USDA-NIFA releases competitive grant program RFAs

Over the past several weeks, USDA-NIFA has begun releasing requests for applications (RFAs) for some of its competitive grant programs, moving forward with the much-delayed funding process for this year.

After any administration change, a pause and review of research grant programs is expected, but this year, the RFAs for NIFA competitive grant programs experienced an unusually long delay. Fortunately, the proposal process seems to be moving forward with NIFA releasing RFAs for three competitive grant programs in July: SBIR/STTR, Open Data Framework, and Potato Breeding Research. Be advised that the applications windows for these programs are somewhat shorter than normal.

On August 1, the AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program RFA was released. The RFA will fund $300 million in projects and outlines the details for almost 30 different program priority areas. Each priority area has a different deadline, which is noted within the RFA.

One thing to note is that the AFRI RFA is for the next fiscal year, FY2026. Due to the delayed RFA process, there will not be an AFRI request for FY2025 applications, and instead funds will be distributed to existing projects or previously peer-reviewed and meritorious but unfunded proposals. Other large competitive grant programs at NIFA could face a similar process in order expedite the distribution of funds.