among our state’s greatest needs. We look forward to seeing the improvements this funding will make.”
UDAF will be issuing $2,310,934.44 in two rounds of competitive subaward grants to support the development of middle-of-the-supply-chain activities for Utah-based food and farm activities. The first round of applications will go until the end of March, and any remaining funds will be issued in a second round in spring of 2025. UDAF will also be hiring a full-time Supply Chain Coordinator to address critical gaps in the state. Middle-of-the-supply chain includes activities that happen after production, but before they reach the market or end-consumer and may include the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products. Eligible food products include fruits and vegetables, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products (excluding meat and poultry products and animal feed products). Applicants may either apply for the equipment-only simplified project track or the infrastructure project track.
UDAF will prioritize projects that support the modernizing or improving of distribution, processing and/or manufacturing equipment, projects that will construct new facilities, and projects that will improve water efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or improve air/water quality related to processing, as well as projects led by new and beginning farmers, or historically underserved farmers and ranchers.
The grant application window for the first round of funding is open February 7 through March 31. To apply, visit ag.utah.gov/rfsi. For more information, contact Allison Ross at aross@utah.gov.
