What Is a Land Grant? (Part 2): Grants to Individuals for Homesteading and Settlement

This post was originally published in 2016 and updated on January 15, 2020.

A land grant is an award of land to a recipient with the requirement that a public purpose, as defined by legislation, is served through the grant. In Part 1, we covered land grant colleges and universities, which are great examples of land grants achieving lasting benefits in the United States of America.

 

Land Grants for “Homesteading”

The passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 established a land grant program that allowed individuals, both U.S. citizens and intended citizens, to apply for 160-acre plots of land. “Homesteading” was a term referring to the process of moving west onto land in unsettled territories and cultivating the land.

What Is a Land Grant? (Part 1): Land Grant Colleges and Universities

This post was originally published in 2016 and updated on November 19, 2019.

“Land grant” is a term you may have heard before, especially if you grew up near a state college or university that received land or funding as a result of one of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. Before we begin our grant history lesson, let’s define what a land grant is.

A grant is the transfer of anything of value from the Federal government to a non-federal entity to carry out a public purpose authorized by U.S. law. So, a “land grant” is an award of land, instead of money, to a recipient with the requirement that a public purpose, as defined by legislation, is served through the grant.

Federal Funding Spotlight on Programs Supporting Business & Commerce

This week’s Federal Funding Spotlight focuses on programs and initiatives that are designed, in part, to promote business and commerce, including…

• A program that encourages the translation of technologies for 🧠 brain or behavioral research from academic and other non-small business research sectors to the marketplace;
• A program that 🤝 assists individuals or entities in the startup, expansion or operational improvement of rural cooperatives and other business entities;
• A program that assists 🧀 dairy businesses in the development, production, marketing and distribution of dairy products;
• And more!

Lab to Marketplace: Tools for Brain and Behavioral Research (R43/R44 – Clinical Trial Optional)

• Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
• Current Closing Date for Applications: January 5, 2021
• This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages the translation of technologies for brain or behavioral research from academic and other non-small business research sectors to the marketplace. The program seeks Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant applications that propose to further develop, make more robust, and make more user-friendly such technologies in preparation for commercial dissemination.

The Latest in Federal Grants: 5 Funding Opportunities Announced This Week

This week’s Federal Funding Spotlight features programs that aim to…

• strengthen humanities programs at community colleges;
• reduce the morbidity and mortality of substance use disorder in rural communities;
• assist state, tribal, local government agencies and interstate/intertribal entities in developing programs which protect, manage, and restore wetlands;
• build mutual understanding between the United States and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the United States for current and emerging foreign leaders.

Click here to view the latest funding opportunities published to Grants.gov.

Federal Funding Spotlight on Agriculture Programs Benefiting Growers, Green Infrastructure & Workforce Development

This week’s Federal Funding Spotlight focuses on federal grant and cooperative agreement opportunities relating to agriculture, including…

• A program that helps increase access to and availability of regionally produced agricultural products;
• A program that improves green infrastructure through planting of trees and other vegetation;
• A program that focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences;
• And more!

Click here to view the latest funding opportunities published to Grants.gov.

Federal Funding Spotlight on Agriculture: Open Opportunities Supporting Specialty Crops, Food Security & More

This week’s edition of #FundingFriday highlights open grant opportunities related to agriculture, including programs supporting…

• Specialty crops, such as dried fruit, tree nuts and horticulture
• Agricultural transformation and food security
• Farmers, ranchers, farm workers and farm family members with disabilities, and more!

Specialty Crop Block Grant Program – Farm Bill

• Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service
• Current Closing Date for Applications: May 24, 2019
•  The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announces the availability of approximately $72.4 million in grant funds, less AMS administrative costs, to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, horticulture and nursery crops (including floriculture).

 

What’s New in Federal Grants: Opportunities Supporting Native American Libraries, Community Programming, and More

This week’s edition of #FundingFriday highlights new grant opportunities supporting…

• the programs and services of Native American libraries
• local programming designed to place volunteers in communities to assist older adults and individuals with disabilities in maintaining independence
• innovative projects that help reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses
• and more!

Native American Library Services Enhancement Grant

• Institute of Museum and Library Services
• Current Closing Date for Applications: May 1, 2019 
• Native American Enhancement grants are competitive grants available to carry out activities, described in 20 U.S.C. 9141, that advance the programs and services of eligible Native American libraries.

Funding Friday: Federal Grants for Farming Management, Cyberinfrastructure Services, Data Science & More

This week’s edition of #FundingFriday highlights new grant opportunities supporting…

• the improvement the farm management knowledge and skills;
• integrated cyberinfrastructure services and quantitative metrics with targets for delivery and usage of these services;
• studies on advanced policing;
• the application of data science approaches to energy science.

Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI)

• National Science Foundation
• Current Closing Date for Applications: April 8, 2019 
• The Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI) umbrella program seeks to enable funding opportunities that are flexible and responsive to the evolving and emerging needs in cyberinfrastructure. This program continues the CSSI program by removing the distinction between software and data elements/framework implementations, and instead emphasizing integrated cyberinfrastructure services, quantitative metrics with targets for delivery and usage of these services, and community creation.

 

Funding Friday: Federal Grants Supporting Nutrition

This week’s edition of #FundingFriday highlights federal programs supporting food and nutrition.

School Nutrition Training Grant for Allied Professional Organizations

• Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
• Closing Date: January 28, 2019
• School Nutrition Training Grant for AlliedProfessional Organizations funds will assist allied professional organizations in planning, developing, promoting, delivering, and evaluating a workforce development and training initiative to provide skills-based training and technical assistance for school nutrition professionals to strengthen school meals program operators’ competencies, knowledge, and skills within one or more of the eight (8) key functional areas.

5 Grants for National Water Quality Month #FundingFriday

We all need it, so we need to protect our clean water supplies. As the National Science Foundation says, “Humanity depends upon the Earth’s physical resources and natural systems for food, energy, and water (FEW).” Below are U.S. Federal Government grants from DOI, EPA, NASA, NSF, and USDA that work to restore, improve, or sustain water quality and access.