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Applications are now open for grants from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) to increase the competitiveness of domestic and foreign markets for Minnesota-grown specialty crops.

The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) funds projects that will:

• Market and promote specialty crops
• Support research and development related to specialty crops
• Expand the availability and access to specialty crops
• Address challenges faced by producers of specialty crops  

The MDA anticipates awarding approximately $1.25 million in grants using a competitive review process, with a maximum award of $125,000 and a minimum award of $25,000. There is no matching requirement.

Producer organizations, nonprofits, government agencies, tribal organizations, universities, and other organizations involved in Minnesota agriculture are encouraged to apply. Individual producers, for-profit businesses, or commercial entities are also eligible to apply if their project will provide value to the specialty crop industry at large and incorporate a plan for disseminating the results of the project broadly.

Grant funding for the SCBGP is provided annually from a block grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the legislative authority of the 2018 Farm Bill. USDA defines specialty crops as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops, floriculture, and processed products that have 50% or more specialty crop content by weight, exclusive of added water.

Applications for 2025 SCBGP funds must be submitted by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Visit the MDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program web page for full program and application details, as well as lists of previously funded projects.

Note: Due to recent Executive Orders, federal funding may be reduced or cancelled. Publishing this request for proposals (RFP) does not commit the state to awarding any federal funds.

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Media Contact
Larry Schumacher, MDA Communications
651-201-6629
Larry.Schumacher@state.mn.us

A newly published study by researchers at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), the University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Geological Survey, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reveals new information about the age of groundwater in the state’s distinctive Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota.

The peer-reviewed study examined current concentrations of a discontinued row-crop herbicide, popular in the 1970s and 1980s, in springs and wells. Researchers then compared the data against the historical use of the herbicide. Researchers combined those results with independent age-dating methods to reveal a mixture of groundwater ages, ranging from 10 to 40 years old in many of the region’s shallower springs and wells, to thousands of years old in deeper aquifers.

Groundwater ages were then combined with historical land use data and climate information to help interpret nitrate concentration trends between 2000-2021 for nearly 1,200 well, spring, and stream monitoring locations.

The results showed that most monitoring sites with elevated nitrate had groundwater less than 20 years old. Nitrate levels in this water were either decreasing or relatively steady. Improved agricultural practices may have contributed to these results. Dilution from record-setting precipitation over the past two decades could also be a factor. Groundwater that is several decades older typically had lower nitrate concentrations, but a higher likelihood of increasing trends as the nitrate-contaminated water moves into deeper aquifer systems.

The authors highlight that although it may take decades to measure the impact of clean water activities in certain aquifers, the cumulative effect of best management practices implemented today will help reduce the amount of nitrate entering groundwater over the long term.

The study’s findings are available in the Hydrogeology Journal(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10040-024-02871-2).

Funding for the project was provided by Minnesota’s Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, MDA’s Pesticide Regulatory Account, Root River Field to Stream Partnership, the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, and legislative appropriation to the Minnesota Geological Survey, and the University of Minnesota.

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Media Contact
Allen Sommerfeld, MDA Communications
651-201-6185
Allen.Sommerfeld@state.mn.us