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Resilient Food System Infrastructure Program

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Resilient Food System Infrastructure Grant Program

The application period closed on July 15, 2024. 

Email: RFSI@agr.wa.gov

 

Program Overview


Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to support the one-time-only Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI).
 
The purpose of this program is to build resilience across Washington state’s middle-of-the-food-supply-chain — aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution — for locally and regionally produced foods including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry.
 
This program intends to offer more and better market opportunities to small and mid-sized agricultural producers. Grants will go toward Washington food and farm businesses and other eligible Washington entities.

2024 Grant Cycle

Sign up for the Focus on Food Newsletter for updates on this grant.

2024 RFSI successful grantees

Applicant Project title Award amount
Boldly Grown Farm, LLC Storage and post-harvest handling space for a resilient local food system. $712,617.19
ITA WINES LLC itä wines Production Equipment for Improved Capacity and Resiliency. $321,428.48
Mainstem Malt SPC

Enhancing Resilience For Washington Mid-Scale

Grain Farmers Through Value-Added Processing Capacity.

 $490,311.75

Snohomish County Conservation

and Natural Resources

Launching the Food and Farm Center: Increasing Access to Processing for

Northwest Washington Farmers.

 $1,685,428.00
TINY'S ORGANIC LLC No more middle of the road infrastructure. $738,567.50
Whitestone Mountain Orchard, INC.

Production and Cold Storage Expansion to Support Local Food and Farmers.

 $1,249,070.60
Yonder Cider LLC

Doing Well by Doing Good: Building sustainability into processing and

co-packing expansion at The Source.

 $2,122,576.48
  TOTAL $7,320,000.00


2024 applications at a glance

  • 84 applications were received, totaling $68,237,448.36 in requests.
  • 7 projects were selected for award using $7.32 million in one-time funds provided by the USDA from the American Rescue Plan for the RFSI Grant program.
  • Grant requests ranged from $114,663 to $3,000,000, including:
    • 44 Small Projects less than $500,000.
    • 40 Large Projects greater than $500,000.

Funding for the seven projects was made possible by a grant/cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.

What to expect

In 2024, WSDA awarded $7.32 million in federal funding for infrastructure grants ranging from $100,000 to $3,000,000.

Commodity and project eligibility

Activities in the middle of the food supply chain are eligibile for the RFSI grant.

Graphic describing the middle of the supply chain, which includes processing, adding value, and shipping.

Applicants should ensure the 5 eligibility tests are met for all aspects of the project described in a submitted application

  • If the entity is for-profit, does it meet the SBA size standard for your NAICS code?
  • Is the project working with or supporting an eligible product for human consumption?
  • Is the product for human consumption local and regional? (Not international)
  • Is the project supporting, post-production and pre-market supply chain activities? (Words such as “Production,” “Farming,” and “Marketing” should not appear in a submitted application to describe the scope of the project.)
  • Is the project requesting between $100,000 and $3 million in federal funds?

Examples of the middle of the supply chain

The icons below are examples of when certain products enter the middle of the supply chain. If a product is eligible, it is no longer in the middle of the supply chain when the product, or value-added product, is displayed, offered, or marketed to the end user for consumption.

Eligible grant commodities

Click here for a comprehensive list of commodity and project activity examples.


Key information from the Request for Applications (RFA)

RFSI program objectives

  • Infrastructure Development: Enhance the physical and organizational structures necessary for the production, processing, distribution, storage, and sale of food within Washington state.
  • Capacity Building: Support entities in increasing their ability to withstand disruptions to the food supply chain and adapt to future challenges.
  • Innovation and Expansion: Encourage innovative approaches to local and regional food system development and expand access to markets for small and mid-sized producers.
  • Sustainability and Environmental Impact: Promote practices that contribute to the sustainability of the food system and minimize negative environmental impacts.
  • Equity and Inclusion: Ensure equitable access to program benefits, with a focus on supporting underserved communities and populations.

RFSI funding priorities

  • Projects submitted directly by growers, producers, processors, shippers, etc. that support middle-of-the-supply-chain activities.
  • Projects that benefit one or more of the following:
  • Projects that expand capacity for processing, aggregation and distribution of agricultural products to create more and better markets for producers;
  • Construction and infrastructure projects that demonstrate feasibility that the projects can reasonably be completed within the grant duration.
  • Projects that modernize manufacturing, tracking, storage, and information technology systems;
  • Projects that improve the capacity of entities to comply with federal, state, and local food safety requirements;
  • Projects that modernize or expand an existing facility (including expansion and modifications to existing buildings and/or construction of new buildings at existing facilities);
  • Projects focused on the construction of wastewater management structures and other similar infrastructure;
  • Projects that modernize processing and manufacturing equipment; and
  • Projects that develop, customize, or install equipment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency in water use, improves air and/or water quality, and/or aligns with one or more of USDA’s Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience proposed adaptation actions.

 

Application Process

Application process details will be available prior to the next round of grant applications.

 

Application Resources

Application resources will be available prior to the next round of grant applications.

Matching Requirements for RSFI Grants

Infrastructure grant recipients are required to contribute a match amount toward project costs of 50% of the total proposed grant award amount. This is a requirement associated with the federal funding used in this program.
 
For historically underserved farmers and ranchers, or for other businesses that qualify under SBA categories of small disadvantaged business, including women-owned small business and veteran-owned small business, the required match funding contribution or cost share for the project is reduced to 25% of the award amount.
 
Applicants must self-certify in their RFSI grant applications that they are eligible if they wish to take advantage of this reduced match percentage.

Eligible Activities


  • Expand capacity for processing, aggregation and distribution of agricultural products to create more and better markets for producers;
  • Modernize manufacturing, tracking, storage, and information technology systems;
  • Improve the capacity of entities to comply with federal, state, and local food safety requirements;
  • Improve operations through training opportunities;
  • Modernize or expand an existing facility (including expansion and modifications to existing buildings and/or construction of new buildings at existing facilities);
  • Construction of wastewater management structures, etc.;
  • Modernize processing and manufacturing equipment;
  • Construction of a new facility;
  • Enhance worker safety through adoption of new technologies or investment in equipment or facility improvements;
  • Increasing packaging and labeling capacities that meet compliance requirements under applicable laws (e.g. sealing, bagging, boxing, labeling, conveying, and product moving equipment);
  • Increasing storage space, including cold storage;
  • Develop, customize or install climate-smart equipment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency in water use, improves air and/or water quality, and/or meets one or more of USDA’s Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience;
  • Modernize equipment or facilities to ensure food safety, including associated Hazard, Analysis, and Critical Control Points (HACCP) consultation, plan development and employee training; and
  • Training on the use of all equipment purchased as part of the proposed project and associated new processes that are part of the new project.
Click here for a comprehensive list of commodity and project activity examples.

Commodity & project examples

Ineligible Activities for Funding


  • Acquiring real property (including land purchases), or any interest therein;
  • Projects focused on meat and poultry processing or other ineligible agricultural products;
  • Activities that have received a Federal award from another Federal award program; and
  • Claim expenses that have been or will be reimbursed under any Federal, State, or local government funding.
  • Expenses incurred prior to award.

Ineligible products

  • Meat and poultry
  • ​Wild-caught seafood
  • Exclusively animal feed and forage products
  • Fiber
  • Landscaping products (e.g. flowers for non-culinary purposes)
  • Tobacco and Cannabis
  • Dietary supplements


Budget consideration for entities with mixed eligibility

It may occur that a business’s RFSI project interacts with both eligible and ineligible commodities or activities.  The Small Business Development Center is a great resource to help applicants determine what percentage of the project is eligible for RFSI funding. 

Federal Requirements

For grants associated with the purchase of iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials permanently installed, awardees must abide by the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act.
 
If special purpose equipment is purchased using these funds, it is subject to section 8.2 of the AMS General Terms and Conditions.
 
Grant recipients must also comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), and all other federal environmental laws and regulations. If a grantee is required to abide by any of these federal requirements, WSDA will assist the recipient in obtaining any authorities, permits, easements or other approvals necessary for the implementation of the activities in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
 
USDA’s RFSI Program Scope and Requirements can be found here.

Environmental documents for review. Comments due by November 12, 2024