Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA VSGP 011778
The Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is a discretionary grant opportunity run by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under Assistance Listing (CFDA) 10.336. It is authorized by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act and is closely tied to the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP). The basic problem it is designed to solve is the long-running, uneven distribution of veterinarians across the country, especially the shortage of food and large animal veterinary services in rural communities where much of U.S. livestock production takes place. By investing in service capacity and workforce development, the program aims to strengthen animal health and welfare, improve food safety and security, protect public health, and support the economic viability of agricultural producers.
The program’s core objectives are to develop, implement, and sustain food animal veterinary services and to ease veterinarian shortage conditions in the United States, including eligible Insular Areas (as defined in the notice’s appendix). Projects are expected to clearly connect to three practical outcomes: (1) substantially relieving veterinary shortage situations, (2) supporting or facilitating private veterinary practices that care for food animals, and (3) addressing food safety and agricultural animal health concerns. In other words, applications need to show they will tangibly improve access to food animal veterinary care where access is limited, not just generally support veterinary activities.
VSGP supports two main tracks, each with its own eligible applicant pool. One track is Education, Extension, and Training (EET), which focuses on strengthening the food animal veterinary workforce through education and training efforts. Eligible EET applicants include state, regional, or national organizations that support food animal veterinary programs; allied or professional food animal veterinary organizations recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA); AVMA-accredited colleges or schools of veterinary medicine; university research foundations or veterinary medical foundations; U.S. Department of Education-accredited departments of veterinary science or comparative medicine; state agricultural experiment stations or research farms at 1890 institutions; and state, local, or tribal government agencies. Multiple EET submissions can come from different departments within the same eligible institution, but the program will make only one EET award per institution per year.
The second track is Rural Practice Enhancement (RPE), which is aimed more directly at on-the-ground capacity in rural veterinary practice. RPE eligibility is limited to for-profit or nonprofit clinics or hospitals (not individual veterinarians) located in the United States or an Insular Area that provide mixed, food, or large animal veterinary services in a rural area and within a current VMLRP-designated shortage area. The rural requirement is tied to the definition in Section 343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)). The notice highlights that VMLRP Type II shortage areas qualify as rural, while Type I shortage areas require an additional check using USDA Rural Development’s Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) mapping tool to confirm rural eligibility. RPE also allows clinics that employ a current VMLRP awardee (with an active service agreement for the specific shortage area) to apply; however, if funded, the clinic must retain that VMLRP awardee for the full 36-month RPE project period or repay the grant funds if the awardee departs early (with repayment prorated based on time served).
Application integrity rules are stricter for RPE than EET. RPE applicants are not allowed to submit duplicate or multiple applications; if they do, NIFA will disqualify both submissions. EET is more flexible in that multiple departments may apply, subject to the one-award-per-institution-per-year limit described above. In terms of repeat funding, RPE clinics can apply again only after the prior RPE award has fully ended (including the end of any no-cost extensions). For EET, institutions may hold multiple awards across different years, including awards from different departments and with different project directors.
Key administrative details from the posting include the opportunity title (Veterinary Services Grant Program), funding opportunity number (USDA NIFA VSGP 011778), agency (USDA NIFA), and category (Discretionary Grant). The application deadline listed is April 16, 2026. The award ceiling is $300,000. The listing indicates expected awards, but the number is not provided in the excerpted source. Applicants are expected to follow all requirements in the official Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO); missing eligibility requirements by the deadline can result in removal from consideration or prevent an award from being made.Apply for USDA NIFA VSGP 011778
- The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Veterinary Services Grant Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.336.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2026-01-15.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-04-16. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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