Specialty Crop Block Grant Program 2026 (FY 2026)

Specialty Crop Block Grant Program 2026 (FY 2026)

The FY 2026 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) is closed and is retained here as a historical reference. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) published the FY 2026 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on April 13, 2026, with an application deadline of June 8, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. The AMS program page now identifies the FY 2026 application period as closed. There is no FY 2027 SCBGP application notice or deadline posted on the official AMS program page at this review, so this page does not present a future date as if it were open.

The page remains useful for organizations that want to understand the FY 2026 structure, prepare for a future state request for proposals, or check the requirements that applied to a state’s federal submission. Future notices may change the funding level, match rules, forms, or dates. Use the official AMS page and the next published NOFO for any new application.

At-a-glance facts

Current status and what the closed date means

This is not an open application listing. The FY 2026 federal deadline has passed, and the official AMS page says the application period is closed. The deadline is kept in the front matter as the real closing date, while historicalReference = true tells the site that the page is an archive entry rather than a live opportunity with a broken or missing deadline.

The FY 2026 NOFO states that applications received after the deadline will not be considered for funding. USDA’s announcement also describes a narrow late-application policy for documented extenuating circumstances; that language should not be read as a general extension or a continuing application window. A state department that needs to confirm the treatment of a particular submission should contact SCBlockGrants@usda.gov and review the AMS late-application procedures.

The next cycle is not announced on the official SCBGP page. The FY 2026 NOFO discusses changes that are planned to begin in FY 2027, including cost sharing, but that discussion is not a FY 2027 application notice. Do not use this page’s FY 2026 amount, deadline, or match treatment as a promise about the next round.

What the FY 2026 program funded

SCBGP was designed to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in domestic or foreign markets. For this program, specialty crops include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops, including floriculture. The federal notice describes several project directions that states could include in their plans:

• food safety improvements and support for practices such as Good Agricultural Practices, Good Handling Practices, and Good Manufacturing Practices;
• research and development relevant to specialty crops, including work with conservation or environmental outcomes;
• improved availability and access to specialty crops;
• responses to local, regional, or national challenges facing specialty-crop producers;
• marketing and promotion that strengthen the position of specialty crops; and
• projects that address pests, disease, distribution, education, or other documented industry needs when they fit the statutory purpose.

The central test was broader benefit. A proposal had to describe measurable outcomes for the specialty-crop industry or the public, rather than only for one organization, institution, or individual. AMS would not fund a project whose product or service solely promoted a single organization’s profit or unfairly competed with an equivalent commercial service. A single business, university, nonprofit, producer group, or farmer could still participate as a project partner when the project served a wider group of growers, businesses, consumers, or communities.

Who could apply

The direct applicant was the agency, commission, or department responsible for agriculture in a State government. The FY 2026 eligible applicant list covered the 50 States, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.

This structure matters for local organizations. A nonprofit, producer association, university, extension office, cooperative, food-safety provider, or private company could help shape a project or receive a subaward, but it could not submit the FY 2026 SCBGP application directly to AMS as the primary applicant. Such organizations needed to contact the relevant state agriculture department and follow that state’s request for proposals or internal project-selection process. State contacts were listed by AMS on the SCBGP state contacts page.

The state department assembled the federal State Plan. That plan could contain several project profiles, allowing a state to combine work from different regions or partner organizations while maintaining one federal application and one state-level accountability structure. A prospective partner therefore needed to learn the state’s local deadline and format before relying on the federal NOFO deadline.

FY 2026 funding and cost rules

The FY 2026 notice made approximately $86.6 million available, excluding AMS administrative costs. Each eligible state department that submitted an application AMS reviewed and accepted could receive its available formula allocation. The notice described an estimated base grant of approximately $288,736.67, followed by an adjustment based on specialty-crop cash receipts and acreage data. The resulting amount varied by state and was not a uniform award for every applicant.

The FY 2026 notice had no federal cost-sharing or matching requirement. Applicants were instructed not to include a federal match in the application or in later performance and financial reports. That rule was specific to the FY 2026 notice. The same notice says that, beginning in FY 2027, each subaward will require a non-Federal cash or in-kind contribution equal to 25 percent of the Federal funds requested, and states will be required to provide up to 10 percent cost share to supplement rather than replace state funds. Because no FY 2027 notice has been announced here, these planned changes should be treated as a warning to check the next NOFO, not as a current application instruction.

Administrative and indirect costs were limited to 8 percent of the total Federal funds provided under the FY 2026 award. The limit applied across state administration and sub-applicant indirect costs, and a negotiated rate above 8 percent, including the 15 percent de minimis rate, could not be used under this grant. The state request for proposals needed to explain the limit to potential sub-applicants so their budgets and the state’s administrative budget stayed within the overall cap.

FY 2026 application package

The following checklist describes the closed FY 2026 federal package and is provided for reference only. A future round may use different forms or templates.

1. The state applicant needed a Unique Entity Identifier, an active SAM.gov registration, and a Grants.gov account with the appropriate submission role. AMS advised applicants to begin registration early because the systems could take more than four weeks collectively.
2. The application package had to include Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance, and Form SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs. The state completed the federal forms for its overall request; project subawards were combined under the contractual cost category in the state budget.
3. The applicant had to prepare a Grant Administration Narrative using the required template. The executive summary in that narrative could not exceed 250 words. The package also had to exclude unallowable costs and activities and stay within the applicable state allocation.
4. The applicant had to prepare a State Plan Narrative. The State Plan included the Grant Administration Template and a project profile for each proposed project. The project profiles needed to identify activities, outcomes, and target measures that connected to the SCBGP purpose.
5. The State Plan had to be submitted as a PDF portfolio using the formatting rules in the NOFO. The federal notice specified 8.5-by-11-inch pages, 11- or 12-point font, and one-inch margins for the Grant Administration and Project Profile templates.
6. The complete package had to be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. No other submission method was accepted. The state needed to use the funding opportunity number USDA-AMS-TM-SCBGP-G-26-0004 or the Assistance Listing number 10.170 to locate the package, validate the submission, and retain the Grants.gov receipt.

For a future state-led project, the practical preparation sequence is to identify the state contact, read that state’s request for proposals, confirm the local project-selection date, and then map the proposed work to a measurable public or industry outcome. Partners should provide a concise problem statement, their role, a work schedule, a budget by cost category, and evidence that the work benefits more than one organization. A state’s internal process may require additional letters, procurement information, or review steps beyond the federal checklist.

Building a credible project profile

A strong project profile starts with a defined specialty-crop problem. Examples include growers lacking access to food-safety training, a distribution bottleneck that raises costs for several producers, a pest or disease issue affecting a crop region, or a market-access problem that can be addressed through shared promotion or research. The proposed solution should identify who will do the work, which partners will participate, what will be delivered, and how the result will reach the wider specialty-crop sector.

The notice required each project in the State Plan to include target numbers for at least one of the program’s performance-measure outcomes and at least one indicator under the selected outcome. A project should therefore establish a baseline before promising results. Useful measures might include the number of growers trained, farms adopting a documented practice, businesses reached, products entering a new market, or distribution improvements verified through a defined method. The exact measure must fit the performance-measure guidance and the project’s activities.

Budgets should distinguish direct project expenses from indirect costs, avoid duplicating the same cost in both categories, and explain how each major cost supports an activity. A proposal that names many partners but does not assign responsibilities, costs, or reporting duties is difficult for the state to evaluate. The state also needs a fair process for reviewing proposed projects and managing conflicts of interest before including them in the State Plan.

Award period and reporting reference

For FY 2026, the Federal award period was described as three years, with a start date of September 30, 2026, and an end date of September 29, 2029. The state and its subrecipients needed a work plan that fit within the 36-month project period. The award was not simply a one-time payment for equipment or a private expansion; the state had to monitor projects, document progress, and maintain records that supported the approved outcomes and costs.

Recipients were required to report project progress annually through electronic performance reports and Federal financial reports using SF-425. Final performance and financial reports, along with applicable closeout documentation, were due after the performance period. State departments also had responsibility for monitoring subrecipients and ensuring that project activities, budgets, cost treatment, and public-benefit claims remained consistent with the approved State Plan.

FAQ

Can I apply now?

No. The FY 2026 application period is closed, and the June 8, 2026 deadline is retained as the historical cycle’s real deadline. No FY 2027 application deadline is posted on the official AMS SCBGP page at this review.

Can a nonprofit or farm apply directly to AMS?

Not for the FY 2026 SCBGP notice. Direct applicants were state and territory departments of agriculture. A nonprofit, farm, university, producer group, or company could seek a project role or subaward through the appropriate state department.

Was a match required for FY 2026?

No Federal cost share or match was required under the FY 2026 notice. The NOFO separately described planned FY 2027 cost-share changes, so the next published notice must be checked before preparing a new budget.

How much could a state receive?

The program had approximately $86.6 million available overall. The notice described an estimated base grant of approximately $288,736.67 plus a formula adjustment based on specialty-crop cash receipts and acreage. The actual allocation depended on the state data and the available funds.

Where should a potential partner start?

Start with the USDA AMS SCBGP state contacts page, then ask the relevant state department for its project request, local deadline, templates, and review criteria. Do not assume the Federal deadline is the state’s partner deadline.

Official references

• USDA AMS Specialty Crop Block Grant Program: current program page and status.
• FY 2026 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program NOFO: official funding, eligibility, forms, budget, and reporting requirements.
• USDA AMS How to Apply: application route and FY 2026 submission instructions.
• USDA AMS SCBGP State Contacts: state and territory contacts for locally led project information.

The FY 2026 materials are useful for planning and recordkeeping, but they are not a live application invitation. Before preparing a new submission, confirm that AMS has published a new notice and replace the archived cycle’s deadline, funding amount, cost rules, forms, and state instructions with the terms in that notice.