Overview
USDA launched the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (Increasing Land Access) Program to help underserved producers by increasing land, capital, and market access. The program funds cooperative agreements or grants for projects that help move underserved producers from surviving to thriving.
Land access is critical to the success of agriculture. Underserved producers have not received the amount of specialized technical support that would benefit the launch, growth, resilience, and success of their agricultural enterprises. The Increasing Land Access Program is intended to address this problem by increasing access to farm ownership opportunities, increasing access and improving results for those with heirs’ property or fractionated land, increasing access to markets and capital that affect the ability to access land, and increasing land ownership, land succession, and agricultural business planning.
Section 1006 of the American Rescue Plan Act, as amended by Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act, included these provisions for USDA to ensure underserved producers have resources, tools, programs, and technical support they need to succeed.
2023 Awarded Projects
In June 2023, USDA awarded approximately $300 million for 50 selected projects. The tentative selectees include national, regional, and local projects that cover 40 states and territories including Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. USDA will work with the applicants to finalize the scope and funding levels in the coming months.
Learn about the 50 locally led projects that will help improve access to land, capital, and markets for underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners.
Read the summaries.
Program questions can be directed to Land.Access@usda.gov.
Programmatic Environmental Assessment
"USDA has developed a Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the Increasing Land Access Program to evaluate the program's overarching environmental impacts as they relate to the National Environmental Policy Act. The final Programmatic Environmental Assessment, incorporating feedback and Finding of No Significant Impact are posted below:
ILA Finding of No Significant Impact Signed
Increasing Land Access Programmatic Environmental Assessment
Environmental Reviews for Outreach Cooperative Agreements and Grants (usda.gov)
Additional Resources and Information
June 14 Stakeholder Announcement: USDA Seeks Comments on Increasing Land Access Programmatic Environmental Assessment
Oct. 19 Stakeholder Announcement: USDA Extends Application Deadline for Projects Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access for Underserved Producers
Increasing Land Access Program Fact Sheet
Aug. 24 News Release: USDA Announces Up to $550 Million in American Rescue Plan Funding for Projects Benefitting Underserved Producers and Minority Serving Institutions that Create Career Development Opportunities for Next Generation Leaders
Webinars
USDA hosted webinars to review and address frequently asked questions on the Increasing Land Access Program.