Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA AMS SCMP 2015
The 2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program is a competitive grant opportunity offered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. specialty crops through coordinated, multi-state work. AMS made about $3 million available under this program for projects that are explicitly focused on specialty crops, meaning proposals must be designed to benefit crops such as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. The intent is to fund practical, results-oriented efforts that have value beyond a single state and that address challenges or opportunities faced broadly across regions or the nation.
A central feature of this program is collaboration across state lines. Rather than supporting isolated, single-state efforts, AMS encourages states to assemble multi-state teams and partnerships to tackle problems that inherently cross boundaries, such as shared pest pressures, supply chain issues, or common market barriers. These partnerships can involve coordinated research, joint development of tools or best practices, and other cooperative activities that help specialty crop growers and the broader specialty crop sector in more than one state. The emphasis is on regional or national impact, so the strongest projects are typically those that demonstrate clear multi-state relevance and a plan for generating outcomes that can be adopted or scaled across multiple jurisdictions.
The program highlights several priority issue areas where funding is intended to drive meaningful progress. These include food safety efforts (for example, approaches that help producers meet safety standards or reduce contamination risks), work on plant pests and diseases (including research and strategies to prevent, detect, or manage outbreaks), research addressing crop-specific or industry-wide common issues (problems that repeatedly affect a crop or set of crops across different states), and marketing and promotion activities that expand demand or improve market performance for specialty crops. While the eligible activities can vary, the guiding principle is that projects should measurably enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, whether by reducing costs and risks, improving yields or quality, strengthening resilience to pests and disease, or growing and stabilizing markets.
Eligibility for applying is limited to state governments, meaning states are the official applicants and grant recipients. In practice, states may partner with universities, grower organizations, nonprofits, and other stakeholders as part of the project team, but the state government is the entity that submits the application and manages the award. The funding is provided as a grant under a discretionary program, and it is tied to CFDA number 10.170. The opportunity number is USDA AMS SCMP 2015.
In terms of scale and competition, AMS anticipated making around 10 awards, with an award ceiling of $1,000,000 per project. With roughly $3 million total available, this suggests a limited pool of funding relative to demand, reinforcing the need for well-justified, high-impact proposals that clearly demonstrate multi-state collaboration and benefits to the specialty crop sector. The application deadline for this funding cycle was January 14, 2016, and the opportunity was originally posted on September 7, 2015.Apply for USDA AMS SCMP 2015
- The Agricultural Marketing Service in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.170.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2015-09-07.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-01-14. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: State governments.
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2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (USDA AMS) FAQs
What is the 2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program?
The 2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP) is a competitive grant opportunity from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) designed to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. specialty crops through coordinated work that involves more than one state.
What is the main goal of this grant opportunity?
The goal is to fund practical, results-oriented projects that measurably enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops and have value beyond a single state, ideally producing outcomes that can be adopted or scaled across regions or the nation.
How much funding was available under this program?
AMS made approximately $3 million available under the 2015 Specialty Crop Multi-State Program.
How many awards were expected to be made?
AMS anticipated making around 10 awards.
What is the maximum award amount per project?
The award ceiling was $1,000,000 per project.
Is this a competitive grant?
Yes. This is a competitive grant opportunity, and the limited total funding relative to anticipated demand means proposals typically need to be well-justified, high-impact, and clearly multi-state in scope.
What types of crops count as "specialty crops" for this program?
Projects must be explicitly focused on specialty crops such as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.
Do proposals have to focus exclusively on specialty crops?
Yes. Proposals must be designed to benefit specialty crops and must be explicitly focused on them.
What does "multi-state" mean in the context of this program?
"Multi-state" means the project is designed to involve collaboration across state lines and to generate benefits that extend beyond a single state, with regional or national relevance.
Does the program support single-state projects?
The program emphasizes collaboration across states rather than isolated, single-state efforts. The strongest projects are typically those that demonstrate clear multi-state relevance and outcomes that can be used across multiple jurisdictions.
Why does AMS emphasize multi-state collaboration?
Many challenges and opportunities for specialty crops cross state boundaries, such as shared pest pressures, supply chain issues, and common market barriers. Multi-state teams are encouraged to tackle these broader issues in a coordinated way.
What kinds of partnerships are encouraged?
States are encouraged to assemble multi-state teams and partnerships. These can include coordinated research, joint development of tools or best practices, and other cooperative activities that support specialty crop growers and the broader specialty crop sector in more than one state.
Who is eligible to apply for this grant?
Eligibility is limited to state governments. The state government is the official applicant and, if selected, the grant recipient.
Can universities, nonprofits, or grower groups apply directly?
No. While universities, grower organizations, nonprofits, and other stakeholders may participate as partners on the project team, the state government must submit the application and manage the award.
What issue areas or priorities does the program highlight?
The program highlights several priority areas, including food safety, plant pests and diseases, research on crop-specific or industry-wide common issues, and marketing and promotion activities for specialty crops.
What food safety activities are relevant to this program?
Food safety efforts can include approaches that help producers meet safety standards or reduce contamination risks, as long as the project is multi-state and benefits specialty crops.
What plant pest and disease work is relevant to this program?
Relevant work includes research and strategies to prevent, detect, or manage pest and disease outbreaks that affect specialty crops across multiple states.
What does "research addressing common issues" mean?
It refers to research addressing problems that repeatedly affect a crop or set of crops across different states, whether crop-specific or industry-wide, with results intended to be useful beyond one state.
Are marketing and promotion projects eligible?
Yes. Marketing and promotion activities that expand demand or improve market performance for specialty crops are included among the highlighted priority areas.
What kinds of outcomes is AMS looking for?
The guiding principle is that projects should measurably enhance specialty crop competitiveness. Examples described include reducing costs and risks, improving yields or quality, strengthening resilience to pests and disease, and growing or stabilizing markets.
What makes a proposal strong under this program?
Based on the program description, strong proposals typically show clear multi-state relevance, a credible collaboration plan, and outcomes that provide value beyond a single state, with potential for adoption or scaling across regions or the nation.
Which USDA agency runs this opportunity?
The opportunity is offered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).
What is the opportunity number for this funding cycle?
The opportunity number is USDA AMS SCMP 2015.
What is the CFDA number associated with this program?
The CFDA number listed for this grant opportunity is 10.170.
Is this funding described as discretionary?
Yes. The funding is provided as a grant under a discretionary program.
When was the opportunity posted?
The opportunity was originally posted on September 7, 2015.
What was the application deadline for this cycle?
The application deadline for this funding cycle was January 14, 2016.
Is this opportunity still open?
Based on the provided dates, this specific funding cycle had a deadline of January 14, 2016, indicating it was time-limited to that cycle.
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