Grants available for specialty crops

Posted by IronPlanet on Feb 8, 2012 8:48:00 AM

While farmers contribute to the bulk of food-growing in the United States, from time to time other organizations may get involved with their own fields. This is especially true of non-commercial farming, such as agriculture used for research and education. Often, these are funded by state and federal grants in order to assist non-farmers with getting their fields planted and harvested.

According to the Laurel Outlook, the Montana Department of Agriculture is now accepting grant proposals for projects that deal with specialty crops, in conjunction with the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service’s Specialty Crop Block Grant federal program. These grants, which run up to $50,000, are available to any non-profit organization, educational institution or municipality that plans to grow non-traditional crops in the name of research.

Crops such as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, and nursery crops qualify for the money. Legume crops such as dry peas, beans and lentils fall under the "vegetable" category as well. The goal of the program is to facilitate fields of crops that will help further the knowledge of efficient crop-growing practices, pesticide use, organic and sustainable techniques, and other topics important to the future of these foods, which are not nearly as popular as most commercial crops.

Those who do not farm on a regular basis may want to look into allocating some of their grant money for used agricultural equipment, which can be found on IronPlanet. The auction system allows organizations to keep costs down and resell the machinery when they're done.

Topics: Industry Headlines