Support for our agricultural educators throughout the state of Minnesota
The grant programs listed below have a variety of deadlines throughout the year. We encourage you to check these out and connect with supporting organizations for any additional questions.
State and Federal Funding
Perkins V improves and expands services for students enrolled in CTE programs. It provides an increased focus on the academic achievement of CTE students, strengthening the connections between secondary and postsecondary education, and improving state and local accountability. Allocation procedures vary, but agriculture programs can often access between $1,000 to several thousands of dollars per year for innovative equipment, work-based learning opportunities, teacher recruitment efforts, career exploration, and local needs assessment.
Minnesota Department of Education Funding
Minnesota Career and Technical Education (CTE) Revenue
Minnesota CTE Revenue reimburses a school district for 35% of its CTE expenses (which includes approved Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education programs) such as:
- Appropriately licensed teacher salary (including extended/summer/FFA contracts), but not benefits
- Teacher travel, including registration, lodging, and mileage for professional development and FFA
- Supplies and instructional food unique to CTE (i.e., classroom, SAE, and FFA), but not equipment
The state legislature appropriates $250,000 in annual funding to MDE for schools with current MDE-approved AFNR programs to support classroom, leadership, and work-based learning extended programming during the summer for high school students. Schools must provide a one-to-one dollar match.
- Grant funding supports one-half of up to three licensed agriculture teachers’ salaries and benefits for up to 40 working days each for one summer program.
Application deadline varies each year. Search “Agricultural Education Summer Grant” on the Minnesota Department of Education’s grant website.
MAELC Strategic Initiative Grants
The Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC) offers Strategic Initiative grants to support programming for agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) education at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. Applications due April 15 and November 15. Over the last five years, awards ranged from $1,100-$15,000, with an average award amount of $7,000.
Other Grant Opportunities
Compeer Financial offers two grants for AFNR programs:
1) Agriculture Education Grant - provides students with access to modern resources to broaden their perspective of the rapidly changing agriculture industry; typically available in April.
2) General Use Grant- education, environment, technology, or quality of life for agriculture and rural America. Typically, available in May and November.
Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) curricular materials provide an elevated level of educational experiences to students to enhance the rigor and relevance of AFNR subject matter. CASE provides purposeful enhancement of science, mathematics, and English language understanding. Grants and scholarships are available online.
Grants are available from the National FFA Organization to help support FFA chapters, FFA alumni affiliates, and student supervised agricultural experiences (SAE's). These programs include Living to Serve Grants, Alumni Awards and Grants, and SAE Grants.
The Minnesota FFA Foundation provides grants to support FFA chapter growth. New Chapters (1-3 years) can apply for up to $1,500 in support, and existing chapters can apply for up to $1,000 in support. Funds are intended to grow and expand FFA opportunities for students at the level. Applications are due October 1 each year.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture provides support for AFNR education through several grant programs:
1) Farm to School Grants – Supports Minnesota school districts that want to purchase and serve Minnesota agricultural products. Typically, due in November.
2) AGRI Urban Agriculture Grant - Encourages urban youth agricultural education and urban agriculture community development within city limits of urban or peri-urban areas (population over 5,000 or within tribal land). Grants help organizations and communities obtain the materials and services necessary to successfully promote urban youth agricultural education and urban agriculture community development. Applications are typically due in early Spring and awarded between $5,000-$100,000.
3) Meat Education and Training Grant Program - Provides the opportunity for Minnesota schools to establish or enhance meat cutting and butchery training programs. The grant funds equipment, facility renovation, curriculum development, and faculty training for new and established programs. A total of $350,000 is available. Schools may apply for up to $70,000. Up to 10% of each school’s award may be used for faculty training. Schools are not required to contribute matching funds.
CHS offers grants for K-12 teachers implementing an agriculture-related project in their classroom. Several $500 grants are available for classroom projects that use agricultural concepts to instruct students in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and other core subject areas. Applications are typically due in November.
The MAITC Foundation offers Ag Literacy Grants (max of $1,000) to K-12 educators effectively integrating agriculture and food systems content into their classroom or school. MAITC aims to fund projects that provide students the opportunity to experience agriculture in a cross-curricular manner. Applications are typically due in September.
Several grant opportunities are available for school gardens. Visit the School Gardening in Minnesota website.
Many local businesses and community agriculture/education organizations offer grants, so be sure to keep an eye out for other funding opportunities.