WASHINGTON, DC - A total of $9.75 million in funding is being awarded to 10 grant projects through the Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG), the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently announced. These projects will be focused on supporting the development and expansion of new and existing organic markets, with the goal of increasing the consumption of domestic organic agricultural products.
“USDA is excited to announce the first round of funding awarded through the Organic Market Development Grant program,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The recipients of this funding will be spearheading unprecedented efforts to expand and open new revenue streams for the nation’s organic industry, building more value-added agricultural opportunities for farmers across rural America.”
Together, these projects will provide information and services to more than 20,000 producers and 20,000 buyers to increase market opportunities for organic farmers, a release stated.
USDA is awarding this first set of awards in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Montana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, and Washington, and plans to announce additional awards at a later date.
This grant program is part of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative, which was launched in the fall of 2022 to provide a suite of programs and resources to help existing organic farmers and those transitioning to organic production and processing. In May 2023, the organization announced approximately $75 million available through OMDG to increase the availability and demand for domestically produced organic agricultural products and to address the critical need for additional market paths.
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