State officials report heavy demand, limited awards from FY24 Ag Development Grant program

Abby Willard, Ag Development Division director at the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, told a legislative committee that the agency used a FY24 legislative appropriation of $2,300,000 to fund an Ag Development Grant (ADG) pilot aimed at the meat, maple and produce sectors. "We need a diversification in production and processing within our agricultural sectors in Vermont," Willard said, describing the program as a response to industry growth identified in recent planning documents.

The ADG program received more than $44,000,000 in requests across all three sectors and more than 500 applications in total, Willard said. The agency awarded about $2.1 million in grants and kept a few hundred thousand dollars for program administration; 25 grants were awarded across the three sectors. "There was over $44,000,000 in demand," Willard said, and the agency made awards to a limited number of applicants across the state.

Madison Barry, agriculture development specialist and one of the program managers who ran the review process, described the application and review mechanics. "Every application gets reviewed 3 times, by 3 different... by 3 different reviewers," Barry said, noting the agency recruited roughly 110 reviewers from Vermont and regional institutions to score applications. The review criteria included long-term impact, and the agency prioritized projects that expanded processing,…