FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/28/2025
Contact: Ayden Massey, 501-813-6012
[email protected]
LITTLE ROCK, AR — The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the 2025 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) through June 20, 2025.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), this program is designed to enhance the competitiveness of Arkansas’s specialty crop industry. Specialty crops are defined by USDA as fruits, vegetables, horticulture, floriculture, and tree nuts.
Proposals for funding may be submitted by universities, institutions, cooperatives, producers, industry, community-based organizations, and individuals with projects that potentially affect and produce measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the public rather than a single organization, institution, or individual.
Applicants are encouraged to submit projects that address the following issues impacting the specialty crop industry:
- Enhancing food safety;
- Improving the capacity of all entities in the specialty crop distribution chain to comply with the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act, for example, developing “Good Agricultural Practices,” “Good Handling Practices,” “Good Manufacturing Practices,” and in cost-share arrangements for funding audits of such systems (including USDA GroupGAP) for small farmers, packers, and processors;
- Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops;
- Research projects focused on helping specialty crop growers by improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems, improving pest and disease management, and/or development of new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops;
- Investments in specialty crop research, including research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes; and
- Sustainability of specialty crops.
Access the 2025 application, Request for Applications, and additional details on the Department’s website here. All applications must be submitted by June 20, 2025. The Department will accept project proposals that request a minimum of $20,000. Projects to be included in Arkansas’s state plan will be selected by a review committee. For more information, contact Amy Lyman at [email protected].
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The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the development and implementation of policies and programs for Arkansas agriculture, forestry, and natural resources conservation to keep its farmers and ranchers competitive in national and international markets while sustaining natural resources and ensuring safe food, fiber, and forest products for the citizens of the state and nation. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. For more information, visit agriculture.arkansas.gov/.
