Northwest Horticultural Council

USDA Organic Market Development Grant Program

The Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG) program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), is part of USDA’s Organic Transition Initiative (OTI), the department’s $300 million program launched in 2022 to promote organic agriculture through technical transition assistance, direct farmer assistance, and support for organic market development.

Program Overview

The OMDG program will invest in new and expanded organic markets through funding for expanded processing capacity, market development activities, and targeted equipment purchases. The program focuses on building and expanding capacity for certified organic production, aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, distribution, and development of consumer markets. OMDG aims to increase the availability and demand for domestically produced organic agricultural products and address the critical need for additional market paths. Organic producers and handlers have identified the development of new and expanded organic infrastructure, capacity, and markets as critical needs through public comments and listening sessions. USDA will prioritize funding to pinpointed markets for rotational grains, livestock feed, dairy, fiber, and key organic ingredients.

Project Types

• Market Development and Promotion – Developing or expanding commercial markets for generic (non-branded) organic commodities, producer and/or consumer education, and product development for underutilized organic commodities.
• Processing Capacity Expansion – New or expanded aggregation, processing, storage, marketing, and distribution mechanisms for organic commodities to create a path to market for producers, including purchase and installation of equipment.
• Simplified Equipment-Only – purchase equipment to expand capacity for processing, aggregation, and distribution of organic products to create markets for producers.
  • This category may be the tree fruit industry’s only opportunity to receive OMDG funds. See below. 

Applicability for Tree Fruit Industry

The OMDG program is largely focused on developing and expanding new and existing organic markets to increase the consumption of domestic organic agricultural products. While the program prioritizes farmers who are socially disadvantaged, veterans, and those of limited resources or just starting out, OMDG is not for production assistance.

The five “pinpointed market needs” are: organic grains and livestock feed, organic dairy, organic fibers, organic legumes and other rotation crops, and organic ingredients currently unavailable in commercial form. With the program and its application process focused on these categories, there are limited/few options for tree fruit growers. AMS said projects serving markets other than those listed will not be given priority.

The project type apple growers likely have the best chance of accessing is for equipment purchases, which provide funds for growers to “purchase equipment to expand capacity for processing, aggregation, and distribution of organic products to create markets for producers.” This category could be an opportunity for organic apple growers/packers to receive assistance in purchasing bins dedicated to their organic fruit in order to meet the WSDA requirements to have separate organic and conventional bins. With restrictions, funds may be used to purchase vehicles (refrigerated trucks, delivery vans, etc.) specific to supply chain issues.

Smaller Equipment-Only projects do not require federal cost sharing or matching. The duration for these projects is 24 months, with a minimum award of $10,000 and a maximum award of $100,000.

Eligibility 

Eligible applicants are business entities (regardless of legal structure) who produce or handle organic foods, non-profit organizations, tribal governments, and government entities within a U.S. state or territory. Tribal, state, territory, and local government entities are also eligible to apply for funding. Entities who are at least 51 percent owned and operated by the same parent company may not submit multiple applications.

All row crops are eligible. Applicants who produce or handle organic foods must either be certified to the USDA organic standards or in transition to organic certification, consistent with 7 C.F.R. §205. Applicants must be registered in the Organic INTEGRITY Database before the date of the Notice of Award.

Cost Sharing / Matching

Market Development and Promotion and Processing Capacity Expansion require 50 percent matching funds of the total federal portion of the grant cost. There is a reduced match funds requirement of only 25 percent available to historically underserved farmers and ranchers and applicable small businesses. Smaller Equipment-Only projects do not require federal cost sharing or matching.

Application Process

The OMDG application review period is closed. For questions related to OMDG, contact [email protected].

More Information

• OMDG Overview
• OMDG Fact Sheet (pdf)
• OMDG FAQ (pdf)
• OMDG Specific Terms and Conditions (pdf)

The Northwest Horticultural Council represents the conventional and organic deciduous tree fruit industry of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington on national and international policy issues affecting growers, packers, and shippers. For further information on organics, contact Dan Langager, technical communications manager, at 509-453-3193.

2/5/2024