Emergency Resilience Grant

The American Farmland Trust (AFT) Brighter Future Fund’s Emergency Resilience Grant was formed through generous support from donors and members seeking to offset financial disruptions farmers and ranchers are experiencing due to natural disasters (such as flooding, wildfires, or avian flu), the loss or delay of funding due to the government funding freeze, or a loss of markets.  

Funding will be prioritized for small to mid-size farms that have previously faced challenges accessing traditional funding opportunities, enhancing financial resilience, supporting business technical assistance, investing in business building, and/or fostering soil health and environmentally beneficial agricultural practices.

Pictured: Alyssa Barsanti, Colorado.

Award Amount and Eligibility

2025 Emergency Resilience Grants will be awarded in amounts up to $10,000 per project (or up to $10,250 if also awarded a Real Farmer Care award). 

Requirements:

• Applicants must be based in the US (any of the 50 states or 5 territories).

• Grants will only be awarded to applicants who have been caused financial hardship as a direct result of disruptive events in recent months, including but not limited to natural disasters (flooding, wildfires, or avian flu), the loss or delay in funding due to the government funding freeze, or a loss of markets. 

• Applicants will be required to provide proof of such financial distress or loss due to a disruptive event listed above.

• Applicants must also include documentation of cost estimates, as well as a proposed budget and timeline.

• A project may involve one or more individual farmers/ranchers or farm/ranch families but only one grant can be awarded per farm/farm family or group.

• Those who were awarded a grant from AFT’s Brighter Future Fund in 2025 (including Regenerate VA Healthy Soils, Farm Vitality, or New England Regenerative Livestock Farming grants) are not eligible to apply to this additional funding opportunity.

• Applicants who applied but were not selected for funding during previous AFT grant cycles are encouraged to apply. Previous recipients of other AFT grants received in 2024 or earlier may apply; however, since funding is limited, AFT may prioritize those who have not received prior awards. 

• Eligible farms or ranches must be for-profit and be able to provide proof of income (or similar, if the operation engages in barter, exchange, or community supply). Operations must be producing food or agricultural products for their community for sale, or barter or exchange. This grant does not intend to support operations that produce agricultural products mainly for personal, household, or family use.

• Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to take advantage of alternate resources designed specifically for nonprofits. 

Questions?

For general questions or requests for assistance, or if you need materials in Spanish, email [email protected].

Para preguntas generales o solicitudes de asistencia, o si necesita materiales en español, envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected].

For media inquiries, contact Lori Sallet, director of media relations, at [email protected].