Accelerating AgTech R&D: Growing Your Research Program

For innovators pursuing funding for agricultural technologies, success depends on preparation and strategic alignment. Applicants should:

• Monitor funding opportunity announcements (RFAs) closely to identify relevant deadlines.
• Begin registrations with SAM.gov, SBIR.gov, and Grants.gov early, as these can take several weeks.
• Review topic areas thoroughly and confirm alignment by contacting National Program Leaders before submission.
• Build strong, qualified teams with technical, business, and academic expertise.
• Review all required proposal components carefully, ensuring clear budgets, justified costs, and well-documented facilities and resources.
• Take advantage of opportunities like TABA funding to strengthen commercialization potential.

• The USDA SBIR/STTR program supports high-risk, high-reward research with Phase I awards to establish technical feasibility ($125,000 – $175,000) and Phase II awards to expand R&D for commercialization (up to $600,000).
• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is the only USDA sub-agency participating in SBIR/STTR, focusing on advancing competitiveness, food safety, nutrition, and energy independence.
• Applicants can request Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funding – up to $6,500 for Phase I and $50,000 for Phase II – to support commercialization services such as intellectual property support, market assessment, and business planning.
• Ten USDA topic areas guide project alignment, including animal and plant production, conservation, food science, rural development, and biofuels.
• Program leaders listed on USDA’s topic area pages are available for direct outreach – allowing applicants to confirm project alignment before submission.

Eligible small businesses must meet the following criteria:

1. Be organized for profit with a place of business located in the US, and all R/R&D conducted domestically.
2. Be more than 50% owned and controlled by US citizens or permanent resident aliens, or by qualifying small business concerns.
3. Fewer than 500 employees, including affiliates.
4. For SBIR, the small business must perform at least two-thirds of the research in Phase I and one-half in Phase II.
5. For STTR, the small business must perform at least 40% of the R&D, with a partnering research institution performing at least 30%.

Applicants must complete the following registrations before submission:

1. SAM.gov (System for Award Management) – may take up to six weeks.
2. SBIR.gov – to obtain an SBA Company ID.
3. Grants.gov – for proposal submission and management.

Strong proposals clearly demonstrate:

• Technical feasibility and commercial potential
• A qualified project team led by a knowledgeable Principal Investigator (PI) with appropriate expertise
• Clear, justified budgets and facilities plans
• Market alignment and differentiation from competitors

Applications include core sections such as the project summary, project narrative, bibliography, facilities and equipment documentation, supporting documents, key persons, budget justification, and foreign disclosure forms.

Proposals are evaluated on six criteria: scientific and technical feasibility, market potential, problem importance, investigator qualifications, budget justification, and differentiation. Scientific feasibility and market potential carry double weight.

• USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) – Funds programs that advance both fundamental and applied agricultural sciences. AFRI focuses on improving rural economies, increasing food production, stimulating the bioeconomy, mitigating climate impacts, enhancing food safety and nutrition, and addressing water availability. AFRI is managed by NIFA and has a large annual budget, with awards ranging from $20,000 to $1.15 million depending on the program area.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) – Offers SBIR/STTR awards up to $200 million annually for high-tech innovation, including agricultural technologies.
• Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) – Supports research addressing challenges in food, agriculture, and sustainability.
• Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research (ROAR) – Awards one year grants up to $250,000, deploying urgent funding to support research and outreach in response to emerging or unanticipated threats to the nation’s food supply or agricultural systems
• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – Funds AgTech-related work through its Biological Technologies Office under open Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs).