All matching contributions must be an expense that is eligible under the grant. Purchasing land is not an eligible expense under the grant and therefore it also cannot be used as match.
All matching contributions must be an expense that is eligible under the grant. Purchasing land is not an eligible expense under the grant and therefore it also cannot be used as match.
When determining if a cost will be eligible as match, it must meet these three criteria:
- It is an eligible cost that could be paid for with grant funds.
- It will happen during the grant period.
- It will be paid for with non-federal funds.
To verify the match for your grant project, you must submit a match verification letter signed by each individual or organization providing in-kind or cash matching contributions for your project. We’ve provided the required template for these letters as a download on our RFSI web page. As part of the Project Readiness section of the application, you may also choose to include letters of support from business or financial contacts that can attest to your business and financial readiness and your organization’s capacity to provide the match you are committing.
Funds must be either committed or secured at the time an applicant is recommended for an award. You are not required to have the full match amount in-hand at that time. If you receive an RFSI grant, you will be required provide documentation when requesting reimbursement from the grant to verify both in-kind and cash match contributions have been provided according to the budget provided as part of your application.
You may obtain a loan for your project before applying for and receiving this grant. If you plan to use the loan to cover the matching part of your project, you might want to start working with a lender now, because all matching funds must be committed or secured at the time an applicant is recommended for an award.
Even if you obtain a loan now, we cannot reimburse any expenses that happen before the start of the grant contract agreement, nor can you use these expenses as part of your match contribution. Do not make any purchases or spend any funds you plan to include in your grant project or utilize as a matching contribution before all parties have signed your grant contract agreement.
For example, if you buy a piece of equipment with a loan before the start of the grant contract agreement, it’s not eligible to be reimbursed through the grant, nor can it be counted as part of your matching contribution.
According to the USDA AMS General Terms and Conditions (below), grantees cannot use federal funds to meet cost sharing or matching requirements. However, some loan programs that the federal government is involved in or guarantees provide loans originating from non-federal sources. If you are unsure if your loan is considered federal funds, it is your responsibility to speak to your lender to understand the categorization of the funds.
Please note that the grant-funded assets cannot be used as collateral for the matching funds loan.
If you, as the applicant, are providing the match to your own project, you only need to provide a match verification letter from yourself to verify that you have the match committed or secured. It is allowable for the letter to be both addressed to and signed by you. If any third parties that are not the applicant are contributing match to your project, they must also provide a match verification letter.
You do not need to provide match item-by-item. It is acceptable to provide match on some items but not for others, as long as for your overall project, you meet the match requirement of 50% or 25% if you qualify for the reduced match. For example, you could meet your match by providing an in-kind contribution in your personnel/fringe budget categories, but only request grant funds in your equipment budget category.
Note: For this reason, the budget worksheet will not automatically calculate your required match. Please double check that you are providing your required match of 25% or 50% of total project costs by using the totals in the first “Budget Summary” tab of the worksheet. You should also cross-reference these to the Grant Request section at the beginning of the application to ensure that the totals on your budget worksheet match the total project cost, grant request, and matching funds you have listed there.
For each line item in your budget, you must list how much money you are requesting from the grant for the item and how much of the line item’s cost you will be covering with your matching contribution. In the “Funds requested” column, list the amount of grant money you are requesting for the item. In the “Match value” column, list the amount of match you are providing for the item. The sum of your “Funds requested” column and the “Match value” column for each line item should equal the total cost of the item.
For example, if a piece of equipment costs $2,000 and you plan to cover 25% of the item’s cost with matching funds, you would list $1,500 in the “Funds requested” column and $500 in the “Match value” column.
No, to qualify for the reduced match, you only need to self-certify that you meet the definition of one of these types of businesses or organizations on the application:
- Beginning farmer or rancher
- Veteran farmer or rancher
- Limited resource farmer or rancher
- Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher
- Small disadvantaged business
- Women-owned small business
- Veteran-owned small business
The definitions for beginning farmer or rancher, veteran farmer or rancher, limited resource farmer or rancher, and socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher can be found on the USDA’s Historically Underserved Farmers and Ranchers web page.
The definitions for small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, and veteran-owned small business can be found on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Contracting Assistance Programs web page. Note that you don't need to be registered with these SBA contracting programs to qualify for the reduced match.
By selecting to self-certify for the reduced 25% match on the application, you are attesting to the truth and accuracy of your claim that your business or organization meets the definitions listed above and qualifies for reduced match.
Nonprofits and cooperatives will qualify for reduced match based on the composition of their board or governing body. To be eligible, the majority of the board’s members must be eligible for reduced match under one or more of the qualifying categories described on page 9 of the RFP. Eligibility for reduced match is not based on the population(s) the organization serves.
For example, a nonprofit may qualify for reduced match under the women-owned business category if 51% or more of their voting board members are women, or a cooperative may qualify for reduced match if its nine-member board is made up of four board members who are socially disadvantaged producers and two board members who are women (six out of nine members belong to a qualifying category).
If your cooperative business, like other types of businesses, can demonstrate that 51% or more of your cooperative is owned by members who are eligible for reduced match, that may also be used as the basis for the cooperative to qualify for reduced match.
There is no specific set aside or portion of RFSI funds dedicated specifically to tribal/Native American (Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, or enrolled members of a federally or state-recognized tribe) applications. However, tribal/Native American applicants (Native American farmers and producers, businesses owned by Native Americans, tribally owned businesses, and tribal governments) will qualify for the reduced 25% match, so long as the business or entity applying for the grant is majority-owned and/or controlled by Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, or enrolled members of a federally or state-recognized tribe. Tribal/Native American applicants may also be eligible to receive additional priority points as target beneficiaries of the program.
RFSI is federally funded through a cooperative agreement with USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service. Unlike most grants administered by the MDA, you may use grant funds from another state grant as matching funds for this program. Funds from other state, local, or private grants may be used as matching funds, so long as those funds are not from another federal pass-through grant (such as a Specialty Crop Block Grant) and aren’t committed to another grant as matching funds. Federal grants or funds from any source cannot be used as match.
Note: If you plan to use funds from a state grant or loan to meet all or part of your project’s matching requirement — and if your project involves construction — the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry will need to evaluate your project to determine if state prevailing wage requirements will apply.
No additional priority is given to applications that include more matching funds than the 50% match requirement or 25% reduced match requirement for qualifying applicants. Even if you plan to spend more than the required matching amount for your project (i.e., “overmatching”), we recommend you only include the required matching amount for the application budget. If you voluntarily provide a match above the program’s requirement in your application, the total becomes a binding requirement in your grant contract agreement.
All matching contributions must be an expense that is eligible under the grant. Purchasing land is not an eligible expense under the grant and therefore it also cannot be used as match.
We encourage you to review the Project Evaluation Profile to understand how applications will be scored. No additional priority is given to projects solely based on the source of their match, but consideration will be made to the applicant’s financial and administrative capacity to carry out the project and the applicant’s ability to accurately track, document, and verify any in-kind contributions provided.
Application and submission process
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 RFSI infrastructure 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.
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 RFSI infrastructure 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.
No, each organization may only submit one application for consideration.
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 RFSI infrastructure 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.
If you are experiencing delays in receiving your UEI number, please contact rfsi.mda@state.mn.us for further instructions.
For the purposes of the application, only the applicant needs to get a UEI number. However, if you receive a grant and the other partnering organizations or businesses involved in your project will be contracted as part of your grant and paid with federal funds, they will need a UEI to receive the federal funds.
Grant writers and technical assistance providers can help with submitting your online application from your own account or they can submit your application from their account. However, the contact information that is provided in the application must be your contact information rather than the grant writer’s. We will use this information to correspond with you about the grant and the project if you are awarded funds.
If your project addresses any part of this question, you may answer yes to the question and provide a response in the follow-up question to explain the ways in which your project addresses the question.
We are not able provide specific guidance on how to answer questions in the application or speculate on how answers will be perceived by reviewers. Answer all questions honestly, and if you answer yes, in the follow-up answer you should identify the federal or state grant program(s) and describe how the RFSI project differs from or supplements the other grant program(s) efforts. As stated in the RFP, reviewers will evaluate if the project/applicant has any apparent conflicts with other state or federal grants and ensure that projects are not receiving funding for the same costs from two grants (“double dipping”). It is allowable to use another non-federal grant as match to your RFSI grant (see answer in the match section above).
Yes, in the Community Support section of the application, you may upload letters of support from any stakeholders who you feel can help demonstrate your project’s community impact. Letters of support are an optional part of the application.
In the Project Beneficiaries section of the application, tribes and tribal applicants may choose to include the scores from counties that are nearby or overlapping with their lands or communities, along with a description of the project beneficiaries and socio-economic or demographic characteristics of the relevant communities and people who will benefit from the project. The review committee will take into consideration information or statistics specific to tribal areas that may not be accurately or fully represented by the county-based scores within the DCI.
In the Project Beneficiaries section of the application, it is allowable to include other socio-economic or demographic statistics, indicators, or characteristics that are relevant to your project or the people or communities that will benefit from your project.
Grant projects are not required to focus on the target beneficiaries (listed on page one of the RFP) to be eligible. The application provides you the opportunity to describe your project's beneficiaries, including both target beneficiaries and other types of beneficiaries. However, projects that directly and meaningfully benefit target beneficiaries will receive priority. The Project Evaluation Profile provided in the RFP outlines how applications will be scored.
Only the primary applicant business or organization is required to submit a business plan or equivalent document with the application. However, we have provided space where you may upload additional business plans or equivalent documents if you feel it would help your application to include documents for partner organizations. Be sure to redact confidential information and trade secrets included in business plans or equivalent documents, whether they are from the primary applicant or partners.
There is no eligibility requirement related to financial projections for profit generated by your project. The Project Evaluation Profile in the RFP outlines how your application, including your business plan or equivalent document, will be scored.
In your application budget, we encourage you to name specific contractors, consultants, and vendors for equipment, supplies, construction, or contractual costs above $10,000. This may allow you to avoid a formal bidding process and save time and effort later. You may attach documents such as quotes, estimates, or bids from your selected consultants, contractors, or vendors in the Budget Justification section. Attaching these documents, especially for major costs or large projects, helps show that the budget you are proposing is well researched and reasonable.
Most quotes include an expiration date (usually 30 to 90 days) that shows how long the vendor will honor the quoted price. While it is allowable to include quotes that have expired, it’s your responsibility to ensure the accuracy and reasonableness of the costs you include in your grant budget. It’s best practice for the quotes you include to be more recent or unexpired.
Since quotes, bids, and estimates are not required as part of your application, there is no specific level of detail needed. We encourage you to include as much detail as you have available at the time you submit your application, but even simple documents can be helpful.
No, design and construction documents such as architectural blueprints or plat drawings are not required as part of your application. However, including design and construction documents can help demonstrate that your proposal and budget are well researched and reasonable. These documents can be attached in the Construction Budget Justification section of your application.
In your budget worksheet, only include the amount of RFSI grant funds you are requesting and your matching contribution. The total from your budget worksheet should match your grant request in the beginning of the application. It is allowable to describe your overall project beyond RFSI and any additional investment you’ll be making beyond RFSI in the narrative portions of the application, but do not include them in the budget worksheet.
For example, if your overall project will cost $4 million, and you’re requesting the maximum award amount of $3 million, you should only list $3 million in funds requested and matching funds in the budget worksheet. If you are required to provide the standard 50% match, you’d need to list $1.5 million in grant funds and $1.5 million in matching funds.
In the RFSI Program Scope and Requirements (below), USDA states: “Critical resources and infrastructure can be facilities, land, structure, use of city street/parks, shared-used kitchen, and/or other resources that are essential for the proposed project activities.” You can think of critical resources and infrastructure as prerequisites to your project that must be in place before you would be able to complete your project. Not all applications will require Evidence of Critical Infrastructure and Resources Letter(s).
The review committee will evaluate all eligible applications based on the criteria in the Project Evaluation Profile provided in the RFP. For the reviewers to understand and effectively evaluate your project, it is important that you completely answer all the application questions within the specified character limits. You should provide enough detail to clearly describe the need for your project, the key activities that you will undertake as part of your project, how you will spend the grant funds (your budget), and what you expect the outcomes will be from your project. As much as possible, use plain, easy-to-understand language. Write for reviewers who have general knowledge but may not have a deep understanding of your specific industry, organization, or project.
In addition to the grant program, free technical assistance is available through RFSI to producers, businesses, cooperatives, and other organizations that are part of the food supply chain in Minnesota. You can find more information about the help that is available on the RFSI Technical Assistance web page.
Timeline, evaluation, and review
We are not able to provide an exact date at this time, but we expect that it will be in late summer or fall of 2024. Following our MDA application review and final application review conducted by USDA, we expect that we’ll notify applicants of decisions sometime this summer (2024), but the review process could take more or less time than expected. Once we have notified applicants of award decisions, we’ll set up grant contract agreements sometime in late summer or fall (2024). Once your grant contract agreement is fully executed (signed by all parties), only then may you begin your project and request reimbursement for funds.
We are not able to provide an exact date at this time, but we expect that it will be in late summer or fall of 2024. Following our MDA application review and final application review conducted by USDA, we expect that we’ll notify applicants of decisions sometime this summer (2024), but the review process could take more or less time than expected. Once we have notified applicants of award decisions, we’ll set up grant contract agreements sometime in late summer or fall (2024). Once your grant contract agreement is fully executed (signed by all parties), only then may you begin your project and request reimbursement for funds.