Michigan Specialty Crop Block Grants (SCBG)

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) Program awards funds to projects that enhance the competitiveness of Michigan specialty crops, which include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).

This is MDARD's state solicitation for the federal Specialty Crop Block Grant Program-Farm Bill (SCBGP-FB), passed through from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Funds can be used for projects involving promotion, marketing, research, nutrition, trade enhancement, food safety, food security, plant health programs, education, increased child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption, increased innovation, improved efficiency and reduced costs of distribution systems, environmental concerns and conservation, product development, good agricultural practices, good handling practices, and good manufacturing practices.

Funding priorities for the 2026 cycle were: market enhancement to promote specialty crops (market expansion/availability/access, farm to institutions, nutritional education); research and development relevant to specialty crops (plant health and pest management, regenerative agriculture); and training and education addressing challenges confronting specialty crop producers (food safety, nutrition knowledge, environmental sustainability, conservation, workforce/labor, nutritional education).

Eligible entities include:

• Non-profit organizations

• For-profit organizations

• Local, state, and federal government entities

• Tribal governments

A university applying for funding must be submitted by an eligible organization for which the work is being performed; the budget should reflect that the work by the university is contractual with the eligible entity.

Applicants must reside and/or conduct their business or organization in Michigan and must be in good standing. Organizations must be legal entities recognized by the IRS and a registered vendor with the State of Michigan (SIGMA VSS), in good standing with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and registered for a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in SAM.gov.

Proposals must show how the project produces measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the public rather than a single organization, institution, or individual. Grant funds will not be awarded for projects that solely provide a profit to a single organization, institution, or individual. Proposals for ineligible or non-specialty crop commodities are not eligible.

Maximum award is $125,000 regardless of proposal type (research, marketing, training, education). Only proposals submitted in whole dollar amounts are considered.

This is a cost reimbursement program: grantees must expend funds initially and may then request reimbursement from MDARD according to the reporting requirements in the grant agreement.

Indirect costs are unallowable under Michigan's specialty crop grant program for subrecipients; MDARD applies the full 8 percent allowed by statute toward administration of the grant. The department will not accept any proposal with a budget line of administration expenses.

Projects must be completed within two years after the project initiation date. The 2026 grant period is expected to run approximately November 1, 2026 through November 30, 2028. Projects cannot begin work or expend funds until a signed grant agreement is in place.

All eligible applications are reviewed by a Joint Evaluation Committee (JEC) on a 100-point scale; the MDARD Director recommends awards to USDA, and USDA makes final approval of awards. Cycle dates are tentative and subject to USDA announcing a request for applications. Records must be retained for three years after MDARD submits the final report to USDA.

Applications must be submitted through MDARD's MiAgGrants online grant management system. Applicants must first establish a MiLogin account — a Citizen Account (an individual using State of Michigan online services for their own personal transaction) or a Business Account (an individual acting on behalf of a business, organization, or corporation). MiLogin requires multifactor authentication.

For the 2026 cycle, the Request for Proposals was released December 17, 2025 and proposals were due in MiAgGrants by 5:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 5, 2026. Late or incomplete submissions were not accepted. Two proposals per entity are eligible for consideration (rank them #1 and #2 in the title).

For technical issues logging into the system, contact the MDARD Customer Service Center at 1-800-292-3939 (Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST). All communications, inquiries, and questions concerning the RFP should be sent by email to mda-grants@michigan.gov.

2026 Specialty Crop Block Grant Overview (RFP): https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/-/media/Project/Websites/mdard/documents/business-development/grants/scbg/2026-SCBG-Guidelines-Final.pdf

2026 SCBG Informational Webinar slides: https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/-/media/Project/Websites/mdard/documents/business-development/grants/scbg/FY26-SCBG-Announcement-Webinar.pdf

Specialty Crop Block Grant Allowable/Unallowable Costs: https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/-/media/Project/Websites/mdard/documents/business-development/grants/scbg/2019-USDA-Allowable--Unallowable-Costs-and-Activities.pdf

2025 SCBG Recipients: https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/-/media/Project/Websites/mdard/documents/business-development/grants/scbg/2025-SCBG-Recipients-Awarded-List.pdf

MDARD Grant Recipients Dashboard: https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiMGIxMjBiNjctZDA3Zi00NmEyLThiNWQtZDQxZTU4NTE4OTIwIiwidCI6ImQ1ZmI3MDg3LTM3NzctNDJhZC05NjZhLTg5MmVmNDcyMjVkMSJ9

USDA AMS "What is a Specialty Crop?": https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/scbgp/specialty-crop