Public Affairs
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced $300,000 in grant funding available through the Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program (SPMGP). Grant applications are currently being accepted through Sept. 30, 2024.
“The investments announced today are investments in the future of our nation’s sheep industry,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “Projects funded by this program will help build and support the infrastructure needed to ensure sustainable sheep production and enhanced marketing of U.S. sheep products for years to come.”
In 2019, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service awarded a five-year grant for $1.9 million to the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center (NSIIC) through the Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program to provide subawards to projects that develop solutions for practical problems and address the needs of the entire sheep industry, while focusing on measurable benefits for sheep producers, encouraging partnerships among other sheep industry organizations, and reducing duplication of effort among participating organizations. In 2024, Congress appropriated additional funds for this program.
More information about the grant and the application process is available on the AMS website. Applications must be submitted directly to the NSIIC and will be reviewed by their Board of Directors via a competitive process. The Board will then make funding recommendations to AMS for approval.
For more information about the Center, including previous awardees, visit the NSIIC website.
AMS administers programs that create domestic and international marketing opportunities for U.S. producers of food, fiber, and specialty crops. AMS also provides the agriculture industry with valuable services to ensure the quality and availability of wholesome food for consumers across the country and globally. AMS services and its significant grant investments create opportunities by supporting American farmers, ranchers and businesses across the supply chain, and drive economic development in small towns and rural communities.
#
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
Get the latest Agricultural Marketing Service news at www.ams.usda.gov/news.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender