Official Site of The State of New Jersey
2026 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) requests applications for funding made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) to carry out projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.
For the purpose of this grant program, “specialty crops” are defined as: vegetables and fruits, including grapes for wine, nuts, horticultural products including Christmas trees, honey, herbs, potatoes, sweet corn, and other specialty crops, including algae.
Agricultural commodities which are not eligible for these grant funds include, but are not limited to: feed crops, food grains, seafood, livestock, dairy, and poultry products, including eggs, range grasses, and oilseed crops.
Available Funding
The NJDA received $1,023,883.78 in program funding from the USDA-AMS to support eligible projects. Applicants may request up to $40,000 in grant funding. There is no cost-share or matching requirement for this program.
Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include organizations who submit projects that enhance the competitiveness of New Jersey Specialty Crops in either domestic or foreign markets. Applications for grant funds should describe how the project potentially affects and produces measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the public, rather than a single organization, institution, or individual. To strengthen the competitiveness of your application, single organizations, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate and apply as project partners.
Per USDA-AMS guidelines, grant funding will not be awarded for projects whose products or services promote or provide profit that solely benefits a single organization, institution, or individual. In addition, organizations cannot request grant funds to compete unfairly with companies that provide equivalent products or services.
Eligible Project Activities
Projects must “enhance the competitiveness” of specialty crops by:
- Leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops;
- Assisting producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops;
- Expanding availability and access to specialty crops;
- Addressing local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers; and/or
- For such other purposes determined to be appropriate by the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with specialty crop stakeholders and relevant State departments of agriculture.
Organizations are encouraged to develop projects pertaining to the following issues affecting 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 (21 U.S.C. Chapter 27), 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 Group GAP) for small farmers, packers and processors;
- Investing in specialty crop research, including research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes;
- Developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops;
- Pest and disease control;
- Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops;
- Improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems
Application Process
The NJDA requests that all interested organizations representing New Jersey’s specialty crop industry submit project proposals through SimpliGov on or before May 14th, at 5:00 PM EST. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.
To access the application portal, please click here.
Funding for projects up to $40,000 will be available to selected and approved applicants at a date to be determined.
Program Contact:
Billy Conners
Contract Administrator 1, Office of the Secretary
609-913-6620
william.conners@ag.nj.gov
Application Materials & Links
Info Sessions / Resources
If you are interested in applying for funding through the SCBGP, NJDA recommends that you attend the program info session. This session will be hosted over Microsoft Teams, and will feature a comprehensive overview of program requirements, grant expectations, and time for Q&A. If you cannot attend, a recording of the meeting will be posted following the conclusion of the meeting.
To register for an info-session, please click the link below:
April 28th, 10am-11am (Concluded)
- Meeting Recording: Click Here
- PowerPoint Presentation: Click Here