LANSING – Today the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) announced a new competitive grant program to promote and enhance Michigan’s $91.4 billion food and agriculture industry. In the MDARD fiscal year 2013 budget signed by Gov. Snyder on Tuesday, $1.95 million was appropriated for Rural Development Value Added Grants. The Value Added/Regional Food Systems Grant Program will accept proposals through July 31.
Interested parties can participate in a webinar at 1:30 p.m. on July 12. MDARD will host the session to answer questions and assist potential applicants in developing proposals. Eligible applicants include agricultural cooperatives, producer networks and associations, local governments, nonprofit corporations, business entities, economic development organizations, and regional farmers market authorities.
MDARD will accept proposals intended to establish, retain, expand, or attract value added agricultural processing or regional food systems by enhancing or facilitating aggregation and distribution of Michigan-grown agricultural products.
Those interested in participating in the webinar or any additional communications concerning a proposal request should be sent to mda-grants@michigan.gov. Proposals must be received at the email above by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 31. For the grant application and additional information, visit michigan.gov/mdagrants.
