Tennessee NRCS Urban Agriculture Grants | USDA NRCS TN MULTI 23 NOFO0001248

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS TN MULTI 23 NOFO0001248

The Tennessee NRCS Urban Agriculture Grants opportunity is a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funding program designed to support the growth of urban agriculture and other innovative local production efforts across Tennessee. Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO), NRCS is inviting eligible organizations to propose projects that create or expand pollinator habitats, urban gardens, and community gardens. The overall intent is community-focused: projects are meant to bring neighbors together around practical, locally led solutions that can help address food insecurity, improve health outcomes, and support neighborhood beautification. The program emphasizes how relatively straightforward efforts, like planting a garden or building pollinator-friendly space, can have wider ripple effects by strengthening community engagement and improving local environments.

Funding for this opportunity was announced as being dependent on federal fiscal year 2023 appropriations, meaning the final availability and amount could be affected by continuing resolutions or a final appropriations act. Even with that caveat, NRCS indicated it expected to award about $150,000 total under this announcement in FY 2023. Individual awards were expected to be relatively small, with an award ceiling of $15,000 per project and an estimated 10 awards anticipated. Projects were expected to run for one to two years, giving applicants room to plan, install, and operate garden or habitat activities long enough to demonstrate community value and sustainability.

A wide range of applicant types were considered eligible, reflecting the program's goal of building local partnerships and allowing different community anchors to lead projects. Eligible entities included state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts. It also included nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they were not institutions of higher education), as well as public, state-controlled, and private institutions of higher education. Small businesses were also listed as eligible. Regardless of applicant type, proposals had to be for projects located within Tennessee.

Applications were required to be submitted through Grants.gov, and the NFO highlighted that applicants needed to be prepared for the standard Grants.gov registration and submission process, especially if they were new users. The application deadline was 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 24, 2023 (with the source data also listing an original closing date of June 23, 2023, so applicants were expected to follow the official deadline stated in the NFO and confirm within Grants.gov). For submission or technical problems specifically related to Grants.gov, applicants were directed to contact Grants.gov Applicant Support rather than NRCS program staff, since awarding agency staff do not troubleshoot Grants.gov accounts. For questions about the content of the NFO itself, applicants were told to contact the federal awarding agency contact listed in Section G, but questions had to be narrowly limited to clarifying information already in the NFO (such as page references, dates, or discrepancies). The agency stated it would not respond to questions about whether an applicant is eligible or whether a specific project idea is likely to be competitive.

In terms of timing, NRCS estimated it would make project selections by June 30, 2023, and execute awards by September 15, 2023, while also noting that these dates were estimates and could change. The opportunity was listed as a discretionary grant under CFDA 10.902, aligned with agriculture, environment, and natural resources activities. Overall, this grant is best understood as a small-scale, community-centered funding stream intended to help Tennessee organizations launch or strengthen gardens and pollinator initiatives that produce visible neighborhood benefits and encourage local collaboration.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tennessee NRCS Urban Agriculture Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 24, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 23, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $15,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Small businesses.

Apply for USDA NRCS TN MULTI 23 NOFO0001248

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: