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If your organization doesn’t have a federal Unique Entity ID (UEI), request one online from Sam.gov. The Federal Service Desk has a list of the information and documents you will need.

Note: Because SCBGP grants are federal subawards, you are not required to complete a full registration for your entity. You only need to request a UEI. Follow these step-by-step instructions on YouTube or contact us for additional assistance. We recommend doing this now or early in your application process – it’s free.

You may submit proposals to multiple state departments of agriculture, but it can only be funded by one state. It is unallowable to accept funding for the same project activities or costs in multiple states.

Our online application portal uses character limits. We estimate 3,500 characters per page (see other conversions at character limits into estimated word and page counts). The character limits are listed below the text box of each narrative in the online application. Spaces count towards the character limit.

Yes, you may select a later project start date. However, you need to complete your project by the latest possible project end date listed in the RFP.

The word “outcome” in the “Project summary” section is used informally to prompt you to summarize what will be produced/achieved from doing the proposed project. The “objectives” in the “Project purpose” section are the specific, measurable elements of the project that will be completed for your project. If a grant is awarded, you will be required to report on your progress and completion of the objectives.

We prefer a two-word descriptor of each beneficiary. You may provide a more detailed explanation of benefit to beginning farmers if that is a focus of your project.

Stakeholders in the project are not necessarily beneficiaries of the project. A beneficiary is an entity that stands to benefit from the performance of the grant project activities. Examples of SCBG project beneficiaries are the attendees of a grant funded workshop who learn how to write a food safety plan; growers who learn how to detect and control a common plant disease by attending a conference presentation; or children who learn about growing, preparing, and eating specialty crops in a school program.

Stakeholders can be growers, grower-level groups, processors, and distributors involved in the specialty crop industry that support the project by standing to benefit from it, or that are assisting the applicant/grantee in setting priorities, by reviewing and commenting on the project, or implementing the project. For the purposes of this grant, stakeholders are not the project partners or collaborators who are listed in the application.

Describe all support your proposed project has from any specialty crop stakeholders. Describe the specialty crop producers/farmers, producer organizations, processors, or distributors that support this project and why they support it. If a stakeholder has provided (verbal or written) support to you or a collaborator or partner, you may include those specifics in this narrative.

A thorough description of the involvement of each stakeholder in your project in the narrative box of the application is important.

Stakeholder letters of support are not required to be submitted with your application, but are part of the scoring criteria. Including one or more letters by stakeholders may strengthen your proposal by enabling reviewers to better gauge the level of support for your application.

Yes, descriptions of all stakeholders that support your project should be included in your proposal. The USDA requires descriptions of stakeholder support for each project, because letters of support are not included in your project profile that will be submitted as part of the state plan that the MDA submits to USDA (if your project is selected for funding).

Only one outcome is required, but any and all applicable outcomes can be included in your proposal. If an outcome is used, at least one indicator/sub-indicator listed within that outcome must also be used, as well as the method of data collection described for each indicator/sub-indicator. Outcomes and indicators need to be reported in each annual report and the final performance report. Choosing more outcomes and indicators will not impact whether your project receives funding. Focus on choosing only those outcomes and indicators that are achievable and realistic and for which data can be collected and reported.

If you choose a project-specific indicator, it will be submitted with your project profile as part of Minnesota’s state plan to USDA. The approval would come when the USDA reviews and accepts our state plan.

The USDA stresses the importance of including proposal outcomes that fit within the established outcomes listed in the RFP.

Yes, the whole application and all uploaded documents are compiled and sent to the reviewers for evaluation and scoring. There is a section at the end of the application where you can upload additional documents.

A standalone work plan is not a part of the application. Instead, the work plan is built into the budget narratives for the Personnel and the Contractors/consultants budget categories. In the “Justification” sections of both the categories, you should list the activities to be completed by name/title, including approximately when the activities will occur.

We recommend a separate line in the travel budget table for each trip and providing as much detail as you have available. We understand that this level of detail might not be available at the time of application, but if it is not included, USDA is likely to ask for it after they have reviewed Minnesota’s state plan. Further details, including specific or general locations and any equations used to estimate total miles, should be provided in the “Travel justification” section. If exact locations are not yet known, a rough estimate based on region (“SE Minnesota,” for example) can be provided.

Yes, under the Procurement Standards section of Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR Part 200.317 to 200.326), grant recipients must have documented policies and processes for purchasing goods and services with federal (SCBG) funding. Additionally, your organization must follow the same policies and procedures for procurements from non-federal sources.

As an example, see the State of Minnesota’s bidding requirements for non-governmental organization grantees. These should conform to most Federal laws and standards for most non-university or government grantee organizations for most typical SCBG grant purchases.

You are not required to submit financial documentation for the pre-award risk assessment as part of the application process. However, if you are selected for an award, you will be required to submit the financial and other documentation required for the pre-award risk assessment (based on your organizational structure) at that time.

The funding priorities are of equal importance. Using the evaluation criteria listed in the RFP, points will be awarded to projects according to how well the application addresses at least one of the funding priorities.

There are no exclusions on who may be the beneficiary of an SCBGP project as long as the project fulfills the program’s purpose of enhancing the competitiveness of specialty crops in Minnesota. However, projects that can demonstrate a benefit to beginning farmers (defined as an individual or entity that has not operated a farm or ranch for more than 10 years and substantially participates in the operation) can receive up to five additional points during the scoring process. We encourage you to review the Evaluation Profile to understand how applications will be scored.