MDA Opens Grant to Accelerate Markets for Continuous Living Cover Crops

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is accepting applications for a new round of grants to support the development of enterprises, supply chains, and markets for continuous living cover (CLC) crops and cropping systems in the early stages of commercial development.

Continuous living cover refers to agricultural systems that maintain living plants and roots in the soil throughout the entire year. This year-round vegetative cover protects soil, improves nutrient cycling, reduces erosion, and strengthens landscape resilience. CLC systems can take many forms, including:

• Winter annual cover crops grown between summer annuals
• Agroforestry and silvopasture systems
• Perennial forage and biomass crops
• Perennial grain production
• Integrated regenerative systems such as poultry silvopasture

Examples of emerging CLC crops and systems include Kernza® perennial grain, winter camelina, elderberry, perennial flax, and regenerative poultry silvopasture. These crops and systems offer both environmental benefits and new economic opportunities for Minnesota farmers and rural communities.

CLC crops improve water and soil quality, sequester carbon, build soil health, and enhance biodiversity and pollinator habitat. Achieving these benefits at scale requires strong, reliable value chains—from seed production to processing to end markets—that can support widespread adoption.

About the Grant Program

This request for proposals is the latest round supported by one-time funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Previous rounds supported projects that helped build early-stage enterprises and supply chains for CLC crops. Summaries of these projects are available on the Developing Markets for CLC Crops webpage.

The goal of this grant program is to accelerate the development of CLC value chains by supporting equipment, infrastructure, business development, and market development activities. Eligible projects may include:

• Customized equipment for harvesting, cleaning, or storing CLC crops
• Processing infrastructure for food, feed, fiber, or bio‑based products
• Market development or commercialization activities
• Supply‑chain coordination among farmers, processors, and buyers

The intended outcome is a stronger, more connected marketplace that enables more Minnesota farmers to adopt CLC crops and cropping systems.

Eligibility and Funding

Applicants must:

• Be an organization located in Minnesota, including companies, cooperatives, governments, Tribes, urban American Indian communities, partnerships, and other civil or political associations
• Focus their proposed work on continuous living cover crops or cropping systems

The MDA will select grantees through a competitive review process. Awards will range from $50,000 to $100,000.

Applications must be submitted through the MDA’s online grant system by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8.

The full Request for Proposals (RFP), application materials, and summaries of previously funded projects are available on the Developing Markets for CLC Crops webpage.

###

Cynthia Moothart, MDA Communications
651-420-2637
Cynthia.Moothart@state.mn.us