Marketing Grants

The Illinois Department of Agriculture administers grants to qualified organizations in order to encourage further expansion of the Illinois agriculture industry.

Specialty Crop Grants

The Illinois Department of Agriculture has been allocated funds next federal fiscal year from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.  These funds will support projects that are intended to expand the availability of fresh, locally-grown produce and strengthen the competitiveness of the state’s specialty crop industry. 

Dairy Grants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the Center for Dairy Research and Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) have been awarded $6.13 million to support the continuation of the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), serving Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Illinois Local Food Infrastructure Grant

Funding is now available for local food infrastructure in Illinois! 

The new Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program will invest in critical infrastructure to scale up the processing, aggregation, and distribution of local food to meet the needs of Illinois communities. 

Farms, businesses, institutions, cooperatives, local governments, nonprofits and other entities working with local food will have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $150,000 for infrastructure. 

Funding can support value-added processing, livestock processing, milling, dairy, trucking, food hubs, community kitchens and other critical pieces of local food supply chains. 

The application is open now until January 31, 2024 with funding being distributed in March of 2024.

This grant is made possible with funding through the Illinois Department of Agriculture. 

More information available at https://www.IllinoisLFIG.org.