A key principle of the ASPCA’s work to improve the lives of farm animals is a commitment to help farmers obtain technical and financial resources to improve their animals’ welfare. Agricultural subsidies and grant programs are largely set up to support conventional farming practices, leaving the more humane and responsible farmers at a severe disadvantage in the marketplace.
The ASPCA works with the Food Animal Concerns Trust’s (FACT) Fund-a-Farmer project to underwrite Animal Welfare Certification and Capacity Building Grants, which help farmers adopt meaningful welfare certifications and expand their welfare-certified businesses to ensure better lives for their animals and more transparent, humane options in the marketplace.
Hear directly from farmers why animal welfare certification is important to them:
Animal Welfare Certification Grants make it possible for farmers to attain animal welfare certification from Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Humane, or Global Animal Partnership (GAP) Steps 4 and higher. The grants are awarded on an annual basis, and farmers can apply for grants of up to $2,500 to make on-farm improvements needed to achieve certification.
Capacity Building Grants enable existing welfare-certified farms to expand their capacity and reach new markets. Farmers who already have achieved Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Humane,or GAP certification are eligible for grant funding. The grants are awarded on an annual basis, and individual farmers can receive grants of up to $2,500, while group projects from multiple farmers can receive grants of up to $5,000.
The request for proposals for both grants generally opens in early fall and grant winners are announced mid-winter.
Farmers interested in applying for a Fund-a-Farmer grant from FACT should visit the website at foodanimalconcernstrust.org/farmer.
To see past grant projects awarded to farmers, visit foodanimalconcernstrust.org/past-grants.
For more information about these three welfare certifications and what is required to apply, visit aspca.org/farmcertification.
In addition to the ASPCA’s partnership with FACT, we’ve worked to identify existing grant programs across the country that provide funding opportunities for more humane farming systems. To find out if there is any private, federal or state funding for which your farm or business may be eligible, consult our breakdown of existing funding opportunities, pulled from our larger Farm Animal Welfare Certification Guide.
