Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by New Mexico Department of Agriculture

Submit an application to NMDA's Agricultural Programs & Resources Division for funding consideration.

Agricultural Programs & Resources Division

New Mexico statutory fund (Acequia and Community Ditch Fund Act, 73-2A-1 to 73-2A-3 NMSA 1978) administered by NMDA that provides financial assistance to acequia and community ditch associations for hydrological studies, technical and legal research, and other services needed to conserve and protect water and support water-rights adjudication. Standing/ongoing fund; successful applicants follow NMSU/NMDA procurement and administrative procedures.



Acequia/community-ditch associations constituting a majority of acequias/ditches in an adjudication (or a separately administered portion of one), with the adjudication on record with the Office of the State Engineer and the association in good standing with the NM Secretary of State.

A lump sum of money for a specific purpose that does not need to be paid back.

Grant

Irrigation

Water Quality

Waterway Protection

Wetland Conservation

Air Quality

Carbon Capture

Certification

High Tunnel

Landscape

Regenerative

Soil Health

Wildlife & Pollinator Habitat

Business Plan

Cash Rent

Refinancing

Transition

Trials

Certified Organic

Certified Grassfed

Cover Crops

Reduced Tillage

Succession

No award ceiling, award floor, match requirement, cost-share percentage, or contract length is published for this fund. NMDA's program page describes only what the money may be spent on and one condition on how it is spent.

Eligible uses: the Acequia and Community Ditch Fund Act "is established to provide financial assistance for acequia and community ditch systems," and "[t]his assistance helps develop hydrological studies, acquire technical and legal research, and other services necessary to conserve and protect water. The ACDF helps New Mexico's future through the adjudication of water rights."

Condition on spending: "All successful applicants are required to adhere to procurement and administrative procedures established by New Mexico State University/NMDA. These procedures ensure that funding assistance is expended in accordance with state law."

No application window or dollar figure appears anywhere on the program page. For the amount available in a given year, contact NMDA's Agricultural Programs & Resources Division at acdf@nmda.nmsu.edu or (575) 646-1091.

The grant application period opens June 15, 2026 and continues until funds are fully allocated or by March 31, 2027, whichever comes first. Internships can begin after July 1, 2026 and must be completed by May 31, 2027. Applicants should read the AWD FAQs, find an intern interested in the opportunity, and complete and submit the application form. NMDA awards funding based on compliance with program requirements and funding availability.

The New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) Agricultural Workforce Development (AWD) Program offers incentives to the state's agricultural businesses to hire interns. The program, the result of the Agricultural Workforce Development Program Act, is intended to provide hands-on educational opportunities for students aspiring to careers in agriculture, as well as young or beginning farmers and ranchers. NMDA will reimburse qualified agricultural businesses up to 50 percent&#x2004;of the actual cost of hiring a qualified intern, not to exceed $15,000 per internship. An agricultural business may request funding to hire as many as three interns per calendar year. Each intern must be provided with at least 130 hours of work experience, not exceeding one year in duration per intern. Primary areas of focus include agribusiness, agronomy, crop production, farm and ranch management, food safety, fruit and vegetable production, maintenance and repair of machinery and equipment, marketing and sales, and natural resources and conservation.



The New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) Agricultural Workforce Development (AWD) Program offers incentives to the state's agricultural businesses to hire interns. The program, the result of the Agricultural Workforce Development Program Act, is intended to provide hands-on educational opportunities for students aspiring to careers in agriculture, as well as young or beginning farmers and ranchers. NMDA will reimburse qualified agricultural businesses up to 50 percent of the actual cost of hiring a qualified intern, not to exceed $15,000 per internship. An agricultural business may request funding to hire as many as three interns per calendar year. Each intern must be provided with at least 130 hours of work experience, not exceeding one year in duration per intern. Primary areas of focus include agribusiness, agronomy, crop production, farm and ranch management, food safety, fruit and vegetable production, maintenance and repair of machinery and equipment, marketing and sales, and natural resources and conservation.

Applicants must be an 'agricultural business,' meaning a business of a food or agricultural nature, including agricultural production or processing. The business must identify an intern prior to applying (NMDA will not match businesses with interns). Interns must be 18 years or older by the start of the internship; it is preferred but not required that interns be New Mexico residents. Immediate family members of the agricultural business are not eligible to participate. Participating agricultural businesses must pay minimum wage or higher to each intern and carry workers' compensation insurance for each intern.

A payment that requires some percentage of matching contributions by the recipient.

Cost Share

Training

Stewardship

Labor

Reimburses up to 50 percent of the actual cost of hiring an intern, capped at $15,000 per internship. NMDA: "NMDA will reimburse qualified agricultural businesses up to 50 percent of the actual cost of hiring a qualified intern, not to exceed $15,000 per internship. An agricultural business may request funding to hire as many as three interns per calendar year. Each intern must be provided with at least one hundred thirty (130) hours of work experience, not exceeding one (1) year in duration per intern." A business hiring the maximum three interns can therefore access up to $45,000 in a calendar year.

Conditions attached to the money: "Participating agricultural businesses must pay minimum wage (or higher) to each intern, as well as carry workers' compensation insurance for each intern." You must identify the intern before applying — "NMDA will not match agricultural businesses with potential interns" — interns must be 18 or older by the start of the internship, and immediate family members of the business are not eligible. No match beyond the 50 percent employer share is required. Awards are made on "a) their compliance with program requirements; and b) funding availability," and the window stays open until funds are fully allocated.

The next (Fiscal Year 2028) application cycle opens January 2027; NMDA encourages each potential applicant to begin working on their project idea in Fall 2026. Projects selected for funding will happen between July 2027 and September 2028. Applicants can review the FY2027 application requirements specific to Eligible Entities and to Individual Applicants, and can subscribe to the electronic newsletter to be notified of future funding opportunities.

Grants to improve soil health are the centerpiece of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) Healthy Soil Program. Every year, NMDA awards grants to implement on-the-ground projects that involve one or more of the five soil health principles stated in the Healthy Soil Act: keeping soil covered; minimizing soil&#x2004;disturbance on cropland and minimizing external inputs; maximizing biodiversity; maintaining a living root; and integrating animals into land management (including grazing animals, birds, beneficial insects, or keystone species such as earthworms). NMDA created its Healthy Soil Program after the Healthy Soil Act was signed into law in 2019; the program's purpose is to promote and support farming, ranching, and other land management that increases soil organic matter, aggregate stability, microbiology, and water retention to improve the health, yield, and profitability of the soils of the state.



Grants to improve soil health are the centerpiece of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) Healthy Soil Program. Every year, NMDA awards grants to implement on-the-ground projects that involve one or more of the five soil health principles stated in the Healthy Soil Act: keeping soil covered; minimizing soil disturbance on cropland and minimizing external inputs; maximizing biodiversity; maintaining a living root; and integrating animals into land management (including grazing animals, birds, beneficial insects, or keystone species such as earthworms). NMDA created its Healthy Soil Program after the Healthy Soil Act was signed into law in 2019; the program's purpose is to promote and support farming, ranching, and other land management that increases soil organic matter, aggregate stability, microbiology, and water retention to improve the health, yield, and profitability of the soils of the state.

NMDA welcomes applications from two types of applicants. (1) Eligible Entities: pueblos, tribes, and nations; acequias; land grants; soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs); New Mexico State University-Cooperative Extension Service; and other local governmental entities with proven land management to support healthy soil. (2) Individual Applicants: a category that includes individuals, businesses, and nonprofits directly engaged in farming, ranching, and/or other forms of land management.

Conservation

Grant caps depend on which applicant track you are in, and both are published in NMDA's FY27 Healthy Soil Program FAQs.

Eligible Entities (pueblos, tribes and nations; acequias; land grants; SWCDs; NMSU Cooperative Extension; other local governmental entities): "An Eligible Entity can apply up for up to $100,000.00 in project funds, provided the Eligible Entity has a Unique Entity ID (UEI) from the System for Award Management (https://sam.gov/). Eligible Entities that do not possess a UEI by the grant-application deadline ... can apply for a Healthy Soil Program grant of up to $24,999.99." Getting a UEI is free "but can be time-consuming," so the missing-UEI penalty is real: it drops the ceiling by roughly 75 percent.

Individual Applicants (individuals, businesses and nonprofits directly engaged in farming, ranching or land management): "An Individual Applicant can apply for up to $24,999.99. That figure must include the Project Sponsor's 15% administrative fee and mileage, both of which NMDA pays directly to the Project Sponsor." In other words the sponsor's 15 percent comes out of the same $24,999.99, not on top of it, so the funds actually available for on-the-ground work are materially less than the headline cap.

No match is required in either track. For Eligible Entities: "Matching and in-kind contributions are not required for Healthy Soil Program grants." For Individual Applicants: "NMDA does not require Individual Applicants to provide matching and/or in-kind contributions."

Project period rather than a multi-year contract: "NMDA will award funds to projects whose activities happen no earlier than July 15, 2026, and no later than September 30, 2027. NMDA will not fund activities occurring outside of that period."

A lifetime limit applies to individuals: "Individual Applicants who have received three (3) grants from NMDA's Healthy Soil Program are no longer eligible to apply for funding." There is no acreage minimum — "If less than an acre, a project site can be measured and submitted in terms of square feet" — but Individual Applicants must complete conservation planning with USDA-NRCS (or an NRCS-certified planner) and secure sponsorship from an SWCD or their tribal government before applying.

Submit a proposal via NMDA's Submittable platform per the annual RFP. Most recent cycle: 2026 USDA RFA expected Jan 2026; NMDA proposal deadline February 14, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. MT. Recurs annually.

NMDA Specialty Crops

Federal USDA-AMS Specialty Crop Block Grant Program administered in New Mexico by NMDA as fiscal agent. Competitive grants that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops (fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops including floriculture) through promotion, research, and access. Recurring annual cycle (accepted proposals 2019-2025 listed). Projects must be completed within 3 years; funds disbursed on a reimbursement basis; may not be used for capital expenditures, projects that solely benefit a single commercial product, or that profit a single organization/individual.



Individuals or non-federal entities in New Mexico proposing specialty-crop competitiveness projects, submitted through NMDA.

Distribution

Diversification

Events

Trade Show

Trade Relief

No minimum or maximum grant request, cost-share percentage, or match requirement is published for the New Mexico round. NMDA publishes the size of the pool rather than a per-project cap: "More than $500,000 in funding is available to New Mexico producers through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, administered by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA)."

The published conditions on the money are about term and allowable use, not amount: "Each project funded through the SCBGP must be completed within 3 years." "Grant funds are disbursed on a reimbursement basis only." "Grant funds cannot be used for capital expenditures (equipment, buildings, and land)." Funds also "will not be awarded to projects that solely benefit a particular commercial product" or "that provide profit to a single organization, institution, or individual."

Because funds are reimbursed only, you carry project costs first. Check each cycle's NMDA Request for Proposals for that round's available funding and any award range.

List of New Mexico Department of Agriculture Funding Opportunities