Illinois Announces $3.6M in Grants for Local Food Infrastructure

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The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) announced plans to distribute $3.6 million in fiscal year 2026 to support local food processing, aggregation, and distribution. Grants ranging from $1,000 to $250,000 will be available for collaborative projects, and $1,000 to $75,000 for individual projects. Eligible applicants include Illinois farms, cooperatives, slaughter/processing facilities, food businesses, food hubs, nonprofits, and local governments with fewer than 50 employees.

Why it matters

This investment aims to further expand Illinois' local food industry by providing critical infrastructure funding to small and medium-sized agricultural businesses and organizations. It comes at a time when consumer demand for locally-sourced food products continues to grow.

The details

The grant funds, appropriated in the FY26 state budget, will be used to support the purchasing, leasing, renting, building, or installation of infrastructure related to the processing, storage, aggregation, or distribution of value-added agricultural products. Applications will be available starting February 18 on the IDOA website, and interested parties can prepare by pre-registering with SAM.gov and the GATA Grantee Portal.

• The grant funds were appropriated in the FY26 state budget.
• Applications for the grant funding will be available starting February 18, 2026.

What’s next

Additional information about the program, supporting links, and helpful guidance on getting ahead on the application can be found on the IDOA's website.