AGRI Protecting Livestock from Avian Influenza (Protect) Grant

The AGRI Protecting Livestock from Avian Influenza Grant, also referred to as the Protect Grant, helps Minnesota farmers and ranchers buy and install supplies or equipment to prevent the transmission of avian influenza on their farms.

The application period for the Protect Grant is from November 17, 2025, to January 15, 2026.

If you're seeking funding to strengthen resilience on your farm to extreme weather events, please visit the AGRI Prepare Grant webpage.

Amount available

Approximately $500,000 is available for this program. We expect to award 50 to 60 grants.

• You may request between $500 and $10,000 per farming operation.
  • Only one application per operation.
• A 20% cash match is required.
  • You can use your related time and labor costs to reduce the cash match by up to $2,000.

Eligibility 

To apply, you must:

• Be the principal operator of a livestock operation in Minnesota.
• Produce and sell at least $1,000 of livestock products annually.

For the purposes of this grant, livestock means animals raised to produce fiber, meat, and animal by-products for sale or as breeding stock, including but not limited to beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, poultry, goats, mules, farmed cervids (deer, elk), ratites (flightless birds including emu), bison, sheep, horses, aquaculture, and llamas. Contact us with questions regarding the eligibility of other species.

Grant funds must be used to install measures to prevent the transmission of avian influenza at farms in Minnesota. Project examples include:

• Isolation/quarantine pens
• Biosecurity signs
• Throw out doors
• Pest control
• Update or maintenance of poultry barns including woven wire or fixing holes
• Electronic animal ID systems (including readers and software)
• Truck washes
• Air filtration systems
• Danish entry systems
• Exclusion systems to help keep wild birds and vermin out of livestock facilities
• Inflatables (to scare wild species away from poultry operations)
• Lasers (to scare wild species away from poultry operations)
• Sound machines (to scare wild species away from poultry operations)

Note:

• We issue payments on a reimbursement basis and not in advance.
• You may only buy eligible items after grant contract agreements are signed by all parties.
  • We expect to have contracts in place by May 2026.

Applying 

Applications are due by 4 p.m. Central Time on Thursday, January 15, 2026.

• Carefully read the full 2026 AGRI Protect Grant Request for Proposals (PDF) for eligibility, requirements, and priorities.
• We encourage you to apply online.
  • If you are a new user, you will need to create an account.
  • Once you are logged in, select “AGRI Protect Grant.”

Contact us if you need this information in an alternative format.

Protect Grant Q&A

Here are some common questions about the AGRI Protect Grant. If you have questions that are not addressed here or in the RFP, email them to MDA.AGRIGrants@state.mn.us with "AGRI Protect Grant" in the subject line. We'll post all questions and answers on this page.