The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Farm Equity Office is seeking public comments on a draft request for proposals, or RFPs, for the California Underserved and Small Producer Grant Program: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/cusp/pdfs/RequestProposals.pdf.

The 15-day public comment period began April 8 and comments will be accepted until April 22. This grant program and timeline for funding is contingent upon funding appropriation.

The program is designed to facilitate direct assistance to individual small-scale and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who need support applying for economic relief grant programs and assistance with business planning and marketing strategies.

This program has two components. Applicants can apply for one or both:

Part 1: Technical Assistance for Underserved Farmers and Ranchers – Funding for technical assistance providers to support farmers and ranchers in applying for economic relief grant programs and assistance with business planning and marketing strategies and other business economic recovery activities.

Part 2: Direct Grant Assistance for Underserved Farmers and Ranchers – Eligible entities are also able to apply as a “regional administrator” for grant funds to distribute directly to farmers and ranchers to aid in economic recovery and relief measures and/or leverage existing economic relief funding programs.

Comments must be submitted via email by 5 p.m. PT on April 22.

The Draft RFP can be found at: link https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/CUSP/.

To further assist those interested in submitting public comments and applying for the program, CDFA staff will provide information and answer stakeholder questions at a webinar workshop on April 19, 2021, from 1 to 3 p.m. (PST).

Registration information for the workshop is available on the CDFA Grants page: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3456781409008512015.

Interested stakeholders and members of the public are encouraged to register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.