RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEMS INFRASTRUCTURE (RFSI) PROGRAM

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) was awarded $8.6 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program. The money, which will be provided through a competitive grant process, is part of an overall $420 million the USDA committed to states to build resilience in the middle of the supply chain and strengthen local and regional food systems by creating new revenue streams for producers.

Eligible projects include those that expand capacity for aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of food products, for specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry.

The funds for RFSI come out of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) for states and territories via formula funding. To award its share, KDA will work in partnership with USDA to make competitive subawards to support infrastructure and equipment grants.

The purpose of the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program is to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain, to provide more and better markets to small farms to food businesses, to support the development of value-added products for consumers, fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) will work in partnership with USDA to make competitive sub award investments in middle of the supply chain infrastructure (Infrastructure and Equipment-Only Grants) for domestic food and farm businesses and other eligible entities. For the purposes of RFSI, “middle-of-the-supply-chain” refers to “Processing” and “Aggregation/Distribution” stages.

This program is to support food system crops meant for human consumption (excluding meat and poultry products which are funded through other USDA programs.

KENTUCKY’S RFSI PROGRAM APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN

Applicants may only apply for one of the funding categories below. Each category has its own Application along with templates for downloading. Please be sure that the correct templates are being used for the specific grant when submitting an application. Full proposals for both categories are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 5, 2024.  Completed applications should be emailed to RFSI@ky.gov.

• Infrastructure 
  The infrastructure grant is available for applicants that are interested in building resiliency across the middle-of-the-food-supply-chain. Applicants can apply for cost-share support from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $3,000,000 for eligible projects. Successful applicants will need to provide 50% or 25% match based upon them meeting federal definitions for Small or Historically Underserved Business Owners. The funds will support expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry.
• Equipment-only 
  The equipment only grant provides funding for eligible equipment purchases that support expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry. Applicants can apply for cost-share support from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $100,000 for eligible equipment. Successful applicants can receive 100% funding for approved equipment.

Applicants can only apply for and receive funding through one of the funding categories (Infrastructure or Equipment-only). Applicants are required to have a federal “Unique Entity ID” (UEI) number, therefore interested entities without a UEI are encouraged to make application for their UEI at SAM.gov. there is no cost to register in SAM.gov. For additional information on how to register, KCARD created the following video tutorial: How to Register for Your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) through SAM.gov - YouTube

In Kentucky’s state plan, KDA will collaborate with three partners to assist with “Supply Chain Coordination” activities. Those partners are The Kentucky Center for Agriculture & Rural Development (KCARD), the University of Kentucky’s – The Food Connection (TFC), and the Community Farm Alliance (CFA). Additional information about those partnerships will follow.

Prior to submitting its state plan, KDA conducted a public survey to gather opinions on how best the USDA funding could be used. The questions were constructed in a way to allow individuals to be better able to express themselves more openly and honestly and help the KDA receive more genuine and authentic suggestions. This input has helped the KDA develop a state plan that addresses Kentucky’s needs.