Grant Opportunities 

Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program (FLSP)

USDA requests applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot

(FLSP) grant program. Section 1001(b)(4) of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) (Pub. L. No. 117-2)

provides funds for the FLSP program, for the purpose of providing “loans and grants and other assistance

to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency.” The program is funded by USDA’s

Farm Service Agency (FSA) and will be administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and

the Farm Production and Conservation Business Center. 

The FLSP program aims to improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency by addressing challenges

agricultural employers face with labor shortages and instability. The FLSP Program seeks to advance the

following Administration priorities and funds will be awarded with the purpose described below:

Goal 1: Drive U.S. economic recovery and safeguard domestic food supply by addressing current labor

shortages in agriculture;

Goal 2: Reduce irregular migration from Northern Central America through the expansion of regular

pathways; and

Goal 3: Improve working conditions for all farmworkers.

Important Dates:

Application Opens: September 22, 2023 

Application Closes: January 03 , 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time 

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Agricultural Marketing Service

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

September 2023 / www.ams.usda.gov

Who is eligible?

Eligibility is limited to domestic agricultural employers who 1) anticipate meeting all Department of Labor 

(DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulatory requirements for the H-2A program, 

including demonstrated effort to effectively recruit U.S.-based workers and hire all willing, able, and 

qualified U.S. workers; and 2) commit to, and indicate capacity to fulfill all Baseline Requirements, as well 

as any selected (elective) worker benefits and protections outlined in Supplemental Employee 

Commitments sections of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO). This includes fixed-site employers, 

joint-employers, agricultural associations, and H-2A labor contractors. 

What is the maximum grant amount?

Up to $65 million will be available to fund grants under this solicitation. The maximum award amount is 

$2,000,000 and the minimum amount is $25,000 per grant agreement (including any sub-awardees as 

described in Section 3.4 of the NFO). Award amounts will be determined based on the projected number of 

full-time equivalent (FTE) agricultural employees and requested award level.

What can I use the funding for?

The FLSP General Terms and Conditions offers an illustrative list of broad categories of expenses that USDA 

deems allowable and those that are unallowable under the FLSP grant program. For example, this award 

can be used for costs related to the hiring and onboarding of U.S. and H-2A workers and costs related to the 

operations related to compliance with the program commitments. All funds are subject to the terms and 

conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the FLSP General Terms and Conditions. 

More Information:

For additional information, please refer to the FLSP website www.ams.usda.gov/flsp

All questions regarding Grants.gov technical assistance must be directed to Grants.gov’s Applicant 

Support: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html. 

All questions regarding SAM.gov technical assistance must be directed to SAM.gov’s 

Service Desk: https://sam.gov/content/help. 

Contact Us:

For questions about FLSP after closely reviewing the NFO and FAQs, please email FLSPgrants@usda.gov