The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $300,000 in available grant funding through the Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program (SPMGP) to strengthen and enhance the production and marketing of sheep and sheep products in the U.S.

Grant applications will be accepted through Sept. 15.

“Projects funded by the Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program have already made measurable impacts on our nation’s sheep industry,” USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said. “From increasing processing capacity in areas experiencing bottlenecks in production to expanding critical research on pathogens affecting sheep flocks, projects such as these will ultimately increase the availability and consumption of sheep products across the country.”

In 2019, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service awarded a five-year grant for $1.9 million to the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center (NSIIC).

Each year, the center subawards about $300,000 to projects that develop solutions for practical problems and address the needs of the entire sheep industry, while focusing on the measurable benefits for sheep producers, encouraging partnerships among other sheep industry organizations and reducing duplication of effort among participating organizations.

Additional information is available on the AMS Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program webpage.

Applications must be submitted directly to the NSIIC and will be reviewed by its board of directors via a competitive process. The board will then make funding recommendations to AMS for approval.

For more information about the center, including previous awardees, visit the NSIIC website.