The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is now accepting applications for the 2025 round of NextGen Ag Leadership Grants. These grants provide up to $25,000 per project proposal to support educational, training, and leadership development opportunities for Colorado’s emerging food and agriculture leaders. Eligible entities are organizations and educational institutions serving Colorado’s emerging food and agriculture leaders.
NextGen Ag Leadership Grants are designed to support Colorado’s broad and diverse food and agriculture industry. The program is not limited to only supporting farmers and ranchers, but aims to support people across the industry including those interested in the biosciences, nutrition, meat science, veterinary science, agronomy, soil health and conservation, engineering, food safety, technology, product development, marketing, and logistics.
“The challenges facing our agricultural community are complex and ever evolving,” said Amanda Laban, Director of CDA’s Markets Division. “By working with Colorado organizations to identify future leaders and develop their agricultural and leadership skills, CDA’s NextGen Ag Leadership program creates the opportunity to inspire our next generation to meet these challenges with skill and confidence, creating a more resilient agricultural system for our future.”
To qualify, projects must support Coloradans’ careers in food and agriculture and prepare them to become industry leaders. Any organization or educational institution serving Colorado’s emerging food and agriculture leaders may submit an application for up to $25,000 per project proposal. Eligible applicants may submit multiple proposals for different projects. Individuals are not eligible for funding. Applicants must show that their proposed project meets one of the following program priorities for multiple individuals who will be served by the grant:
- Develop individual leadership and/or entrepreneurial skills;
- Enhance organizational leadership and capacity building; or
- Create educational and/or training opportunities.
To answer questions about the grant program, the application, and the review process, CDA will hold an informational webinar on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at 1 pm MDT. Anyone interested in learning more can register for the webinar.
Applications will be accepted digitally until 5 pm MDT on Friday, April 25, 2025. You can apply at ag.colorado.gov/nextgen.
A cross-divisional team at CDA will review the applications, and award notices will be sent out to selected applicants the week of June 2, 2025.
More information about the program, including the link to the online application, can be found at ag.colorado.gov/nextgen. If you have additional questions about this program, please reach out to cda_nextgen@state.co.us.
Need this press release in Spanish? Please email cda_communications@state.co.us