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FY26 Application Now Open
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is offering grants for eligible county agricultural inspectors (CAI) and county-designated employees (CDE) to support their required duties under the Noxious Weed Law (Minnesota Statues 18.75 – 18.91). Funding will be allocated through a non-competitive application process.
Applicant Eligibility
To be eligible for this grant, a county must employ a county agricultural inspector or county-designated employee. The applicant must submit a work plan, budget narrative, and budget table with their application. Additionally, the applicant must acknowledge that their county board supports the application.
Application Deadline
The full request for proposals (RFP) and online application will open in mid-July and will be open for 6 weeks. Applications are due by 3:00 p.m. on September 4, 2025. MDA staff will review the applications after the deadline closes. Applications must be submitted through our online application system.
- If you are a new user, you’ll need to create and account first.
- Once you’re logged in, select “County Agricultural Inspectors Grant FY26”.
Questions
Direct questions about the grant, completing the application, or additional accommodations to:
Emilie Justen
emilie.justen@state.mn.us
651-201-6360
Frequently Asked Questions for CAI Grant
No, the appropriation explicitly states that only counties employing a CAI/CDE are eligible for this grant.
We don’t require a county board resolution, we just want to make sure anyone applying for the grant can accept the award and to avoid delays in processing the grant contract.
$500,000 is available, which must be divided evenly between eligible applicants, so each eligible county could receive between $5,000 and $10,000 in FY26.
No, but you will need to submit one by May 31, 2026 before receiving your reimbursement.
The appropriation says that the funding is to go to support the CAI duties and the statutes don’t specifically state treating weeds as a duty. If you have justification for purchasing herbicide (spent X hours mapping the area, have spent X hours coordinating with landowners) and the treatments are planned after the coordination and planning work has been completed, then the herbicide purchase is more likely to get approved.
It can be pretty simple. There are instructions in the online application that state “Provide a step-by-step description of how you will use the grant funds – how and when you will carry out each item or activity using these funds. Describe the specific activities, objectives, deadlines for accomplishing each activity, and responsible parties.” There are also a couple examples in the online application.
Yes, it the funds come from the recent appropriation. Even though it’s non-competitive, we still have to have an application process to make sure the grantees are accountable for the grant funds. That being said, there are several criteria spelled out in the appropriation that counties are supposed to meet, and we don’t expect everyone to have met those criteria prior to applying for the grant. Those criteria will have to be met before we reimburse the grant awards, and the Accountability and Reporting Requirements section of the RFP spells out what needs to be in the final report to meet those criteria.
Yes, grants could be extended into the next fiscal year. There will also be another round of CAI grants available for FY27.
Yes, if the county currently employs a CAI or CDE, they are eligible. Training will need to be completed before the county gets reimbursed for the grant, and we’ll have several opportunities for counties to complete the required criteria before the end of the grant cycle. There are several criteria spelled out in the appropriation that counties are supposed to meet, and we don’t expect everyone to have met those criteria prior to applying for the grant. Those criteria will have to be met before we reimburse the grant awards, and the Accountability and Reporting Requirements section of the RFP spells out what needs to be in the final report to meet those criteria.
