CDFA details application rules, 25% cost share and Aug. 31 deadline for USDA specialty-crop multistate grants

CDFA presenters walked applicants through the USDA Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP) notice of funding opportunity and application process, noting up to $14,300,000 is available for 2026 and that applicants must provide a nonfederal cost share equal to 25% of requested federal funds. The presenters said California organizations cannot apply directly to USDA for this program and must submit proposals to CDFA when CDFA is the lead participating state.

Why it matters: SCMP funds projects that address cross-state specialty-crop challenges (food safety, plant pests and diseases, research, crop-specific problems and marketing). Applicants that fail to meet format, cost-share or partner requirements risk disqualification before USDA reviews proposals.

The presenter outlined the principal application requirements and formats applicants must follow. "There is up to $14,300,000 available for SCMP," the presenter said, and repeated that applications must include a 25% nonfederal cost share in cash and/or in-kind contributions. On cost-share documentation the presenter said, "Cash contributions are generally defined as actual monetary funds, not the value of someone's time or effort." The presentation cited 2 CFR 200.306 when describing allowable in-kind contributions.

CDFA made several process and file-format demands clear: applicants must use the mandatory project narrative template (do not delete required outcome indicators), submit the project narrative as a Word document and provide a separate supplemental contractual budget, which does not count toward the 30-page project narrative limit. The current template is 16 pages long, leaving 14 pages for applicants' project information; all budget narratives and supplemental contractual budgets must follow the CDFA templates.

On budgeting and indirect costs, the presenter said indirect costs are limited by federal statute to 8% of the total project budget and that CDFA will pass through the full 8% to multistate partners. Cost-share contributions must be allowable direct costs, verifiable and committed or secured at the time of award; they cannot be the same funds used to satisfy another federal grant's cost-share requirement and federal funds may not be used as cost share.

Personnel and project-team requirements include combined PDFs with 1-to-2 page resumes or summaries for principal investigators and major participants (the presenter warned that any resume or CV longer than two pages may be disregarded). Personnel qualifications are weighted at 25% of the technical reviewer score for this program. The presenter also stressed that each multistate partner must submit a letter of commitment, and templates for those letters and for cost-share verification are available on USDA and CDFA SCMP webpages.

Timing and logistics: CDFA advised applicants to allow adequate time for submission and flagged a CDFA email server limit of 10 megabytes (approximately 5,000 pages of text). Proposals to CDFA are due by 01:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Aug. 31, 2026; CDFA said it will have only a few weeks to review proposals and may request revisions on short notice. "Please be sure the team is prepared to answer any questions and provide revisions upon request," the presenter said.

Scoring and review: application scoring uses a 100-point scale: Alignment and Intent (25 points), Technical Merit (25 points), Achievability (20 points), Expertise and Partners (20 points), and Fiscal Plan and Resources (10 points). Only the highest-ranked proposals will receive an administrative review from USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). The presenter cautioned USDA may offer awards for less than the amount requested and has not set announcement or project start dates.

California-specific notes: for 2026 CDFA listed participating states as California, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. CDFA said it does not collect indirect costs (the full 8% is available to partners), is not using the FAST system for this program, and that CDFA can enter only one agreement for a given project; proposals must designate a single primary applicant and list other partners as contractors in the budget. CDFA will accept questions via email through 5 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2026 and directed applicants to its SCMP webpages for templates and FAQs.

The presentation concluded with resource reminders and contact guidance; the presenter closed by pointing attendees to the SCMP webpages and the grantscdfa.ca.gov contact for questions. No procurement actions, formal votes or policy decisions were taken at the session.