Deadline: 28-Feb-23
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is releasing this Request for Proposals in anticipation of an agreement with USDA for its tentatively selected proposal, “Farmers for Soil Health Climate Smart Commodities Partnership.”
This RFP represents one time-sensitive element of a broader project. Any grants related to this RFP will not be awarded unless or until a USDA agreement is finalized. Additional grantee terms, conditions, or requirements beyond what is included in this RFP may apply after finalization of a USDA agreement.
Program Priorities
The Farmers for Soil Health Partnership will fund projects that provide “on-the-ground” technical assistance delivery. Successful proposals will strategically address gaps and needs for supporting cover crop adoption in one or more of the 20 states. Eligible grant recipients are limited to state corn, soy, and pork commodity affiliate organizations and their designated partners.
To be competitive for this Farmers for Soil Health opportunity, proposals must:
- Direct staff resources to help corn and soybean farmers adopt cover crops on new acres.
- Support farmer enrollment in the Farmers for Soil Health Signing Incentive Payment (SIP) for farmers with existing cover crops. One-time enrollments will be offered in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Enrollment available on up to 600,000 acres total across the 20 states, up to 200 acres per farm.
- Support farmer enrollment in the Farmers for Soil Health Transition Incentive Payment (TIP) for farmers planning cover crops on new acres. Enrollment will happen in at least two cohorts (2023 signup and 2024 signup); if enough funding remains, signup for a third cohort may be offered in 2025. Each cohort will commit to planting cover crops for three years (such as 2023–2025 or 2024–2026). Enrollment available on up to 1.365 million acres total across the 20 states, up to 500 acres per farm. See “Funding Availability and Matching Contributions” section below for enrollment goals by state.
- Coordinate with expected FSH contractor Data Transmission Network (DTN) to conduct targeted digital outreach and marketing to potential farmer participants.
- Increase SIP and TIP enrollment among farmers in the Historically Underserved categories. Coordinate with DTN to use targeted marketing lists of Historically Underserved farmers and with National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) on targeted Historically Underserved farmer outreach and communications. Distribute NCAT-produced content to farmers, participate in an NCAT educational webinar for state partners.
- Participate in cover crop training and technical assistance opportunities through the FSH lead education organizations (Soil Health Institute and MU Center for Regenerative Agriculture), and distribute FSH cover crop educational materials to producers. Help farmers participating plan cover cropping systems in accordance with the relevant state NRCS standard for conservation practice code 340 (Cover Crop).
- Support farmers during: eligibility determination; enrollment; data entry; and measurement, reporting, and verification tasks using the Farmers for Soil Health online platform. Participate in training sessions with DTN before enrolling farmers through the platform. Assist farmers in reporting their farm and tract numbers and self-certifying their Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation compliance status in the online platform. Execute contracts with farmers.
- Provide farmers cover crop technical assistance as needed over the life of the 3-year Transition Incentive Payment agreement. TA is broadly defined as activities that increase farmer understanding of the agronomics and economics of cover crops leading to practice adoption. The Soil Health Institute and the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture will provide grants with access to educational resources including videos, fact sheets and training for staff.
- Provide additional technical assistance requested by farmers to enhance soil health, carbon sequestration, water quality, wildlife habitat, climate resilience, or operational efficiency.
Funding Information
- Approximately $15 million in grant funding is available under this funding opportunity.
- Typical grant awards will range from $200,000 to $1,200,000, with an estimated average grant size of approximately $750,000 per state-level program.
- The grant range is estimated based on a single state proposal. Multi-state proposals may exceed $1,200,000.
Geographic Focus
This funding opportunity is limited to the 20 states prioritized in the Farmers for Soil Health Partnership:
Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include state commodity organizations (including research and promotion programs, also called “checkoff programs”) and their designated partners. Designated partners may include 501(c) organizations, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, tribal governments and organizations, or educational institutions partnering with a commodity organization.
- To be competitive, applicant organizations must demonstrate capacity and experience commensurate with the scale of the project being proposed and the funding being requested.
- Individuals, federal government agencies, and for-profit entities are not eligible to apply for grant funding.
For more information, visit NFWF.