Iowa Ag Connection - Ag Marketing Resource Center Assists Producers Applying for USDA Value-added Grants

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Ag Marketing Resource Center Assists Producers Applying for USDA Value-added Grants
Iowa Ag Connection - 05/11/2009

The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) is assisting producer groups in gathering information for use in applying for the USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Service (RBCS) value-added producer grants, announced in the Federal Register last week.

AgMRC is a virtual library of agricultural value-added opportunities, business development and consulting resources for producers, located at www.agmrc.org.

"There is a direct link on the home page of the site to take producers directly to the federal notice of solicitation of applications, grant templates and a directory of consultants and service providers," said Ray Hansen, co-director of the center. "Additional resources for producers to develop their business or to find a new market opportunity for an existing business are also available."

Producers can investigate specific commodity information on many different niche opportunities and can locate specific laws, consultants and individual contacts within their individual state to assist them in the grant application process.

"The consultant database available on the Web site includes specific commodity consultants, business development consultants and those consultants specializing in grant writing," said Don Hofstrand, co-director of AgMRC.

Applications must be completed and submitted no later than July 6.

Located at Iowa State University (ISU), AgMRC is a national center for value-added agriculture resources. For more information, visit www.agmrc.org or call toll-free at 866-277-5567.