GN1 FILE PHOTO courtesy of Farm Credit Mid-America and Rural 1st team.
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Applications are open for the annual Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
“Kentucky’s specialty crops already make up a significant part of Kentucky’s agricultural economy, but there is always room for growth,” Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell said. “With the intention of making Kentucky specialty crops more competitive in domestic and foreign markets, the specialty crop program is now seeking application proposals to creatively increase those markets.”
Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticultural products, nursery crops, culinary herbs and spices, medical herbs, and honey.
Applicants will need to describe how the project potentially affects and produces measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the public, a Kentucky Department of Agriculture press release stated.
Privately owned companies, small business owners, nonprofit organizations, and quasi-government entities, including public universities, are eligible to apply. No award grant funds for projects that solely benefit a particular commercial product or provide profit to a single organization, institution, or individual, the release stated.
Preliminary proposals are due at 3:30 p.m. on June 2 and people who qualify will be asked to fill out a full grant application.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture receives grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service for the specialty crop grant program.
The proposals need to be submitted through the department’s website.
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