Fencing purchased and installed with FY25 Beginning Farmer Equipment and Infrastructure grant award.

Beekeeping supplies purchased with FY25 Beginning Farmer Equipment and Infrastructure grant award.

Overwhelming demand outstrips available funding

St. Paul, MN: A new grant program from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) created to help new farmers with the cost of purchasing needed equipment and infrastructure has awarded 97 grants totaling $856,833 across 45 Minnesota counties in its first year.
Demand for the Beginning Farmer Equipment and Infrastructure Grant far outstripped legislative funding for the grant, with 1,100 eligible applicants requesting $18.6 million from the grant program.
“Minnesota needs its next generation of farmers to thrive, and reducing the hurdles that prevent beginning farmers from becoming profitable is key to that effort,” MDA Assistant Commissioner Patrice Bailey said. “Besides securing land, getting the necessary farming equipment and infrastructure is a huge hurdle.”
Awardees were selected through a competitive process in which applications were evaluated by a review committee based on criteria shared in the Request for Proposals.
Individual awards of up to $20,000 are reimbursing a wide variety of equipment and infrastructure purchase costs for different types of farming, including:
Fencing for 16 applicants
Specialty crop equipment for 15 applicants
Tractor purchases for 11 applicants, from small walk-behind tractors to larger row crop tractors
Livestock chute systems for nine applicants, plus livestock equipment including feeding and watering systems for others
Water access improvements and irrigation equipment for eight applicants
New infrastructure projects such as high tunnels, equipment storage structures, and walk-in coolers
Improvements for existing infrastructure such as barns and feed lots
Various other needs, including a soybean head, GPS technology for tractors, bee hives, a grain transfer system, hay balers, and Christmas tree farm equipment
Qualified applicants were required to be:
A beginning farmer
A Minnesota resident
Farming within the borders of the state of Minnesota
In good standing with the state of Minnesota