Federal grant programs / Department of Agriculture

Research Facilities Act Program (10.246)

Also known as RFAP

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$3.9 million
• Grant awards16
• Typical award$241,450
• Awarded in FY 2025$970,000
• Size rank1,672 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceGrant

Key findings

• It is the 1672nd largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 13 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 13 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Research Facilities Act Program (RFAP) aims to strengthen the Nation’s agricultural research capacity by modernizing research infrastructure through competitive grants. RFAP seeks to enable institutions to expand and enhance facilities that support cutting-edge research in food and agricultural sciences, provide environments that foster innovation and collaboration among scientists and students, and ensure research spaces meet current and future needs for technology, long-term viability, and workforce development.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

1. Land-Grant University (LGU) System, which includes the 1862 public universities; the 1890 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Tuskegee University; and the 1994 tribal colleges and universities (TCU). 2. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) of higher education having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the research in food and agricultural sciences. To determine whether your institution is listed as an HSI, consult the most recent version of the Eligibility Matrix on the U.S. Department of Education website. The Eligibility Matrix is a read-only Excel worksheet that lists data for postsecondary institutions. First, select “HSI” from the options at the bottom of the screen. Find your institution and then look at column J (“Meets the [year] Title V HSI Definition”). If the column states “yes,” your institution is eligible. 3. Non-Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA). To be eligible for RFAP grant, an institution must satisfy the eligibility requirements for NLGCA designation, request the designation, and be certified by NIFA. To view a list of certified NLGCA institutions, visit NIFA-20-001 Non-Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA) List. Please visit the NIFA-19-005 NLGCA Eligibility Flow Chart resource to determine whether or not an institution is eligible to be designated as a NLGCA as defined in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

What the money can and cannot pay for

RFAP seeks to strengthen the quality and expand the scope of fundamental and applied research at eligible institutions, by providing them with opportunities to assist in the construction, alteration, acquisition, modernization, renovation, or remodeling of the facility that supports their research, and research training goals and may be too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NIFA grant programs. Projects are financed through a combination of federal matching funds and related fundraising from non-federal third parties.

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Applicants MUST provide at minimum 100% matching contributions on a dollar-for- dollar basis for all Federal funds awarded under the Research Facilities Act Program. NIFA is not authorized to waive this matching requirement for any applicant or awardee.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate, for application deadlines.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: Four awards were made to four RFAP projects. Projects include: 1)Upgrading sow breeding/gestation facilities to group housing, while digitizing feed and water systems to capture real?time data. 2) Building a technology?enabled outdoor animal space tied to a new reproductive biotech center, advancing precision studies to boost fertility and reproductive efficiency in ruminants. 3) Installation of two modular fish health labs with automated effluent disinfection to expand capacity for catfish infectious disease challenges. 4) Biosecurity improvements to facilities, expanded wash/sanitation stations, and engineering a modern manure handling system to support growth in dairy research while mitigating disease transmission risks.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Almost all of the money went to colleges and universities.

By state

No state received $1 million or 10 awards from this program, so it has no state pages.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.