Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

03/17/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/17/2026 13:02

VDACS Opens AFID Infrastructure Grant Program’s Spring Application Period

March 17, 2026

VDACS Opens AFID Infrastructure Grant Program's Spring Application Period
Grant applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on April 30, 2026

Richmond, Va. - The application period for the spring round of the Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Infrastructure Grant program is currently open and will end on April 30, 2026. Administered by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the AFID Infrastructure Grant program was created to support locally identified investments that aid small-scale farmers and food producers in growing their operations.

To be eligible for an AFID infrastructure grant award, projects should directly support local food production and forestry while also demonstrating a broad community benefit. Priority project areas include new and existing food hubs, farmers markets, commercial kitchens, and other value-added facilities such as those used for processing and packaging meats, dairy products, produce, or other Virginia-grown products. Grant funds should be used primarily for capital expenditures.

Applications must be made by a political subdivision of the Commonwealth, such as a county, city, town, industrial and economic development authority, or planning district commission. Grant applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on April 30, 2026. The maximum award per grant is $50,000.

Localities are encouraged to work with small farmers, food producers, local food systems advocates, and others interested in building their community's local food and farming infrastructure. This competitive grant requires an equal cash match from the locality, with reduced match available for economically distressed localities.

This grant program has two open application funding rounds in each fiscal year. The fall AFID infrastructure grant round will be announced later this year.

For more information on the AFID Infrastructure Program, please contact Joyce Blankenship at 804.786.1906 or at [email protected].

Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services published this content on March 17, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 17, 2026 at 19:02 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]