Federal grant programs / Department of Agriculture

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) (10.310)

Also known as AFRI

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$2.1 billion
• Grant awards3,643
• Typical award$490,000
• Awarded in FY 2025$177 million
• Size rank157 of 1824
• Type of assistanceProject grants

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $472 million in fiscal 2021 to $177 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 157th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 52% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 52 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) awards Research, Education, Extension, and Integrated grants to improve rural economies, alleviate the impacts of pests and diseases, increase food and agriculture profitability, stimulate the bioeconomy, maintain long-term production capability, increase water efficiency, ensure food safety and nutritional quality, enhance human nutrition, and train the next generation of the food and agricultural workforce. AFRI funds both single- and multifunction research, education, and extension grants that address key problems of national, regional, and multistate importance. AFRI-funded projects sustain all components of agriculture, including farm efficiency and profitability, ranching, bioenergy, forestry, aquaculture, rural communities and entrepreneurship, human nutrition, food safety, biotechnology, and conventional breeding. These projects also create jobs and help develop the next generation of agriculture and food scientists. AFRI-funded integrated projects must include at least two of the three functions of agriculture knowledge – research, education, and extension/outreach – to ensure delivery of science-based knowledge to people, allowing them to make informed practical decisions.

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

Open opportunities

• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Foundational and Applied Science Program
  Open · Closes December 31, 2026 (61 days left) · up to $10.0 million
• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Education and Workforce Development
  Open · Closes December 31, 2026 (61 days left) · up to $650,000

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

This initiative supports integrated and non-integrated programs. Please refer to Part III, A of the current Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Request for Applications for the complete eligibility requirements.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Grant funds must be used for allowable costs necessary to conduct approved fundamental and applied research, extension and education objectives to address food and agricultural sciences. The competitive grants program shall address the following areas: A) Plant health and production and plant products; B) Animal health and production and animal products; C) Food safety, nutrition, and health; D) Renewable energy, natural resources, and environment; E) Agriculture systems and technology; and F) Agriculture economics and rural communities. Funds shall not be used for the construction of a new building or facility or the acquisition, expansion, remodeling, or alteration of an existing building or facility (including site grading and improvement, and architect fees). Funds may not be used for any purposes other than those approved in the grant award documents. Indirect cost is not allowable if awarded as an equipment, conference, or post-doc fellowship grant. Section 720 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (Pub.L. No. 112-55) limits indirect costs to 30 percent of the total Federal funds provided under each award. Therefore, when preparing budgets, applicants should limit their requests for recovery of indirect costs to the lesser of their institution’s official negotiated indirect cost rate or the equivalent of 30 percent of total Federal funds awarded.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. For equipment grants – Unless criteria is met to qualify for waiver by the Secretary, matching shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost of the special research equipment or other equipment acquired using funds from the grant. For applied research – if the grant is commodity-specific; and not of national scope, the grant recipient is required to match USDA funds awarded on a dollar-for-dollar basis from non-Federal sources with cash and/or in-kind contributions.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: AFRI supports work in six priority areas: (A) plant health and production and plant products; (B) animal health and production and animal products; (C) food safety, nutrition, and health; (D) bioenergy, natural resources, and environment; (E) agriculture systems and technology; and (F) agriculture economics and rural communities.

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

Colleges and universities received 90% of the money, nonprofits 5.3% and small businesses 0.4%.

By state

Each state below has its own page for this program, with its recipients and yearly totals.

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