Grants, Loans & Support
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2) is helping communities scale up local and regional food systems and strengthen their economies. Not every community will need the same assistance; and navigating USDA's offerings is no small task.
We want to simplify the process and help communities put USDA programs to work for them, so we're playing matchmaker. This page lists over two dozen programs at USDA that can help build local and regional food systems. This list is not the entirety of USDA's offerings, but it is a great starting place.
Whether you are an individual farmer looking to extend your growing season, a cooperative of growers looking to rebuild a food hub, a farmers' market that wants to accept SNAP benefits, a community kitchen that needs cold storage to store locally procured meat, or anyone in between, this short guide to our programs might come in handy.
Also, for more details on how these programs can be put to work in your community, check out our blog and our program memos. In our program memos, USDA Deputy Secretary Merrigan mixes program information with real stories about how communities have successfully partnered with USDA to scale up local food systems and address challenges facing their communities. For the latest updates and announcements regarding programs, make sure to check out our blog.
Agricultural Marketing Service
- Farmers Market Promotion Program
- Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program
- Specialty Crop Block Grants
AMS Memo
Farm Service Agency
FSA Memo
Food and Nutrition Service
- Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
- WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program
- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
Forest Service
Forest Service Memo
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Improved Sustainable Food Systems
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Agricultural Economics and Rural Communities
- Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program
- Community Food Projects
- Small Business Innovation Research
- Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
REE Memo
Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Conservation Stewardship Program
- Conservation Technical Assistance
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program
- Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program
NRCS Memo
Risk Management Agency
Rural Development
- Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program
- Community Facilities
- Rural Business Enterprise Grants
- Rural Business Opportunity Grants
- Rural Cooperative Development Grants
- Value Added Producer Grants