Howard County and Southern Maryland are offering additional grants for agricultural businesses. Please read below for these two grant programs.

Howard Soil Conservation District

Financial Relief for Farmers through HoCo RISE Howard County Business Grants
Grant applications OPEN 7:00am on June 11th and will CLOSE 11:59pm on June 17th, 2020

The purpose of this grant is to provide financial assistance to Howard County businesses and FARMERS that have been most impacted, directly or indirectly, by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Because of the limited funding available, eligible sectors have been identified and the grant formula is intended to distribute to all qualified businesses and FARMERS. These funds are available through the Federal CARES Act, and have been provided to Howard County to assist with business/farm losses experienced as a result of the shutdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Howard County is providing $750K to the agricultural community through this program.

Full or part-time farmers qualify. Farm must be a minimum of 3 (three) acres and have earned income from farming over the last year to qualify. The deadline to submit an application and required documentation is 11:59pm on June 17th, 2020

For more information and application: http://www.hceda.org/c19grants/

If you have any questions or need assistance please contact Kathy Johnson: kljohnson@hceda.org

 

Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission

The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC), a division of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, has announced a dedicated Pandemic Relief round of the Southern Maryland Farmer Mini-Grant Program. SMADC will begin accepting Mini-Grant applications on July 1, 2020. The Pandemic Relief Mini-Grant cycle will close on July 22, 2020, with awards announced by August 2020.

This mini-grant round is designed to support established farms that have been financially adversely affected by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and are at risk for being unable to pay bills and maintain an adequate standard of living and care for their farm operations, and/or those who have financial needs concerning pivoting their business models to effectively serve their customers safely and to implement state-recommended COVID-19 safety protocols and social distancing guidelines.

A total of $27,000 of funding is available. Applicants may request up to $2,000 per application. However, it is anticipated that the number of applicants may exceed the amount of funding available, therefore grant applications will be ranked and awards may be less than the requested amount.

For more information and to apply online, go to: https://smadc.com/farmer-resources/mini-grants/