Cooperative Agreements

 
USDA Logo
United States Department of Agriculture
 Farm Service Agency
United States Department of Agriculture
 Farm Service Agency

Cooperative Agreements

News and Information

Outreach & Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements
FSA Establishes New Partnerships Through Cooperative Agreements

In September 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that $2.5 million would be made available from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for projects to educate new and underserved farmers about the more than 20 FSA programs that can provide financial, disaster or technical assistance. The grants were to be awarded to nonprofits and public higher education institutions that develop proposals on topics such as financial training, value-added production, recordkeeping, property inheritance and crop production practices. FSA conducted the first of two evaluation periods last winter and announced 55 awardees in 28 States. Awards between $20,000 and $75,000 per applicant were made available.

For this second evaluation period that ended July 11, 2016, FSA reviewed 123 proposals that requested $9.8 million in funding. FSA announced 46 awardees in 25 States. Awards between $25,000 and $99,999 per proposal were approved. The proposals approved were:

Renewing the CountrysideNorth Carolina Economic and Development Center
Athens Land TrustA&L Afterschool Literacy+ Institute
Hmong National Development, Inc.Pheasants Forever
Farm Scape SolutionsBuilding Youth Tomorrow Today
North South InstituteCenter for Southwest Culture, Inc.
Food WorksEast Arkansas Enterprise Community
Central State UniversityUniversity of Vermont & State Agricultural College
Recirculating Farms Coalition Inc.Cochise Community College
Kitchen Food VenturesMichigan Integrated Food & Farming Systems
Wealth WatchersVirginia State University
The Kohala CenterUniversity of Maine System
Northern Maine Development CommissionCottage House Inc.
University of Missouri SystemVivian B. Adams School Board
Montana State UniversityDubois Institute for Entrepreneurship
Cultivating CommunityUniversity of Tennessee
Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project Inc.University of Wisconsin
Farmers Legal Action GroupSunrise County Economic Council
Asian Economic Development AssociationOrganic Farming Research Foundation
California Polytechnic State UniversityMississippi State University
Winston County Self Help CooperativeOklahoma Association of Conservation Districts Inc.
New Mexico State UniversityFort Valley State University
Holistic Management InternationalWashington State University
Kansas State UniversitySiskiyou Joint Community College

Approved proposals from the first evaluation period were submitted by:

University of California Oklahoma State University
Land Connection FoundationNational Center for Appropriate Technology
Utah State UniversityValley Small Business Development Corporation
Angelic Organics Learning CenterColumbia Land Conservancy, Inc.
Legal Aid of NebraskaPurdue University
Community Involved in Sustaining AgricultureUniversity of Arkansas
California FarmLinkRural Advancement Foundation International - USA
Farmers Legal Action GroupGeorgia Pecan Growers Association
University of MarylandCommunity Food and Agriculture Coalition
Practical Farmers of IowaSouth Dakota State University
Pennsylvania State UniversityWest Virginia State University
Stag Vets, Inc.Indian Nations Conservation Alliance
Sustainable Agriculture EducationOregon Tilth
Whitaker Small Farm GroupSequoyah-Adair-Cherokee County Empowerment Zone
Third Sector New EnglandNortheast Organic Farming Association of New York
University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyNACDC Financial Services
National Young Farmers CoalitionMichigan State University
Iowa State UniversityOklahoma Black Historical Research Project, Inc.
Land Stewardship ProjectMitchell School District
Sustainable Agriculture EducationState Center Community College District
Rural Community Development ResourcesAlabama A&M University
Rutgers UniversityCenter for Rural Affairs
University of Arkansas at Pine BluffNorth Carolina Association of Black Lawyers
World FarmersRural Coalition
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education ServiceArcadian Food, Inc.
National Sustainable Agriculture CoalitionFederation of Southern Cooperatives
Mississippi Association of Cooperatives 

What is a Cooperative Agreement?

Cooperative Agreement Definition

A cooperative agreement reflects a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient and is used when the government's purpose is to assist the intermediary in providing goods or services to the authorized recipient.

Cooperative Agreement Purpose

FSA’s cooperative agreements are designed to support or stimulate a public purpose with substantive FSA involvement.

Cooperative Agreement Authority

FSA’s authority to enter cooperative agreements includes the:

  • Agricultural Act of 2014, Section 1614(c)(3), with qualified universities or university-based organizations to develop online tools and with State extension services to educate farmers and ranchers; and
  • Rural Development Act of 1972, Section 607(b)(4), as amended, with non-governmental organizations or educational institutions related to outreach and technical assistance.

Available Opportunities

Opportunities currently available for Cooperative Agreements with FSA include:

  • There are currently no open Cooperative Agreement opportunities with FSA.

Partner Resources

In addition to the information on the FSA website regarding its programs, these are convenient links to cooperative agreement-related information:

About FSA’s OBPI

  • FSA’s Office of Business and Program Integration (OBPI) is the nexus between Agency programs and its business operations. Its portfolio includes appeals, litigation, internal reviews, management controls, strategic and annual planning, annual reporting, enterprise risk management, and cooperative agreements.
  • The OBPI Director also serves as the Secretary, Commodity Credit Corporation. See links below for additional information: