Ohio Agriculture Growing Tomorrow Grants

Growing Tomorrow Grant

The Growing Tomorrow Grant was created to help inspire, encourage, and nurture young agricultural professionals and entrepreneurs to find creative and transformative ways to address challenges facing the agricultural sector today, and to generate wider and deeper public understanding of farming and the ways that agriculture impacts our nation and our communities.

This grant-making program is the brainchild of Mike Boyert, an Ohio Farm Bureau northeast regional trustee, and his wife Patti. Mike and Patti, residents of Medina County, remember well the struggles they encountered when they started their farming careers, and the difficulties they faced in starting, growing, and sustaining their farming business. The Growing Tomorrow Grant program is Mike and Patti’s way of ensuring that creative young farmers can access opportunities they did not have, and enabling these young professionals to use their skills to alleviate the difficulties facing agriculture today, including a lack of public education regarding the importance of farms within the US food system and the significant economic hardships facing rural communities and farm workers.

The Growing Tomorrow Grant program will provide grants to new or early-stage agricultural businesses. Grants will focus on supporting, among other activities:

• The creation of long-term sustainable employment opportunities within Ohio farming communities.

• Educational opportunities to enable better public understanding of agriculture, help farmers learn from each other, and teach new and different agricultural methodologies.

• Businesses that use or demonstrate the viability of agricultural techniques that center environmental stewardship.

• Farmers actively working to support and sustain the communities in which they live.

By funding creative and transformative agricultural solutions, the Growing Tomorrow Grant aims to help young farmers, strengthen public understanding of agriculture, and ensure the sustainability and vitality of agricultural communities for generations to come.

Check back in early 2024 for specific award information and deadlines to apply for this grant!

For questions regarding the Growing Tomorrow Grant, please contact the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation at foundation@ofbf.org.

Grants are typically made only to nonprofit organizations with tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code, or who have a sponsoring agency with this status. Under certain circumstances, applications organizations that do not meet this criteria, but are providing a charitable program, may be considered.

In all cases, the applicant organization must deliver services in the State of Ohio and have a clear charitable purpose.

Grant amounts are typically between $1,000 and $3,000 and are provided for a one-year period. Grants may be used for: general support, startup funding for new organizations, program expansion, or capital for equipment necessary to implement eligible programs. Matching funds and/or resources are required. Collaborations among organizations are encouraged.

In order to maintain its focus and achieve a greater impact through the use of its funds, the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation will also generally not support:

• Support to individuals

• Capital campaigns and endowments

• Contests or pageants

• Organizations whose services do not benefit the community at large

• Political causes, candidates, organizations or campaigns

• Registration fees

Funding requests must be submitted electronically on this page when the application is open.

Before you begin, applications will need:

• IRS Letter of Determination (Establishes the tax-exempt status of your organization or partner)

• Most Recent 990 (Can be downloaded from Guidestar.com for free)

• Organization Budget

• Program Budget