Organic Market Development Grant

Program Updates

The OMDG application review period is closed. For any questions related to OMDG, contact OMDG@usda.gov

Program Purpose

The Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG) program supports the development of new and expanded organic markets to help increase the consumption of domestic organic agricultural commodities. 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.

AMS will give priority consideration to projects addressing specific pinpointed market needs for organic grains and livestock feed, organic dairy, organic fibers, organic legumes and other rotational crops, and organic ingredients currently unavailable in organic form.

Project Types

OMDG offers three project types, 24-month Simplified Equipment-Only with funding between $10,000 and $100,000. 3-year Market Development and Processing Capacity Expansion with funding ranging between $100,000 and $3,000,000.

Available Funding

Approximately $75 million will be available to fund OMDG projects.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are business entities (regardless of legal structure) who produce or handle organic foods, non-profit organizations, including trade associations, tribal, state, territory, and local government entities.

Entities who are at last 51 percent owned and operated by the same parent company may not submit multiple applications. 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.  This requirement does not apply to non-profit or government entities.

Eligible applicants must be in the 50 states, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.

Cost Sharing or Matching

Market Development and Promotion and Processing Capacity Expansion require 50% matching funds of the total federal portion of the grant cost.

There is a reduced match funds requirement of only 25% available to historically underserved farmers and ranchers and applicable small businesses.

Smaller Equipment-Only projects do not require federal cost sharing or matching.

Additional Resources