The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program has had an incredible reach, providing $100 million in awards to 1,275 projects since 2013. On September 10, USDA announced it was opening applications for the FY 2026 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program. National Farm to School Network applauds USDA for this new launch, especially after two key farm to school programs were canceled in March: the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program and the $660 million Local Food for Schools and Child Care (LFSCC) program. LFSCC, which directly funded food purchases from local farmers, has not returned. The Patrick Leahy Program supports farm to school efforts broadly but offers little funding for local ingredients.

We would like to thank all the legislators who expressed concern and asked questions to USDA Secretary Rollins through a joint letter and through multiple hearings. We also want to thank our local and state partners who shared their stories about the impact of the recent cut and advocated for its continuation.

We are also incredibly grateful to USDA for making farm to school a priority, which was featured in the agency’s recent Small Family Farms Policy Agenda. We urge USDA to continue to find ways to bolster local procurement, school gardens, and agriculture education. Farm to school is truly a triple win for our nation’s farmers, kids, and communities.

The Good News: 

There’s ample time to submit gather and submit an application
Farm to school champions have just under three months – until December 5th – to submit applications. 

There’s up to $18 million on the table
USDA has shared it will award up to $18 million, subject to availability of funds. While this amount is less than what we hoped given the cancellation of the $10 million FY 2025 cycle, if fully awarded, this would be the largest annual round of awards since the program began in 2013!

USDA is providing more technical assistance that ever
This technical assistance takes the form of a webinar and several office hours:

Major Changes in the Request for Applications (RFA):

Partnerships are now required (with some exceptions)

While project partnerships were common in previous award cycles, the FY 2026 RFA now requires applicants other than State agencies and Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) to apply as a partnership. A partnership is a group of three or more entities, including a coordinating entity, that will participate in the proposed grant project. All projects must include at least one child nutrition program (CNP) as a partner.

We’re glad to see USDA affirm that strong partnerships are the foundation of successful farm to school programs. However, the new mandatory CNP partner regulation may cause some hardship for some. Projects not specific to CNPs, such as research or solving broader problems, will now have to shift. For example, work that focuses on food supply chain innovations or providing training to farmers may be constrained. In addition to producers, the CNP partnership requirement may also present difficulties for early childcare sites that do not participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) due to burdensome paperwork or regulations. If these sites want to submit a proposal, they will need to adjust their project ideas to include an official CNP partner and then secure one, even though they already feed children every day. That feels like a tall ask for two groups that are already stretched thin.

Finding partners and ensuring proposals meet these guidelines may require extra time and intentionality. Please refer to NFSN’s state partner map or connect with your own state’s farm to school network if you need assistance finding project partners.

NFSN is also excited to work with our partners on joint proposals, ranging from a main partner to a small consulting role. If you are interested in teaming up with NFSN for a project, please email one of our staff members or email info@farmtoschool.org.

Projects must be at least $100,000‍

Increasing the project proposal floor to $100,000 marks a truly dramatic change. Since 2013, 97% of previous grant awards representing 88% of funding have been for under $100,000. Before this, there was no project request floor and the award cap was increased from $100,000 to $500,000 just in 2022 for multi-state or multi-Tribal projects. The award cap for the Turnkey Grant track, which spanned 2021-2024, was even smaller, at $50,000. ‍

The Match: Providing a 25% match has always been a barrier to participation. As the cost of a project increases, so does the match. Page 15 of the RFA explains the formula: If the federal grant request is $100,000 (the new minimum), this means applicants will have to provide a match amount of $33,334, bringing the total project cost to $133,334. 

While creating high-award and high-impact grant projects makes sense to streamline operations at USDA, it is likely that many small-scale projects and smaller-size applicants will be excluded from this grant opportunity. Many rural schools may not want to request $100,000 for a project, even if they could afford the match. Additionally, there are less than ten states that have established and funded similar competitive farm to school grant programs at the state-level. This will leave a large gap for funds to seed farm to school programs, especially for the Southeast, Mountain Plains, Southwest, and Midwest regions.

Therefore, applicants must be more intentional about project partners for their applications this cycle. Multiple small projects can team up to form larger cohesive proposals, and applicants with greater capacity can reflect on how they are able to step up for grassroots partners through regranting or partnership.

Equity scoring criteria is removed

The FY 2025 cycle was canceled because the grant’s scoring criteria added bonus points related to equity. Therefore, it’s no surprise that this was removed from the FY 2026 cycle.

Specifically, the previous RFA added up to seven bonus points for racial equity priorities, including tribal organizations, and organizations led or staffed by people of color and serving communities of color. This scoring boost wasn't limited to racial equity. Up to three bonus points went toward small-to mid-size producers and producer groups, child nutrition programs in rural areas, and projects that serve high proportions (40%+) of students that are eligible for free and reduced breakfast.

While NFSN recognizes that diversity, equity, and inclusion measures are explicitly not part of the Trump Administration, these bonus points helped level the playing field for many different kinds of communities that have historically faced discrimination. ‍

Removal of grant tracks

Previous cycles included multiple grant tracks: State Agency, Implementation, and Turnkey (further subdivided into Agriculture Education, Edible Garden, and Planning tracks). This RFA removes all grant tracks.

While this ‘streamlining’ may have some benefits such as giving more freedom to applicants, it also may come with some unintended consequences. With multiple tracks, it is easier for grantors to earmark certain funds for specific purposes or groups to ensure fair or strategic distribution. The Turnkey track (which allowed awards of up to $50,000) was also designed to be more plug-and-play for applicants new to farm to school or looking to engage in small projects. The elimination of the Turnkey grant track and the increased award minimum will make it harder for these applicants to apply. 

To Wrap It Up:

National Farm to School Network is thrilled at the launch of the FY 2026 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Cycle. This funding is critical to support the growth of farm to school programs across the country. With three months to develop proposals and additional technical assistance from USDA staff, we are looking forward to seeing how the up to $18 million will get awarded. 

The key changes this round include: (1) requirement for partnerships for non-state agency and Indian Tribal Organization applicants, (2) new request minimum of $100,000, and (3) removal of equity bonus point scoring criteria, (4) removal of grant tracks.  

The new FY 2026 structure has the potential to support large-scale, ambitious projects that can transform farm to school. However, it also risks leaving out smaller initiatives that have long been the backbone of this movement. Ensuring project proposals meet the new partnership requirements and navigating partnerships thoughtfully and equitably will be key to ensuring that all communities have a chance to benefit from this funding.

Our organization has created a dashboard with visualizations and descriptions of the 1,275 grant projects awarded thus far – $100M since 2013! While there are significant changes in this grant cycle, our dashboard can help you learn more about successful projects and find out who was awarded in your area.

‍Collaborate with NFSN On Your Project:

‍NFSN is excited to work with our partners on joint proposals, ranging from a main partner to a small consulting role. If you are interested in teaming up with NFSN for a project, please email one of our staff members or email info@farmtoschool.org.