Time to Apply for Your Value Added Producer Grant!

Do you have a commodity that you raise or grow that you are turning into a value added product and need to expand your market or customer base and do not have the resources to do so? Or do you have a value added product, that you could use assistance in the processing activities? If so, USDA Rural Development’s Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) may fit your needs. I wrote about this grant program in March, so you could start thinking about how it might fit in with your operation's plans. Check out that article to get an idea of what value added products include. Now we have all the information you'll need to get going, and to meet the July 1, 2016 deadline. How Much Money Can I Ask For? The VAPG offers two different kinds of grants: Working Capital Grants of up to $250,000 and Planning Grants of up to $75,000. What's the Deadline? There are TWO Deadlines depending on how you submit your application. The Paper Application deadline is July 1, 2016. If you hand deliver it to your local office, it needs to be there by 4:30 p.m. on July 1, 2016. If you mail it, it must be postmarked July 1, 2016. You can also submit your application through Grants.gov. The Grants.gov deadline is June 24, 2016. Donald Nunn, who coordinates this program for the USDA in Colorado says that paper applications are best and he doesn't recommend using Grants.gov.  He also says, "Email applications are not accepted. (It's a regulatory thing.)" [caption id="attachment_18144" al