"MASC" grant application due Friday.

[Martin Vandepas]

This is a confusing grant program. Here's what I know:

• This is a one time program by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the USDA of the Federal Government.
• It is open to basically all current producers of "specialty crops" including all fruits, vegetables, honey, floriculture, herbs, mushrooms, vegetable seed, etc
• There is a pool of $2.65 Billion that will be given out one time. That's a lot!
• "The program’s structure does not require funds to be directed toward marketing-specific activities, functioning instead as general financial assistance for specialty crop farmers."
• There are no essay questions or followup reporting that you need to do. It's not a match or reimbursement, just a check. They don't seem to care why you need the money or what you will do with it.
• The deadline was just extended to Jan 10th. All federal offices will be closed tomorrow the 9th in honor of Jimmy Carter.
• You submit one number for "total specialty crop sales" for 2023 or 2024 or if you are a new producer you can forecast sales for 2025.
• You apply by emailing this simple FSA1140 form to your local FSA representative. It's basically just your name, address, and total sales number from the year you choose.
• I just called the Mt Vernon FSA ((360) 428-7684) and talked to Christina...@usda.gov. She said to email the completed form FSA1140 to her and they will request the additional forms if they need them over the next few weeks. If you are already in their system, for example, if you have received an NRCS grant, they probably already have some of those other forms on file.

What I don't know because they aren't saying:

• How the calculation will be done for how much your payment will be. It sounds like they are going to distribute all the money among the qualified applicants. So this may be a bunch of paperwork for a $20 check or a $10,000 check.

So I hope that's helpful.

Happy farm planning season!

Martin Vandepas

Slow and Steady Farm