Where to Get Government Grants for Beekeeping

Getting Government Grants for Beekeeping is something any beekeeper will appreciate, especially those who are just starting their business in this category. As you know, the local or domestic honeybees play an important task in the United States, especially because they pollinate around 30% of the crops and plants, which help the ecosystem to grow healthy.

Therefore, there are many sources, both from the Federal government and corporation, encourage people who are trying to grow their apiary. This post will give you a list of possible source for grants that you can use for your apiary or beehives business.

Grants for Beekeeping Business

Here are some grants you can try for beekeeping business:

Grants for Beekeeping Projects

Federal Grants

Here are some federal grants to support beekeeping industry:

Local Agriculture Market Program

Known as LAMP, there are some grants and programs are available with the goal to support the development, coordination, and expansion of the direct producer to consumer marketing, even local and regional food markets or enterprises.

Aside of the SARE grant, they also have the Agricultural Marketing Service Grants to help with organic certification cost and the Specialty Crop Block Grant, available for specialty crops. Since honey is considered as a specialty crop, then apiarists and beekeepers can apply for the Specialty Crop Block Grant from the USDA (http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2014/04/0064.xml).

Small Business Innovation Research Program

This program is available to support small business that stand with bee keeping industry in the technology development.

Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education Program (SARE)

The government subsidies for beekeeping are available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Their Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program is available for general category in farming, but there have been many cases where beekeepers or apiarists are awarded.

The Federal Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program

This program supports projects that will build businesses, create more job employment, and contribute some dollars into a local economy. The aim of this program is to improve the community access toward food. Bees are the are the part of that.

State Grants

Aside of the federal grants, there are also some states that offer agricultural grants or other programs that support beekeeping. Here are some examples of grants for beekeeping from states:

Grant for Beekeeping in New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and North Carolina

Some examples are the New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and North Carolina that provide some inducement programs for apiarists. Meanwhile, there are other states such as Tennessee that give out cost share grant awarded for selected beekeepers for expansion.

Usually the grant is distributed and managed by each state’s Department of Agriculture or similar agency. Therefore, there may be some differences in each state regarding the program. Please contact the local Department of Agriculture or similar agency to learn the available program for beekeepers in your area.

The Conservation Innovation Grant

There’s also a program called the Conservation Innovation Grant that focuses on giving capital fund for free for small businesses that adopt innovative approaches. In general, apiary business is eligible for the grant, but you have to show that your apiary business is in line with what they’re looking for.

The grant award amount is somewhere between $50,000 and $200,000. Some states that offer this kind of program are Kansas, Alabama, New Jersey, Virginia and several other states. Contact your state’s USDA office to learn more about this opportunity.

The Rural Business Opportunity Grant Program

The Rural Business Opportunity Grant program is available for agricultural, cooperative business projects located in rural areas. Local apiaries may benefit from this program, but the cooperative owners should be able to prove that the business has a solid financial strength and expertise.

Private Grants

The next grant source is from private sector. There are many organizations, both nonprofits and private, support the beekeepers. However, this type of grants is not typically available every year. You may want to ask bee or honey related associations, churches and foundations about the opportunity. It’s a long shot, but sometimes you can get lucky too!

Centene Charitable Foundation Grants

This program offers US $300 – US $500,000 as a nonprofit grant. This program is from the Centene Foundation that works together with the local partners with the concern on inclusion, community development, and whole person.

The goal of Centene is to transform the community health, one person at the same time. The Foundation is an important part to achieve this goal. The areas of focus for this grant are: Education, Social Services, and Healthcare Access.

It is important to note that the grant does not accept any request from families or individuals. Also, it is not for political, fraternal, and labor organizations.

Costco Wholesale Charitable Contribution

The focus of this program is on supporting children, human, education, and health services in the communities where Costco runs their business. Throughout the year, Costco gets a large number of requests from the non-profit organizations to make a good contribution, and to offer support to various organizations. Costco only open this grant for eligible nonprofit organization that focuses on supporting education, health, human services, and children.

Hearst Foundation Grants

William Randolph Hearst Foundation offers US $30,000 to US $200,000. This is nonprofit grant that provides funding for education, behavioral, biomedical, capital project, and general operating expense in the United States.

The Hearts Foundation has some goals when funding projects. First, it has a big commitment to improve health and quality of life, stabilize and support families, support sustainable employment and productive career path, and many more.

Summary

So, technically there are no federal grants specifically for beekeeping. But, there are many programs and grants that can support beekeeping. The grant programs come and end over the time, from different agencies as well. If you want to get more information about the federal grants that can support beekeeping, we recommend you visiting the website grants.gov.

As users, you can search per categories and look for the things that can apply to your situation. You can also prepare yourself with the lengthy application method.

If you want to get start with beekeeping, it is also important to note that it is not something affordable. Well, it is a very challenging activity. It needs few years so you can enjoy richy rewarding business.

I hope this information on government grant for beekeeping can help you grow your business!

References :

• Grants for Raising Honey Bees : ehow.com/info_12135572_grants-raising-honey-bees.html
• Grants for Starting an Apiary : smallbusiness.chron.com/grants-starting-apiary-20755.html
• Bee Source : beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?250011-Government-Grants
• Image : sites.dartmouth.edu
• (https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda-programs-resources-support-beekeepers.pdf
• (https://www.instrumentl.com/browse-grants/grants-for-beekeeping?filter_by=location)
• https://www.beeculture.com/grant-money-to-start-beekeeping/