Certified Local Farm and Fish Food Aggregation Grant Fund Programs Opens January 21, 2025

Overview

Many farmers want to access more diverse markets for their agricultural products, but they often face challenges in producing the volume of food items required to meet the demand of large buyers like wholesale food distributors and institutional buyers such as schools and hospitals.

Table crop producers may also produce a significant quantity of raw agricultural products (e.g., “seconds’) that are unsuitable for immediate sale to fresh retail consumer markets but would have value if processed and preserved for later sale to wholesale and institutional markets.

The Certified Local Farm and Fish Food Aggregation Grant Program aims to demonstrate how the investment of funds can help grow and strengthen Maryland’s local food system and create opportunities for small farmers to sell products to wholesale and institutional markets. MARBIDCO offers two levels of grant funding for food aggregation projects.

MARBIDCO offers two levels of grant funding for food aggregation projects.

Small-Scale Farmer Entity Aggregation Project

  • A grant of between $25,000 and $100,000 is available.

  • Applicants for the small-scale farmer-led aggregation grant must include at least four Certified Local Farm Enterprises or consist of one Certified Chesapeake Invasive Species Provider. Applicants must provide at least a 20% match of private funds in the project.

  • An example of a small-scale aggregation entity could include an Agricultural Product Aggregation and Distribution Entity, an entity (including a farming operation aggregator) working with at least 4 farms (or 3 if the applicant is a farm) that can expand to meet institutional/wholesale demand. Another example of a small-scale farmer aggregation entity could be a legally organized farm cooperative.

  • The applicant must provide evidence that it will be selling a certain quantity of product to a wholesale or institutional buyer. This evidence could be in the form of a contract or letter of commitment specifying that it will purchase a certain amount of product.

Public Sector Aggregation Project

  • A grant of between $150,000 and $300,000 is available.

  • Applicants for the larger-scale aggregation grant will be a public entity such as a county government, municipality, community college, university, county school system, or rural regional council.

  • The grant is for public projects that plan to be primarily aggregation centers for wholesale and institutional distribution. 

  • If the applicant is the buyer, it would need to provide a commitment to purchase from at least four Certified Local Farm Enterprises or three Certified Local Farm Enterprises and one Certified Chesapeake Invasive Species Provider and include what it plans to purchase and the amount of each product.

  • If the applicant is facilitating the aggregation, it would also need to provide evidence that it will aggregate produce from at least four Certified Local Farm and Certified Chesapeake Invasive Species Providers and provide a commitment from a wholesaler or institutional buyer to purchase from the aggregation center.

  • The grant requires at least a 20% match of funds in the project. A project of this size might also require a partnership of multiple entities and funding sources.

What is an Institutional Buyer or Wholesale Buyer?

An institutional buyer could include a state or local government agency (including a correctional institution), school system, hospital, or chain of grocery stores. A wholesale buyer is a food distributor that has an established track record of selling food products to the institutions generally described above. The Maryland Department of Agriculture provides a list of some institutional buyers in its publication, Maryland’s Best Expo Directory. Information can be found at https://issuu.com/marylands-best/docs/2024_expo_program

How do I become Certified in the MDA Certified Local Farm and Fish Program?

Get connected to institutions across the State, participate in programs such as MFARM, and grow your business.

Application Information

Applications are due to be submitted to MARBIDCO by October 15, 2024. All project funds should be disbursed no later than 9 months after the approval of the grant.

For more information contact Sierra Criste at scriste@marbidco.org or 410-267-6807. Applications can be emailed to scriste@marbidco.org or mailed to MARBIDCO Certified Local Farm and Fish Enterprise Food Aggregation Fund, 1410 Forest Drive, Suite 21, Annapolis, MD 21403.