Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (Louisiana)

USDA-AMS Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP), a federal competitive grant funding multi-state projects that enhance specialty crop competitiveness (food safety, plant pests and disease, research, marketing/promotion, crop-specific issues). Multi-state partners apply through a Participating State department of agriculture (LDAF), which screens and submits eligible proposals to USDA-AMS and administers those it submits. Proposals request $250,000-$1,000,000. Institutional/partnership program.

Multi-state partner organizations filing through LDAF; projects must span multiple states.

Award range: "Proposals can request between $250,000 and $1,000,000." No match or cost-share requirement is published.

Indirect cost comes off the top and is negotiated with the states, not the applicant's choice: "If your project is selected for funding opportunity there will be a negotiation phase to determine the 8% indirect cost allotment to the states participating in the project and the Participating State department of agriculture responsible for administering the project."

Money flows through the state, not directly from USDA to the partner. LDAF will "[s]creen proposals for eligibility once submitted," "[s]ubmit eligible proposals to USDA-AMS," "[a]ssume administrative responsibility for any funded proposals they submitted," and "[e]stablish sub-grant agreements with multi-state partners to complete funded projects." LDAF will NOT "[d]etermine which projects are funded or assist multi-state partners in proposal development" — USDA-AMS alone reviews and selects proposals and makes final award announcements. The contract is "[b]etween Multi-State Partners and their Participating State department of agriculture."

No contract or project length is published. Caution: the LDAF page still shows the 2023-24 cycle ("Applications for Multi-State Partners to Participating States are due December 22, 2023, and for Participating States to AMS on January, 31, 2024"), so confirm the current USDA-AMS cycle and whether the $250,000-$1,000,000 range still holds before applying.

File a proposal through LDAF per USDA-AMS submission deadlines. NOTE: the LDAF page still reflects the 2023-24 cycle (partner-to-state due Dec 22, 2023; state-to-AMS Jan 31, 2024); federal cadence is irregular — verify the current USDA-AMS cycle before applying.