The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced the Fiscal Year 2025 Urban Agriculture Grant recipients. These competitive grants promote youth agricultural education and agriculture-connected community development. The program serves urban areas - cities with a population over 5,000 and communities on federally recognized tribal land regardless of population size.
The MDA awarded grant funds to 33 projects, receiving a combined $1,692,957 to strengthen urban agriculture and expand access to locally grown foods in communities across the state.
Awardees include nonprofit organizations, schools and school districts, and local government entities. Funding can be used to purchase equipment, make physical improvements, and support staff time needed to deliver urban agriculture programming. See the table below for a description of funded projects.
The Urban Agriculture Grant Program is funded through the Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Program. Through AGRI the MDA administers grants to farmers, agribusinesses, schools, and more throughout Minnesota to advance the state's agricultural and renewable energy sectors.
Fiscal Year 2025 Urban Agriculture Grantees
Appetite For Change, Minneapolis: Engage North Minneapolis youth in agricultural programming through paid hands-on training at urban farms. Participants will grow and donate 7,500 lbs. of produce, develop a tailored curriculum, and sustain long-term community impact, benefiting 30 youth.
Augsburg University, Minneapolis: Enhance the Augsburg Community Garden project in Cedar-Riverside by upgrading garden infrastructure and hosting multilingual community events. The initiative aims to increase food production through culturally relevant gardening practices.
Boys & Girls Club of the Bemidji Area, Bemidji: Revitalize the club's garden space by introducing a new curriculum, capturing rainwater to prevent flooding, and adding a pollinator garden. Additionally, a sustainability plan will be developed for the garden program.
Child Care Choices Inc. dba Milestones, Waite Park (various locations): Implement the "Harvesting Bright Futures: Urban Agriculture for Child Care" project to equip 100 family child care educators. The program will annually reach over 600 young children, providing tools, training, and resources for urban agriculture education.
City of Richfield, Recreation Dept, Richfield Farmers Market, Richfield: Offer youth and adult programs on gardening, cooking with homegrown produce, and food business development at the Richfield Community Center. The project also includes purchasing communal tools, installing an outdoor garden shed, and building raised beds at two community garden sites.
Darling Little Farm, St. Paul: Provide weekly agriculture workshops for persons with disabilities and caretakers in partnership with the Highland Friendship Club. Funds will support curriculum development and the purchase of equipment and materials for classes.
East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, Minneapolis: Expand community workshop programming to offer free, environmentally-focused education informed by Indigenous traditional knowledge. Programs for local K-12 youth will occur during summer camps and after-school sessions, alongside community-wide cultural workshops in East Phillips neighborhood gardens.
Folwell Neighborhood Association, Minneapolis: Add infrastructure to enhance the functionality and accessibility of Folwell Neighborhood gardens. Funds will also provide stipends to garden managers at two garden sites.
Freedom Farms MPLS, Minneapolis: Transform a vacant North Minneapolis lot into a vibrant green space. The project engages residents and youth with urban farming and sustainability workshops, improves food security, promotes environmental stewardship, and creates local agricultural job opportunities, enhancing community resilience.
Friendly Hmong Farms LLC, Minnetonka: Launch a professional development program for Hmong women farmers and youth in Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington counties. The focus will be on regenerative farming, entrepreneurship, and market access through intergenerational farming opportunities.
Friends School of Minnesota, St. Paul: Install seven raised beds, fruit trees, a hydroponic system, and chickens on school grounds. The initiative engages K–8 students in garden maintenance to deepen their agricultural knowledge.
Frog Tree Farm, Brooklyn Park: Empower urban youth in Brooklyn Park and surrounding neighborhoods with hands-on farm education, soil health projects, and cohort-based seed sowing. Programs include expert-led workshops and rural farm retreats, cultivating sustainability, ag career pathways, and urban–rural partnerships.
Global Entrepreneurship Week Minnesota, St. Paul: Expand the Way of the Roots Farm family farming program to two new St. Paul locations. A tiered mentorship program will train teen farmers to teach younger children sustainable growing practices and wellness opportunities through agriculture.
Hand In Hand, Roseville: Equip and integrate urban agricultural infrastructure, including maple syrup equipment, raised beds, a greenhouse, composting facilities, a brick oven, and hydroponics. The goal is to establish a self-sustaining farm and hands-on educational programming led by four student teams.
Harvest Hope Farm, Moorhead: Engage youth ages 3–17 with mobile Farm Camp on Wheels and on-site programs. Funds will be used to purchase art supplies, learning tools, staff wages for camps, and materials for art structures created by program participants.
Headwaters Regional Development Commission, Bemidji: Revitalize Conifer Estates community garden by replacing 10 raised beds with fresh soil, installing irrigation, and providing seeds and tools. Workshops will be organized to connect residents to these garden spaces.
Hermantown Community Schools, Hermantown: Develop the Hermantown Learning Garden to expose Pre-K - 5 youth to the plant growth cycle through hands-on learning opportunities. Supplies for raised beds, garden infrastructure, starter plants, and equipment will be purchased.
Humboldt High School Garden Project, St. Paul: Expand Humboldt School Garden by adding an orchard and more raised beds. The project includes hiring students for summer care and harvest, improving soil health, installing drip irrigation, and building cold frames to extend the growing season.
Irreducible Grace Foundation, St. Paul: Enhance youth engagement in sustainable urban agriculture at Frogtown's Black Youth Healing Arts Center. Plans include expanding garden beds, integrating African American heritage gardening methods, launching a mobile Pay-What-You-Can market, and funding stipends and coordinators.
Lake Region Healthcare Foundation, Fergus Falls: Increase production capacity at the Lake Region Takes Root Community Garden by building a greenhouse. The produce will be donated to area food shelves. A youth education and internship position will also be initiated using grant funds.
Lower Phalen Creek Project, St. Paul: Establish a four sisters demonstration garden at Wakan Tipi Center in St. Paul. The project funds will buy a storage container, raised beds, and equipment to make the space accessible to community members, including youth, elders, and those with physical disabilities.
Midwest Food Connection, St. Paul: Offer West Side (St. Paul) K–12 students hands-on urban agriculture education. Activities include raising plants, harvesting produce, tending to neighborhood gardens, and establishing mentorship opportunities for high school youth to work with younger students.
Native American Community Development Institute, Minneapolis: Enhance community food sovereignty in the Phillips neighborhood by improving programming across three sites. The initiative includes building infrastructure, supplying maintenance materials, staffing events, and launching a summer internship at the Four Sisters Urban Farm and Farmers' Market.
Northwestern Minnesota Juvenile Center, Bemidji: Provide youth with hands-on agricultural opportunities by restoring a greenhouse with utilities, creating a fenced garden space, and purchasing equipment to support program growth.
Owatonna Alternative Learning Center, Owatonna: Implement a hydroponic agriculture program to teach students green-tech skills, entrepreneurship, and agricultural practices.
Pillsbury United Communities, Minneapolis: Support youth aged 14-18 through Pillsbury United Communities Food System Youth Internship program. The initiative funds cohorts of paid youth interns during summer and academic year internships, using on-site garden space as the classroom.
Seward Montessori Parent Teacher Association, Minneapolis: Construct 6–8 garden structures in Seward Montessori's courtyard to establish a vegetable and medicinal plant garden that promotes environmental stewardship and hands-on learning.
Sheridan Neighborhood Organization, Minneapolis: Expand the donation garden by building a retaining wall, installing perennial beds, hiring a Garden Manager, and promoting outreach and educational signage to enhance food security, sustainability, and community engagement at the garden.
Sustainable Farming Association, Minneapolis: Aid the Twin Cities Metro Growers Network through a three-year series of educational and networking events. The goal is to educate and connect urban growers, strengthening community connections and sustainable farming skills among Minneapolis–St. Paul urban growers.
Textile Center, Minneapolis: Expand the Dye Garden along University Avenue's north sidewalk by installing drip irrigation and natural‐fiber composting, cultivating native dye plants, and providing accessible, multilingual fiber‐art education through signage, forums, classes, and internships within the Prospect Park neighborhood.
UMN Extension 4-H Youth Development, Minneapolis (various locations): Empower young people to understand the connections between climate science and food systems through hands-on projects. Activities include building hydroponic systems, growing microgreens, container gardening, youth-led projects, and producing climate story podcasts, with field trips to local farms and urban-ag businesses.
Urban Roots MN, St. Paul: Support Market Garden and Community Garden Programs on the East Side (St. Paul) by improving water infrastructure, covering staff wages, providing mentor stipends, and acquiring necessary farm equipment.
Urban Ventures, Minneapolis: Develop a cohort of seven educators to instruct 500 youth (pre-k to high school) in agriculture and nutrition experiences. The program aims to triple youth impact, with funds covering wages for youth educators and a hydroponics manager.
