Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Competitive Grants Program | USDA NIFA OP 009110

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA OP 009110

The Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Competitive Grants Program (often referred to as AgVets) is a discretionary grant opportunity run by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to expand and strengthen agriculture-focused career pathways for U.S. military veterans. The central goal is to increase the number of veterans who gain practical knowledge, technical skills, and real-world experience through comprehensive training programs that are built around model farms and ranches and delivered regionally. The intent is not just basic exposure to agriculture, but immersive, hands-on learning paired with classroom education so participants walk away with a working understanding of how to operate and manage successful farm and ranch businesses. By supporting these training pipelines, the program aims to boost agricultural production capacity while also contributing to rural economic development, recognizing that veterans enter agriculture with a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and production interests.

Projects funded under AgVets are expected to be deliberately designed for veterans and to emphasize onsite, experiential training. In practice, this means grantees should be offering instruction that blends field-based activities (for example, crop and livestock production, equipment use and safety, soil and water management, and daily operational decision-making) with structured learning that covers business and management practices (such as planning, recordkeeping, regulatory considerations, and overall farm or ranch management). The program also leaves room for grantees to incorporate workforce readiness elements and job placement or employment connections, including explicit attention to service-disabled veterans when relevant. The overarching theme is building clear, credible pathways that move veterans from interest to competence and then into employment, entrepreneurship, or longer-term careers within the food and agricultural sector.

Eligibility is narrowly focused: applicants must be nonprofit entities, and individual applicants are not eligible. NIFA requires documentation of nonprofit status, submitted as a letter attached in the application package (specifically to Field 12, "Other Attachments"). While the applicant organization must meet eligibility requirements, partners and collaborators do not have to be eligible themselves, which allows nonprofits to team with a wide range of organizations (such as farms, ranches, training providers, educational groups, employers, or service organizations). Award recipients may also subcontract portions of the work to entities that are not eligible to apply directly, as long as those subcontractors are necessary for the project to succeed. The key distinction is that the prime applicant must be an eligible nonprofit and is responsible for meeting all requirements in the Request for Applications (RFA); failing to meet eligibility requirements by the deadline can lead to the application being excluded from consideration or can prevent NIFA from making an award.

The opportunity also addresses situations where an otherwise eligible applicant cannot accept federal funds directly. In that case, the application must include a fiscal agent letter stating that, if an award is made, funds will be administered through a named fiscal agent organization on the applicant's behalf. That letter must identify the fiscal agent and include standard contact details (point of contact, address, phone, fax, and email), and it must be countersigned by an authorized representative of the fiscal agent organization. This documentation is also submitted as an attachment in Field 12, "Other Attachments." If the project is recommended for funding, NIFA will then request complete management information from both the applicant and the fiscal agent as part of the award process.

From the posted opportunity details, the funding instrument is a grant under the agriculture activity category, listed under CFDA 10.334. The opportunity number is USDA NIFA OP 009110, and the original closing date shown is 2022-06-20. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is listed as $750,000. The listing also indicates the applicant type as "Others," which in this context is clarified in the narrative: the eligible applicants are nonprofit entities. For organizations newer to federal grants, NIFA points applicants toward its Grants Overview resources to help them understand federal financial assistance processes, expectations, and compliance responsibilities, which is especially relevant given the documentation requirements and the formal structure of federal grant administration.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Competitive Grants Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.334.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-04-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-06-20. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $750,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA OP 009110

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