USDA Partners with Wisconsin to Award $27 Million to Strengthen Food Supply Chain Infrastructure

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced it has a cooperative agreement with Wisconsin under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI). Through this agreement, USDA and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) are working together to offer $27 million in competitive grant funding for projects designed to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain. Wisconsin is accepting applications for this Infrastructure Grant funding through March 6, 2024.

In May, USDA announced the availability of up to $420 million through RFSI to strengthen local and regional food systems. Through this program, AMS has entered into cooperative agreements with state agencies, commissions, or departments responsible for agriculture, commercial food processing, seafood, or food system and distribution activities or commerce activities in states or U.S. territories. RFSI is authorized by the American Rescue Plan.

“This partnership between USDA and Wisconsin is allowing critical funding to reach areas of the supply chain that need it most,” said USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The projects funded through this program will create new opportunities for the region’s small and midsize producers to thrive, expand access to nutritious food options, and increase supply chain resiliency.”

Using RFSI funding, DATCP will fund infrastructure projects that expand processing capacities, increase food storage space, reduce energy use, increase commercial kitchen space, improve aggregation and distribution, improve marketing and branding, and increase access to value-added markets for small farms. This will ultimately create more diverse local and regional market options and create additional economic opportunities for communities, allowing them to retain more of the value chain dollar. The state’s priorities are informed by stakeholder engagement and outreach to underserved producers to better understand their needs.

“This program will support those processing, transporting, and distributing locally-produced food including dairy and specialty crops,” said Randy Romanski, Secretary of DATCP. “Thank you to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the partnership on the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program and funding. This funding will allow DATCP to continue to build resiliency across the food supply system in Wisconsin.”

Those interested in receiving a subaward should apply directly through DATCP through March 6, 2024. AMS encourages applications that serve smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, underserved producers, veteran producers, and underserved communities. 

For more information, visit the AMS Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure webpage.