Colorado Climate Resilience Grant Program

The Colorado Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office (ADCRO) operates the Climate Resilience Grant Program. Climate resilience is the ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to climate. This grant program is designed to provide crucial financial assistance to farmers and ranchers who have experienced adverse effects due to climate-change induced disasters and are seeking to enhance their resilience against future climate-related challenges. The maximum grant award is $30,000. Matching funding is not required, though applicants will receive more points if they use matching funds.

Eligible entities include:

• Farmers, ranchers, and other individuals;

• Tribal or local government (including Conservation Districts);

• 501(c)(3)s;

• University extension or field offices.

If you received a CDA Climate Resilience grant award in the prior year, you are not eligible to apply. Each year, CDA publishes project types that will be prioritized in the Grant Evaluation Rubric. For Grant Year 2025-2026, CDA prioritized farm and ranch resiliency for future disasters including wildfire, snow events, drought, and flooding.

From CDA's 2026 Agricultural Climate Resilience Grants guidelines:

• "Maximum award is $30,000." No minimum.

• Match: "There are no match requirements, but leveraging matching funds will increase the rating of the project." Scoring is explicit — 0–10% match = 0 points, 10–24% = 3 points, ≥25% = 5 points.

• Reimbursement, not upfront cash: "Grants are paid on a reimbursement basis," and "Any work performed prior to the full execution of an agreement is not eligible for reimbursement."

• Indirect costs: allowed up to "maximum 10% of grant award."

• Grant period: "Grant funding must be spent by June 30, 2027 at the latest, though it is anticipated that most successful projects will be complete within several months." All funds must be invoiced by June 30, 2027; final report due September 2027.

• One bite per cycle: "If you received a CDA Climate Resilience grant award in 2025, you are not eligible to apply."

• No commingling: "State and Federal funding cannot be comingled." If you're also pursuing federal money, you must show which items each source pays for.

What it buys: equipment; construction costs including materials and labor; equipment purchase or lease; salaries and labor; travel at GSA rates; permitting costs; project assessments and feasibility studies. Recent awards funded no-till drills, portable corrals, solar irrigation pumps and irrigation improvements, living snow fences, water storage tanks and delivery systems, silvopasture, composting systems and fuel-load mitigation.

Resilience, not recovery: "this grant is intended for resilience projects not immediate recovery projects. Producers who are seeking to recoup losses and return to a level of normalcy should seek out federal funding for those immediate needs."

Status: the 2025–26 window (opened October 15, 2025, due November 24, 2025) is closed. "Applications are currently closed, check back in October 2026 for the application opening of the next round."

Status: Open. Applications for the 2027 round of Climate Resilience Grants are now open (the application period opened October 2, 2026) and are due by 11:59 PM on November 23, 2026 via Google Form.

The program now offers two grant opportunities, both due November 23, 2026:

• Equipment & Infrastructure Grants — for purchasing individual pieces of equipment or infrastructure that increase operational resilience. Maximum award $30,000. No match required (leveraging matching funds increases the project's rating). Eligible: farmers, ranchers, other individuals; tribal or local government (including Conservation Districts); 501(c)(3)s; university extension or field offices.

• Comprehensive Project Grants — for holistic operational changes that build resilience. Maximum award $150,000, with a required 20% match (cash or in-kind). Eligible: Colorado farmers, ranchers, and other individual land stewards who own, lease, or manage land; applicants must have, or enroll in, an FSA farm and tract number. Federally funded through CDA's Advancing Markets for Producers Grant from USDA NRCS.

How to apply. Submit the Google Form application by 11:59 PM on November 23, 2026. See the Equipment & Infrastructure or Comprehensive Project Grant Guidelines. An informational webinar was held October 13, 2026. Final grant selection is made by the Colorado Commission of Agriculture at its January 5, 2027 meeting; contracts go to awardees in February 2027.

Questions: rosie.skovron@state.co.us.