Fund for the Promotion of Small Ruminant Industry

A Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture incentive for producers of small ruminants (pequeños rumiantes — goats and sheep), paid per animal to support herd development on the island.

The incentive is one line item in the Department's annual Manual de Incentivos. For FY2026–2027 the published rate is $100 per head, up to 10 animals per farmer per year.

Access is not a competitive round — it runs through the Department's regional offices. The Department's own instruction is "SOLICITA: Escribiendo o llamando a tu Oficina Regional" (apply by writing or calling your regional office).

Puerto Rico small-ruminant producers — individual farmers (agricultores), not institutions. There is no competitive round and no application window: the Department's only access instruction is "SOLICITA: Escribiendo o llamando a tu Oficina Regional" (apply by writing or calling your Regional Office). Eligibility is confirmed at the regional office, subject to "la aprobación y disponibilidad de fondos" (approval and availability of funds).

What you must produce. The incentive sits in the manual under the category "Pequeños Empresarios — Cabros, Ovejas y Conejos" — goats, sheep and rabbits. Note that the published category is broader than small ruminants alone: rabbit producers are covered by the same category and cost-share.

The five general requirements (Requisitos Generales) apply to every incentive in the manual, this one included:

• Operate a farm legally. "Operar legalmente una finca en cualquier concepto de tenencia legal notarizada (a excepción de los contratos de la ATPR)" — operate a farm legally under any notarized form of legal tenure, except ATPR contracts. Owned or leased both work, but the tenure has to be notarized.

• Merchant registration. "Contar con un Certificado de Registro de Comerciante vigente" — hold a current Merchant Registration Certificate.

• Agroperfil registration. "Estar registrado en el Agroperfil."

• General survey. "Presentar evidencia de haber completado la Encuesta General" — show evidence that you completed the Department's General Survey.

• Agricultural insurance law. "Cultivos asegurables/Estructuras deben cumplir con los requisitos de la Ley 99 del 2 de julio de 2002 y el artículo 4 de la Ley No. 12 del 12 de diciembre de 1966, según enmendada, conocida como la Ley de Seguros Agrícolas de Puerto Rico" — insurable crops and structures must comply with Puerto Rico's Agricultural Insurance Act.

If you employ agricultural workers there are additional employer requirements: pay at least "cinco dólares y veinticinco centavos ($5.25) por hora, el salario garantizado por la Ley 60" and "Cumplir con sus responsabilidades patronales (seguro social patronal, seguro por desempleo y póliza fondo seguro estado)" — employer social security, unemployment insurance and State Insurance Fund policy.

Per-farmer caps act as limits, not as tests. The breeding incentive pays "cien dólares ($100.00) por cabeza hasta un máximo de diez (10) animales por agricultor por año programa" — $100 per head, up to 10 animals per farmer per program year, for young goats and sheep, which "serán identificadas mediante bolo ruminal y se certificarán para pago en un solo plazo" (identified by ruminal bolus and certified for payment in a single instalment). The separate cost-share is "hasta el cincuenta por ciento (50%) del costo total, hasta un máximo de doce mil dólares ($12,000.00) por año, por agricultor" for buying animals, equipment and/or building structures.

No herd-size minimum, acreage minimum, income floor, years-of-experience requirement, or audience restriction (beginning, veteran, socially disadvantaged) is published for this category. The requirements above are the whole published test — the rest is the regional office's determination.

Where to start: your regional Departamento de Agricultura office, or PR Dept of Agriculture, 1309 Av. Manuel Fernández Juncos, San Juan PR 00908.

Two separate incentives for small-ruminant producers, both published in the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture's Manual de Incentivos (FY2025-2026), under the category "Pequeños Empresarios — Cabros, Ovejas y Conejos" (goats, sheep and rabbits).

1. Cost-share for animals, equipment and structures — 50%, up to $12,000/year. Verbatim: "El incentivo de esta categoría será hasta el cincuenta por ciento (50%) del costo total, hasta un máximo de doce mil dólares ($12,000.00) por año, por agricultor, para la compra de animales, equipo y/o construcción de estructura, según la aprobación y disponibilidad de fondos." Eligible uses are listed explicitly: corrals, cages, shelters, automatic waterers, rabbit hutches, feeders, water systems, waste-management facilities or equipment, and fencing.

2. Breeding-stock payment — $100 per head, 10 head/year. Verbatim: "Se incentivará la crianza de cabras y ovejas jóvenes a razón de, cien dólares ($100.00) por cabeza hasta un máximo de diez (10) animales por agricultor por año programa." That caps this line at $1,000 per farmer per year. Animals must be identified by ruminal bolus and are certified for payment in a single installment.

Both are explicitly subject to approval and fund availability. There is no discrete application window — the manual's only access instruction is "SOLICITA: Escribiendo o llamando a tu Oficina Regional" (apply by writing or calling your regional office).

Related line worth knowing: the improved-pasture/forage planting incentive is a fertilizer purchase voucher of $175 or $125 per cuerda depending on crop, and it explicitly covers "Pastos Mejorados... para las Industrias de Producción de Forraje, Ganado de Carne y Pequeños Rumiantes."

Apply through your regional Department of Agriculture office. There is no form to download, no portal and no competitive round. The incentives page publishes exactly one access instruction, under the heading "SOLICITA": "Escribiendo o llamando a tu Oficina Regional" — by writing to or calling your Regional Office. That heading links straight to the regional directory at https://www.agricultura.pr.gov/contactanos#regiones, where you choose your municipality ("Seleccione Pueblo") and it returns the office that serves you.

The eight regional offices, each with a regional director, an email and a phone:

• Región de Arecibo — regionarecibo@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 878-2028. Centro Gubernamental suite 110-A, segundo piso, Ave. José A. Cedeño, Arecibo PR 00612.

• Región de Caguas — regioncaguas@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 258-8106. Note the office sits in Cayey: Carr. 1 km 51.3, Bo. Beatriz, Sector Pozuelo, Cayey PR 00736.

• Región de Lares — regionlares@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 897-2752 / (787) 897-1735. Carr. 111, Ave. Los Patriotas, Lares.

• Región de Mayagüez — regionmayaguez@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 832-5022 / (787) 832-5021. Centro Gubernamental, Calle Nena Dych, Oficina 207, Mayagüez PR 00680.

• Región de Naranjito — regionnaranjito@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 869-9100. Carr. 152 Km. 12.7, Bo. Cerro Arriba, Naranjito.

• Región de Ponce — regionponce@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 842-5210 / (787) 840-8826. Office is in Santa Isabel: Carr. 153 Km. 2.5, Bo. Felicia.

• Región de San Germán — regionsangerman@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 892-5158. 384 Carr. 102 Km 26.3, Bo. Sabana Enea, San Germán 00683.

• Región de Utuado — regionutuado@agricultura.pr.gov, (787) 894-4025. Carr. 111 Km. 3.4, Viví Abajo, Utuado.

Central offices: (787) 304-5350, 1309 Av. Manuel Fernández Juncos, San Juan PR 00908 (postal: P.O. Box 10163, San Juan PR 00908-1163).

Intake timing is not published as a round. Neither the incentives page nor the Manual de Incentivos publishes an application deadline, opening date or submission window for this line item. The incentive is awarded "según la aprobación y disponibilidad de fondos" — subject to approval and availability of funds — so treat it as continuous inquiry against a fiscal-year budget rather than a competition, and ask the regional office how much of the year's money is left before you commit to a purchase.

Read your line item in the manual before you call. The manual is downloadable from https://www.agricultura.pr.gov/incentivos — "DESCARGUE EL MANUAL: Para descargar oprima aquí o escanea el código QR." Your category is "Pequeños Empresarios — Cabros, Ovejas y Conejos"; note that as published it covers rabbits as well as goats and sheep.

What to have in hand. The manual's Requisitos Generales apply to every incentive in it, this one included:

• Legal farm tenure: "Operar legalmente una finca en cualquier concepto de tenencia legal notarizada (a excepción de los contratos de la ATPR)." Owned or leased both work — but notarized.

• "Contar con un Certificado de Registro de Comerciante vigente" — a current merchant registration certificate.

• "Estar registrado en el Agroperfil." If you are not, start at https://www.agricultura.pr.gov/agroperfil.

• "Presentar evidencia de haber completado la Encuesta General" — evidence you completed the Department's general survey.

• Compliance with Ley 99 of 2 July 2002 and article 4 of Ley 12 of 12 December 1966, Puerto Rico's Agricultural Insurance Act, for insurable crops and structures.

If you employ agricultural workers, the manual adds employer requirements: pay at least "cinco dólares y veinticinco centavos ($5.25) por hora, el salario garantizado por la Ley 60," and "Cumplir con sus responsabilidades patronales (seguro social patronal, seguro por desempleo y póliza fondo seguro estado)."

Two process details specific to this category. For the breeding payment, the animals are tagged and certified before you are paid: young goats and sheep "serán identificadas mediante bolo ruminal y se certificarán para pago en un solo plazo" — identified by ruminal bolus and certified for payment in a single instalment. For the 50 percent cost-share side, the manual lists what the money must be used for (corrals, cages, shelters, automatic waterers, rabbit hutches, feeders, water systems, waste-handling facilities or equipment, fencing), so ask the office what evidence of purchase or construction it wants and in what order — before or after the work.