Rural Cooperative Development Grants
The summary for the Rural Cooperative Development Grants grant is detailed below.
This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants.
Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact.
If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.
Rural Cooperative Development Grants: The purpose of the RCDG program is to enable nonprofit institutions to establish and operate centers for rural cooperative development (Center). The primary objective of the program is to improve the economic condition of rural areas by helping nonprofit organizations who in turn provide technical assistance to start, expand, or improve cooperatives and mutually owned businesses in rural areas.
| Federal Grant Title: | Rural Cooperative Development Grants |
| Federal Agency Name: | National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) |
| Grant Categories: | Agriculture |
| Type of Opportunity: | Discretionary |
| Funding Opportunity Number: | USDA-NIFA-OP-011616 |
| Type of Funding: | Grant |
| CFDA Numbers: | 10.771 |
| CFDA Descriptions: | Information not provided |
| Current Application Deadline: | September 15th, 2025 |
| Original Application Deadline: | September 15th, 2025 |
| Posted Date: | September 4th, 2025 |
| Creation Date: | September 4th, 2025 |
| Archive Date: | October 15th, 2025 |
| Total Program Funding: | $5,800,000 |
| Maximum Federal Grant Award: | $1,000,000 |
| Minimum Federal Grant Award: | $0 |
| Expected Number of Awards: | 10 |
| Cost Sharing or Matching: | Yes |
| Last Updated: | September 4th, 2025 |
- Applicants Eligible for this Grant
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification.)
- Additional Information on Eligibility
- Eligibility RequirementsApplicants for the RCDG program must meet all the requirements discussed in this RFA. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s About Grants provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process.Applications will only be accepted from nonprofit institutions. A “nonprofit institution” is defined as any organization or institution, including an accredited institution of higher education, no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements in 7 CFR 4284.520(a). Applicants are ineligible for assistance through this program if one or more of the items defined in 7 CFR 4284.520(b) occurs.As defined in 7 CFR 4284.522(a), eligible projects must meet all of the following requirements. Failure to meet one or more of these requirements means that the application will not be considered for funding.1. Rurality – All Project activities must serve individuals, Cooperatives and Mutually Owned Businesses, small businesses, or other similar entities in Rural Areas.2. Project Focus – The Project must focus on establishing or operating a Center with the goals of creating jobs in Rural Areas through the development of new Rural Cooperatives, Value-Added processing, and Rural businesses.3. Amount Requested – The amount requested must not exceed the maximum amounts specified in Table 2 of this notice.4. Matching Funds – Matching Funds must be provided as detailed in Part III, B.USDA will not accept competitive applications that include activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion advocacy; racial justice; or support for mobile home cooperatives.USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements submitted for due dates after June 20, 2025, and/or research and development (R&D) contract proposals submitted to solicitations issued after June 20, 2025, for dangerous gain-of-function research, as defined in Section 8 of E.O. 14292.An Applicant may submit only one application in response to a solicitation. All applications submitted, regardless of the Applicant entity name, that include the same Executive Director, employees, Board, advisory boards or
- Link to Full Grant Announcement
- Rural Cooperative Development Grants
- Grant Announcement Contact
- NIFA Support Email [email protected]
Business hours: Monday thru Friday, 7a.m. – 5p.m. ET, except federal holidays
If you have questions about preparing application content, contact [email protected]. - Similar Government Grants
- • Rural Cooperative Development Grant
- • Small Minority Producer Grant
- More Grants from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- • Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields
- • Outreach and Assistance for Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program
- • 1890 Institution Teaching, Research, and Extension Capacity Building Grants Program
- • Tribal Colleges Extension Program Special Emphasis
- • Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension Pre-Applications