Food Hubs and Farm Stops Grant Program

The Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD) is offering a one-time grant opportunity to strengthen Michigan food hubs and farm stops.

Background and Definitions:

Farm Stops play unique and increasingly important roles in food systems across Michigan. According to Kathryn Barr, author of How to Start a Farm Stop, Farm Stops are "markets that support small-scale farmers and strengthen local and regional food systems.” Farm Stops offer a year-round, every day, retail-style market where consumers can buy local produce from farmers or producers, typically on the consignment model. This offers flexibility and a fair price to producers who can sell more products with less of the time commitment required to attend weekend farmers markets. Through this market channel, farmers also retain a higher percentage of profits compared to a conventional retail model. Producers set their prices and own their product until they are sold. Elements of farm markets, farm stands, and regular retail markets are all integrated into the Farm Stop model. Farm Stops are mission-driven, and prioritize supporting and enabling small-scale producers by sourcing directly within a specified, local radius. Another hallmark of the farm stop model compared to retail is the dedication to customer education. Often seen features at Farm Stops include clear signage within the market that showcases the farm name, location, and growing practices. Since farmers are paid for the products that get sold, it’s important for customers to know the name of their farmer when they approach the checkout building transparency for consumers for the most of or the entire value chain. Farm Stops also rely on some whole purchases to fill out inventory with items that producers are unwilling to sell on consignment (Is the Farm Stop Revolution Upon Us? - Modern Farmer).

Food Hubs: USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) notes that food hubs are an important subset of food value chains (The Role of Food Hubs in Local Food Marketing (PDF)). By offering a combination of aggregation, distribution, and marketing services at an affordable price, food hubs make it possible for many producers to enter larger-volume markets that boost their incomes and provide opportunities for scaling up production. According to Sustainable America, food hubs are a crucial, but often invisible, part of the local food system. They help small farms grow by offering a combination of production, distribution, and marketing services. There are now more than 200 food hubs in the United States according to AMS and 11 of those in Michigan, according to Michigan State University. Food hubs often include physical spaces, while occasionally, some are virtual only or partially, but all are concerned with connecting the dots between producers and consumers of food. Sustainable America notes that they can be thought of as helpful “middlemen” that connect producers with institutional buyers (restaurants, hospitals, schools, etc) with the end consumer(s). They help farmers gain access to larger markets so that farmers can focus more on farming and less on marketing, distribution, etc.

Eligibility:

Eligible applicants for this grant program must be Michigan-based farm stops adhering to the definitions listed above or Michigan-based food hubs recognized by and listed on the Michigan Food Hub Network Directory Food Hub Directory.

Process:

Grant Criteria:

• Grants will be awarded a maximum amount of $50,000. Please submit applications in whole dollar amounts and round to the nearest $1.
• Applications are encouraged to demonstrate expansion of current service delivery, new service delivery, equipment, market access plans, distribution, and/or additional processing capacity expansion plans.
• In the “Measurable Outcomes” section of the grant application, at a minimum, applicants should add in and answer the following metrics:
  • Projected additional weight, volume, or other unit of measurement increase in produce/food throughput if this grant if funded.
  • Projected additional dollar value increase following through the value chain including to agricultural producers and/or farmers.
  • Michigan counties of agricultural product origin in the value chain you’re expanding or creating with this grant (ie. List the counties where the agriculture products are coming from).
  • List the number of Michigan farmers participating in the value chain and how many more will be included in the value chain associated with this grant project.
  • How many more consumers will be reached by this expanded or new value chain the MDARD grant would support.
• Only one application per food hub or farm stop will be considered.
• Detailed budget/expenditure projections are strongly encouraged in the “ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES” section of the online grant application.
• “PROJECT PARTNERS” as considered in the applicant information section of the application should not include additional customers or farmers (those entities should be defined later qualitatively and descriptively in the “PROJECT IMPACT” section of the grant application and quantitively and descriptively in the “MEASURABLE OUTCOMES” section of the grant application.
• Applicants must use MiAgGrants site to apply for the grant, via the Food Hub and Farm Stop application. All sections must be complete to be considered for review.
  • MiLogin is the State of Michigan's application for online access to many state services and systems across multiple departments, including MDARD's MiAgGrants System. MiLogin allows users to access many state services and systems online, across multiple departments, using a single user ID and password. If you have not yet created a MiLogin account, you will need to do so to access MiAgGrants. For increased security, MiLogin requires a multifactor authentication before you can access LPS or other state systems.
    • Citizen's Account: An individual using State of Michigan online services for their own personal transaction.
    • Business Account: An individual using State of Michigan online services on behalf of a business, organization, or corporation.
      • If you currently have a Citizen and/or Business Account to access State of Michigan online services and applications, you should already have a MiLogin account. Please use your user ID and password from those systems to log into the MiLogin portal, instead of creating a new account.
      • If you have trouble accessing the MiAgGrants system, please contact the MDARD Customer Service Center at 800-292-3939. They are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
  • A MiAgGrants system resource page can be found by clicking on the link at www.michigan.gov/mdardgrants.
• Up to 10% Administrative Cost is allowed. Administrative costs are the grantee’s allowable direct costs for the overall management of the grant.
• Each grantee will be required to submit written reports and appropriate financial documentation to MDARD. Grantees may also be required to report on the outcomes and impact of their grant for a period of time (up to three years) after the grant period ends.
• All applicants must be registered as a vendor in the Vendor Self Serv system with the State of Michigan prior to submitting an application. Registration can be completed SIGMA Vendor Self Service
• Applications must be submitted via MiAgGrants site by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on February 21, 2025.     
  • Please be sure to submit the application. Completed and save all pages of the application, then navigate on the left side menu of the application and scroll down to the "Status options" section and click "Submit Application or Application Submitted" in order to send the application over to MDARD for review. After submitting, please check the status of the document on the "document landing page" and make sure it shows "Application in Review" to confirm the application's submission. Once submitted your application status will move from in-progress to submitted in the system.
  • If you have any questions or need help with the MiAgGrants system, please reach out to the Systems administrator, Muneeb Khan at KhanM16@michigan.gov.
• Salaries, wages, staff benefits, and travel costs are not eligible costs under this grant. There may be additional ineligible costs as part of project proposals. Applicants will be informed of this by MDARD on a case-by-case basis during the review process.
• For the purposes of this grant program, MDARD retains the right to make the final decision about whether or not an entity applying as a Farm Stop, qualifies as a Farm Stop, and whether or not as an entity applying as a Food Hub, qualifies as a Food Hub.

Equal Opportunity

The State of Michigan and the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, marital status, partisan considerations, or a disability or genetic information that is unrelated to the person's ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position.

To file a complaint of discrimination, please contact:

or call 517-284-5729.

You may also contact the Michigan Department of Civil Rights at: