California Family Farmer Emergency Fund - The application window closes on April 1st, 2025.

The California Underserved and Small Producer (CUSP) Program helps provide direct farmer grants for extreme weather event relief for small and medium scale California agricultural producers, or small and medium scale Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (SDFR’s). Learn more about CUSP and your eligibility for funds below!

General Information and Timeline

The CUSP Climate Extremes Grant Program issues up to $20,000 of funding to producers to reimburse them for a wide range of extreme weather conditions and disasters, including wildfire, flooding, extreme heat, and pest quarantines. Applications are mainly evaluated based on the quality of supporting documentation demonstrating losses.

*Please note: farmers can be granted up to $40,000 total in a 12-month period across the two CUSP programs. If a farmer has received $20,000 in CUSP Drought funding within the last 12 months, the farmer is still eligible for up to $20,000 in CUSP Climate Extremes funding.

Eligibility for Applicants

• Applicants must be farming inside California.
• Preference is given to family farmers who are actively working the land, derive a portion of their income from their own farm business, and are involved in day-to-day operations on the farm.
• Farmers must be grossing less than $400k in annual sales (for produce farmers) or $1,000,000 (for dairy operations)
• Farmers can receive up to $20,000 in CUSP funding in a 12-month period, regardless of the granting organization(s).
• For example, if a farmer has received $10,000 in CUSP funding from CCOF, they can still apply for another $10,000 grant from CAFF within that same 12-month period. Click here for a list of other CUSP granting organizations.

Fundable Expenses

CUSP Climate Extremes covers a wide range of climate disasters, including:

• Flooding
• High winds
• Extreme heat/extreme cold
• Heavy rain/snow/hail
• Wildfire
• Smoke from wildfire or other extreme air quality issues
• Tornado/cyclone
• Pest quarantine/eradication

Click here to create an account to apply in English

Haga clíc aquí para registrarse en una cuenta para aplicar en español

Have Questions?

See CAFF's CUSP Frequently Asked Questions in English and Spanish at the top of this page. Or: Contact farmerfund@caff.org or call Arabelle Schoenberg at (510) 838-1002. Cualquier pregunta, por favor comunicarse al correo electrónico ("email") ayuda@caff.org o llamar 530.756.8518

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Preguntas frecuentes

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Bricmont Hardship Assistance Fund  - Giving direct financial assistance to organic producers

The Bricmont Hardship Assistance Fund gives $5,000 – $20,000 direct financial disaster assistance grants for hardship related to drought, extreme weather or climate impacts to organic farmers and processors.

CCOF has partnered with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to administer drought relief grants through the CUSP, and additional funding for extreme weather and climate impacts.

These are reimbursement grants for expenses incurred as a result of drought, extreme weather, and climate impacts.

Drought, extreme weather and climate impact relief funding is open to organic producers in California.*

Grant amounts range between $5,000 to $20,000.

*Extreme weather and climate impact grants: applications accepted from non-certified organic operations, but organic operations will be prioritized.

Currently Open: Click here to Apply

Hardship Assistance Fund applicant requirements:

• Be a certified organic operation with a valid organic certificate from any third-party USDA-accredited certifier (CDFA registration alone is not sufficient).*
• Must be an organic farming or ranching business in California*
• Submit a complete and detailed description of hardship endured
• Submit supporting financial documentation of economic loss (Ex: Profit and Loss Statements)**
• Grant funds cannot be used for organic certification fees
• Submit receipts and/or verification of loss
• Submit a final progress report six months after grant is awarded (for grant recipients only)

*Extreme weather and climate impact grants: applications accepted from non-certified organic operations, but organic operations will be prioritized.

**Drought applicants only

Timeline and Details:

• Applications must be completed online - Click here to Apply
  • Click  here to review a sample application
• Applications periods are on a quarterly basis
  • Granting rounds will open on the first Monday, and close the last Friday of each quarter
    • January 6 – March 28, 2025
    • April 7 – June 27, 2025
    • July 7 – September 26, 2025
    • October 6 – December 19, 2025
  • Awards granted the following quarter

*Extreme weather and climate impact grants: applications accepted from non-certified organic operations, but organic operations will be prioritized.

Applications accepted quarterly. 

Community is at the heart of the CCOF Foundation and we’re here to support you. If you have questions, please reach out to grants@ccof.org or 831-346-6324. Se habla español.