Montana Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

Through the Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) Program, Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) seeks to enhance the marketability and competitiveness of Montana specialty crops. Grants are available to State and/or local organizations, government entities, producer associations, academia, community based organizations, and other specialty crop stakeholders are eligible to apply either as single entities or in combined efforts.

Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, peas, lentils, horticulture, and nursery crops. A list of eligible crops is available online.

Applicants are encouraged to develop projects in the following issue areas affecting the specialty crop industry: 

• enhancing food safety;

• improving the capacity of all entities in the specialty crop distribution chain to comply with the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act, for example, by developing “Good Agricultural Practices,” “Good Handling Practices,” “Good Manufacturing Practices,” and in cost-share arrangements for funding audits of such systems for small farmers, packers and processors; 

• investing in specialty crop research, including research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes; 

• developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops; 

• pest and disease control; 

• increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops; 

• improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems and; 

• sustainability.

State and/or local organizations, government entities, producer associations, academia, community based organizations, and other specialty crop stakeholders are eligible to apply either as single entities or in combined efforts. Regional or multi-state projects may be considered. 

A floor but no ceiling. The FY 2026 RFP Manual states: "Funding amount requested must be a minimum of $25,000; there is no maximum funding on a project." Statewide pool: "MDA anticipates funding available of approximately $2,700,000. MDA plans to award multiple grants from these funds."

No match or cost-share is required — none is stated anywhere in the manual.

Who can hold the money: "State and/or local organizations, government entities, producer associations, academia, community-based organizations, and other specialty crop stakeholders... either as single entities or in combined efforts." A single farmer can be the beneficiary — the manual's own example of an acceptable project is "A single farmer erects high tunnels on his/her property to extend the growing season of tomatoes and lettuce and conducts a field day and farm tour to encourage other small family farmers to adopt the production methods."

The catch that disqualifies most straightforward farm projects: "MDA will not award grant funds for projects that solely benefit a commercial product or provide a profit to a single organization, institution or individual." Buying "starter plants or equipment used to plant, cultivate, and grow a specialty crop to make a profit, or to expand production of a single business" is listed as unacceptable. Your project has to enhance competitiveness of Montana specialty crops broadly — fruits, vegetables, peas and lentils, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops including floriculture.

Process and timing: applications go through WebGrants; the FY26 deadline was Feb 27, 2026, with awards announced summer 2026 after USDA-AMS approval. Funds are drawn only after "Grantees must sign and return the contract to MDA before funds can be drawn on the project." Applicants also need a free UEI number from SAM.gov, and MDA "reserves the right to limit the number of active projects for any grant recipient and project lead."

Application Page

Required Application Forms:

• 2026 Applicant Self-Assessment Form

• 2026 Application Narrative Cover Sheet

• 2026 Application Project Template (PDF form provided by USDA)

All applications must be submitted through the WebGrants system. The instructions below outline the basic procedures of operating the Webgrants system.

• WebGrants Registration Instructions

• WebGrants Application Instructions

• WebGrants Submitting Help

• WebGrants Quick Navigation

AMS Guide