Center for Rural Affairs

Value-Added Production

Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG)

• Competitive grants program
• Administered by the Rural Business Cooperative Service at USDA
• Helps producers move into value-added agricultural enterprises
• Assistance to farmers and ranchers in planning and capital investment for value adding enterprises

Food Processing Center (The University of Nebraska Lincoln)

• Information about federal grant programs available to farmers and ranchers
• Templates for writing federal Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG).

Other High Value Markets

USDA Report: Emerging Market Opportunities for Small-Scale Producers (PDF)

Growing Markets - Information on how to tap your community’s market potential

Beginning in Organic Farming - Tools to reach a unique high value market

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) - Programs to help advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities. Competitive grants program providing grants to researchers, agricultural educators, farmers and ranchers, and students

Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Organic Initiative - Provides financial assistance to farmers and ranchers who are transitioning to organic systems and those already conducting organic practices and want to add acres and/or livestock.

Marketing and Business Management

The Agriculture Marketing Resource Center - Broad range of information on value-added, direct marketing initiatives
Links to Innovation Centers around the country at the state level

Marketing, Business and Risk Management - ATTRA's guide on organics, value added processing, cooperatives and more

University of Missouri Agricultural Electronic Bulletin Board (AgEBB) - General information and instruction about grants, legal guides, how to start a cooperative, how to write bylaws and articles of incorporation, exempt vs. non-exempt cooperatives, new generation cooperatives, patronage, etc

Nebraska Cooperative Development Center - Provides education, training, and technical assistance to cooperatively owned businesses; many resources available on website

USDA's "Know Your Farmer" Program - Primer on direct marketing, government programs and resources, success stories and more.

Other

USDA Rural Development - Information about current programs available to individual producers, cooperatives and producer groups; funding opportunities and grants

Conservation and Local Food

• Agritourism: Increase Farm Income by Hosting Others on the Land
• Barn Restoration: Preserving the Past, Opening Opportunities
• Farm to School Program: Bringing fresh, local foods into schools