Agriculture Innovation Center Grant Program | RBCS AIC 2023

Opportunity Information: Apply for RBCS AIC 2023

The Agriculture Innovation Center Grant Program (Funding Opportunity Number: RBCS AIC 2023) is a discretionary grant opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifically through the Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Its central purpose is to fund Agriculture Innovation Centers that can deliver hands-on technical assistance to agricultural producers, with a clear emphasis on helping them successfully market value-added agricultural products. In practice, this means supporting organizations that can guide producers beyond raw commodity sales and toward products that have been processed, differentiated, packaged, branded, or otherwise enhanced to capture more value in the marketplace.

This program sits at the intersection of agriculture and business development, reflected in its funding activity categories (Agriculture; Business and Commerce) and its CFDA number (10.377). The thrust of the assistance is market-oriented: helping producers understand customer demand, improve product positioning, navigate distribution channels, and develop viable go-to-market strategies for value-added goods. While the short description does not list specific service types, "technical assistance" in this context typically implies practical, producer-facing support that can include things like market research, product feasibility and scaling guidance, branding and marketing planning, packaging and labeling considerations, pricing strategy, supply chain and logistics advice, and connections to buyers or marketing outlets. The end goal is to strengthen producers ability to compete and earn stronger margins by moving into value-added markets.

A wide range of applicant types are eligible, which suggests the program is designed to be flexible and locally responsive. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status, as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. This breadth allows everything from universities and extension-like entities to nonprofits, local governments, tribal entities, and private-sector organizations to serve as an Agriculture Innovation Center, provided they have the capacity and mission alignment to deliver the required producer assistance.

Funding is provided through grants, with an award ceiling of $1,000,000 per award. The opportunity anticipated making about 10 awards, indicating a competitive process with a limited number of sizable awards aimed at supporting centers that can demonstrate strong service delivery capacity and meaningful reach to producers. The opportunity was created on December 5, 2022, and the original closing date was March 6, 2023, which frames it as a specific cycle of funding rather than an always-open program.

In short, this grant program is geared toward building or strengthening Agriculture Innovation Centers that can act as practical business and marketing support hubs for agricultural producers. By underwriting technical assistance focused on marketing value-added agricultural products, the program aims to help producers develop higher-value offerings, improve market access, and capture more of the economic benefit from what they grow or raise.

• The Department of Agriculture, Rural Business-Cooperative Service in the agriculture, business and commerce sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Agriculture Innovation Center Grant Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.377.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 05, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 06, 2023. (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, County governments, City or township governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for RBCS AIC 2023

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: