Potential Funding Sources for Transitioning Farmers

The National Agricultural Library provides a Small Farm Funding Guide and the ability to search Agriculture Funding Resources by Topic.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition offers a comprehensive guide to federal policies and programs for farmers and ranchers. This guide features a quick-reference chart and details how each of these programs can be accessed, including information on the farm bill program and grants, resources for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, organic production, and renewable energy.

Financial Resources for Organic Farmers: The USDA offers numerous programs to help farmers and businesses access the organic market. This page explains the USDA’s top resources for supporting organic agriculture.

Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA):  Agricultural Management Assistance offers financial assistance for up to 75 percent of the cost of implementing conservation practices, including “mitigating risk through production diversification.” Available in 16 northeastern states.

Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG): These grants support the development of new tools, approaches, practices, and technologies to further natural-resource conservation on private lands.

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP): The Conservation Stewardship Program offers farmers the opportunity to earn payments for actively managing, maintaining, and expanding conservation activities, such as cover crops, rotational grazing, ecologically based pest management, buffer strips, and the transition to organic farming.

• The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has published the 2025 edition of the Farmers’ Guide to the Conservation Stewardship Program to help farmers prepare and apply for this program.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): The Environmental Quality Incentives Program helps fund a range of conservation practices.

• Bootstrap Farmer walks you through the NRCS high tunnel grant application in “A Bootstrap Farmer Guide to the NRCS High Tunnel Initiative.”

Regional Food Business Centers: These centers provided regional support to small and midsize producers in accessing local and regional supply chains, with a focus on underserved farmers and food businesses. While the funding for the Regional Food Centers program will end two years earlier than expected, some producers have shared that they will continue to collaborate to the best of their ability and seek further investment in this important economic development effort. It may still be worth connecting with your region’s center or the organizations involved to utilize the resources and support services. As of July 15, 2025, this program has been terminated by the U.S. secretary of agriculture. Business Builder grants were dispensed independently through each of the 12 USDA regional food business centers.

• The USDA-funded Heartland Regional Food Business Center chartered their transition to the new partner-driven Heartland Regional Food Business Coalition on September 16th, 2025.  The coalition aims to advance the work of the 2023-2025 regional food business center. Their resource directory may serve a broader audience and includes a wide range of resources, such as business development, distribution, marketing, and more.
• The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center’s closure announcement includes a list of organizations and contacts who remain committed to the assistance farmers and food businesses need to thrive. Resources intended to help food and farm businesses will remain freely available on this website.

Farmers Market Promotion Program: The program funds projects that increase domestic consumption of and access to locally and regionally produced agricultural products and develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets.

Conservation Reserve Program: The program provides government funding for farmers to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. The USDA conservation web page offers information on conservation in agriculture.

Farm Loans: These loans are for farm ownership, equipment, and operating expenses. They are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and the amount available for eligible borrowers is adjusted each fiscal year and for inflation. This low-interest financing program may help small and midsize farms in building or upgrading permanent and portable storage facilities and equipment, including cold storage. Eligible commodities include specialty crops. Your local FSA service center farm-loan team can connect you with a lender in your area.

• Disaster Assistance Programs: The USDA offers a variety of programs to help farmers, ranchers, communities, and businesses that have been hit hard by natural disaster events.
  • Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP): Eligible producers include mushroom growers.
• Farm Storage Facility Loan Program: This low-interest financing program may benefit small- and midsize farms in building or upgrading permanent and portable storage facilities and equipment, including cold storage. Eligible commodities include specialty crops.
• Guide to Applying for an FSA Loan
  • New Farmer FSA Loans: You may be eligible for this funding if you are switching crops.
  • To apply, you need a farm number and a business plan.
  • Beginning farmer and rancher coordinators are available for each state.
  • FSA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loans: Broken down into farm ownership and operation loans.
    • Farm ownership application package:  Farm ownership loans help farmers and ranchers become owner-operators of family farms, improve and expand current operations, increase agricultural productivity, and assist with land tenure to save farmland for future generations. All loans are financed and serviced through local farm loan officers and farm loan managers.
    • Farm operation application package: Farm operation loans help start, maintain, and strengthen a farm or ranch. All loans are financed and serviced through local farm loan officers and farm loan managers.
    • Application for a microloan: For either ownership or operations, microloans have a maximum amount of $50,000 and help finance the needs of small, beginning, niche, and nontraditional farm operations.
  • Note: The USDA targets historically underserved farmers and ranchers for a portion of these loans.

Organic Certification Cost Share Program: OCCSP provides partial government funding for certificate renewal under the National Organic Program.

All Programs: Search rural development programs and services by state, program area, and keywords.

Agriculture Innovation Center Program: This program offers grants to agriculture innovation centers that provide technical and business development assistance for value-added agricultural products. Innovation centers are nonprofit and for-profit corporations, institutes of higher education, state and local governments, federally recognized tribes, and other public entities supporting community aims to modernize.

Rural Energy for America Program (REAP): Rural Development Energy programs, authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014, fund complete energy audits, provide renewable energy development assistance, make energy efficiency improvements, and install renewable energy systems. Some programs help convert older heating sources to cleaner technologies, produce advanced biofuels, install solar panels, build biorefineries, and much more. Rural Development Energy offers renewable energy financing, with options including grants, guaranteed loans, and payments.

Value Added Producer Grants (VAPG): The term “value-added” includes any agricultural commodity or product whose value has been increased by any of the following: undergoing a change in physical state (e.g., turning fruit into jam); being produced, marketed, or segregated for its special character or identity (e.g., GMO-free, organic, local); transforming natural resources into energy on the farmstead (e.g., biodiesel); being aggregated and marketed as a locally produced food (e.g., as part of a “buy local” campaign or a state-produced branding or labeling effort); or linking farmers with local and regional supply networks as equal partners (e.g., farm to school or other mid-tier value chains).

Whole Farm Revenue Protection: This insurance plan covers farms of all commodities with up to $8.5 million in revenue.

Farm enterprises are often regarded as small businesses and are therefore eligible for small business loans and grants. The digital resource Chamber of Commerce offers an overview of government grants for small businesses.

ATTRA: This sustainable agriculture program by the National Center of Appropriate Technology provides a list of state-specific funding. You can also contact ATTRA with any questions about their program and opportunities.

The National Council of State Agricultural Finance Programs promotes financing of agricultural development and has compiled an overview of state-level funding opportunities for farmers.

To find state-specific programs, grants, and loan opportunities, visit the homepage map feature.

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Grants: A program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, SARE aims to advance innovations that improve profitability, stewardship, and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education. SARE provides annual grants to farmers, researchers, educators, nonprofits, and community-based agriculture organizations and activists. Grants are awarded to applicants who offer interesting, potentially workable ideas. Although SARE grants fund research and education, farmers and ranchers are encouraged to apply. Research or education projects could be conducted in the course of running a farm.

Funding is available through SARE’s regional network:

• North Central SARE: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Dakota
• Northeast SARE: Connecticut; Delaware; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; Vermont; Washington, DC; and West Virginia
• Southern SARE: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia
• Western SARE: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa, and Guam

The Awesome Foundation: The foundation offers grants of $1,000 for conservation and climate projects.

Bo Halley Research and Innovation Grant: Transfarmation™ offers grants to farmers pursuing pilot projects to transition factory farming facilities to small-scale plant-focused operations. Examples of previously granted farm transition pilot project projects are published under “Granted Projects“. Eligibility to apply for a Transfarmation research and innovation grant is limited to enrolled farmers and requires submission of a high-quality business plan. Interested parties should fill out our get-involved form to learn more.

Brighter Future Fund: American Farmland Trust aims to support historically marginalized farmers, including beginning, women, and veteran farmers. AFT offers up to $10,000 per project to help improve farm viability, protect farmland, or foster regenerative farming practices and increase resilience to climate change.

Center for Nutrition Studies: The center provides grants of $500–$5,000 for projects in community education and food literacy, increasing access to healthy food, fostering sustainable and equitable food systems, and promoting a plant-based lifestyle. Recipients must be partnered with a nonprofit organization. Grants can be applied to farm transitions.

Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation: The foundation offers funding for “environment and health” programs, which include initiatives for sustainability in agriculture and food systems.

The Conservation Fund: The organization is starting the Working Farms Fund, which will provide resources for farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices to supply food for local communities.

Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund: The Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund is a small grant program that provides direct assistance to veterans in their beginning years of farming or ranching. The fund does not give money directly to the veteran but to third-party vendors for items the veteran has identified will make a crucial difference in the launch of their farm business. Awards range from $1,000 to $5,000, and more than $1.9 million has been awarded to veterans since 2011.

For Farmers Grant: The For Farmers Movement is dedicated to supporting small and mid-size American farmers by forging a deeper connection with consumers, sharing farmer stories, dispelling myths, and awarding high-impact grants. This annual grant funds anything that strengthens a small farm—repairs, infrastructure, equipment, tools, projects, recovery, innovation, etc. This competitive award ranges from $500 to $1,000. Awardees may be eligible for additional funding. Refer to the current grant cycle for more information.

The FruitGuys Community Fund: Devoted to introducing sustainable practices to small independent farms across the country, this organization seeks to support small farms in their efforts for greater environmental and economic health, community engagement, and sustainable agriculture. They award grants ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 and outline preferences for projects they would fund, including to increase food access for low-income consumers.

The Ida and Robert Gordon Family Foundation: The foundation offers funding for sustainable agriculture, improving food systems, and mitigating climate change. Contact the foundation for grant information.

Organic Farming Research Foundation: This foundation’s Farmer-Led Trials Program helps organic or transitioning farmers test out new agricultural practices on their farms. The program provides technical assistance and a small amount of funding for potential solutions to production challenges.

Partner Community Capital: The organization offers multiple grant, cost-share, and loan programs to help farmers, food processors, and food businesses. Funding targets North Carolina and West Virginia.

Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA): This organization focuses on supporting farmers in the southeast region of the U.S. in their efforts to access land and infrastructure, transition to sustainable practices, and recover from disasters and farm crises. Grant programs include funds to support beginning farmers and farm infrastructure.

Slow Money: This nonprofit organization’s mission is to encourage investors to direct their capital toward their local food systems. Slow Money offers 0% loans to local organic farms and small food enterprises.

Indigo Ag: This company provides opportunities for generating income by adopting regenerative agricultural practices.

Mad Markets: Mad Markets provides innovative trade solutions that support farmers while advancing regenerative agriculture. By focusing on relationships, Mad Markets develops sourcing and trade programs for brands and supply chain partners. Because our work connects brands directly to farms, Mad Markets can deliver primary research based on soil health, biodiversity, nutrient density, and other regenerative practices, and produce on-farm storytelling that engages customers in the regenerative movement. Services provided include:

• Market Development for Specialty Ingredients: The supply chain is opaque, by design. We create transparency and connect domestic regenerative organic specialty crop growers to values-aligned buyers
• Trading & Brokerage: Organic farmers and ingredient processors don’t have the same local market opportunities as their conventional counterparts. We find buyers, identify growers, source bushels/acres, and create new market channels.
• Supply Chain Development: We develop bespoke supply chains by identifying growers, contracting raw ingredients, and aligning processing partners.
• Brand Sustainability Partnerships: We facilitate relationships between brands and farms to foster more brand participation in farm regeneration and provide opportunities for consumer storytelling and education.

Marbleseed: This organization provides resources to educate, inspire, and empower farmers to thrive in a sustainable, organic system of agriculture. Their organic resources directory includes farm business funding opportunities through this lens.

Historically Underserved Producers –  The 2018 Farm Bill allocates $485 million over 10 years to initiatives that support beginning, veteran, and socially disadvantaged farmers. New initiatives will be introduced until 2028.

AgrAbility: Assistive Technology Program for Farmers with Disabilities

Women in Ag: Women are eligible for SBA loans through the Office of Women’s Business Ownership.

Grants

Infrastructure Grant: The Persimmon Collective Fund supports farmers in scaling their production and stewarding their land by offering up to $10,000 in unrestricted funding for on-farm needs. Applicants must be current farmers, having farmed for at least two years, and live in North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, or Virginia. This grant prioritizes projects that demonstrate values around the importance of land and food justice, deep relationships within agrarian work, collective work and collective harvest integrated into community care, honoring heritage and cultural practices, and farm- and land-based operations as part of a broader food-systems strategy.

Black Farmer Fund: Black Farmer Fund offers up to $10,000 for emergency situations through their Rapid Response Fund for Black farmers located in the northeastern United States.

CoFUND: CoFUND is a regranting program that provides funds to cooperative and farmer-based organizations led by people of color that are working to transform the food system. Grantees receive up to $10,000 and have access to 12 months of technical assistance.

Cultivators Fund: The Midwest Farmers of Color Collective offers $500 mini grants through its Cultivators Fund. The collective works to fight climate change and food apartheid and offers a space for farmers of color. Previous grants have supported projects for soil improvement, fencing, value-added product development, seed purchasing, and more.

The Edna Lewis Foundation: The Edna Lewis Foundation offers $5,000 in scholarships to candidates who identify as Black and are pursuing a food-related career, which includes agriculture and farming.

Native American Agriculture Fund: This trust created from the historic Keepseagle v. Vilsack litigation settlement serves Native farmers and ranchers. The fund provides business assistance, agricultural education, technical support, and advocacy services to support and promote their continued engagement in agriculture.

Potlikker Capital: Potlikker Capital is a social-justice charitable-loan fund created to holistically serve BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) farmers in America who operate at the intersection of racial and climate justice. They take an integrated-capital approach to deploy “reparative capital” using a combination of non-extractive investments, zero- and low-interest loans, and grants and recoverable grants.

Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA) Farmers of Color Network: This project provides farmer-led technical assistance and funding for farmers of color and hosts farm tours, networking events, and gatherings to highlight ancestral traditions and knowledge, as well as explore market solutions. See RAFI’s “Grant Programs” page for current grantmaking efforts. Contact RAFI through their contact form or individual staff.

Sky High Farm Grants: The Sky High Farm Grants program supports agricultural projects managed by Black, Indigenous, Latin, Asian, migrant, and refugee farmers. The program provides a limited number of microgrants per year to qualifying applicants, aiming to expand the existing agricultural circle by helping farmers and groups who are often excluded from traditional farm and business funding.

Loan Options

Partner Community Capital: The organization offers flexible loans, advisory services, and targeted assistance to farmers from underserved communities, available to applicants in Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia. Contact Martin Jenkins, president and CEO, at [email protected].

Steward: Steward is a private crowdfunding platform for farm loans.