Andrew Zehr works on a water tank on his farm, funded through a Maui County Micro Agriculture Grant, administered by MEO Business Development Center last year. The third round of grants for as much as $25,000 are being awarded. Photo courtesy MEO

The Maui News

Grants averaging $25,000 were awarded to 31 farming and ranching operations in Maui County on Monday, the first recipients in the third round of the Maui County Micro Agriculture Grants.

The 31 grants, which included 11 for farm or ranching operations on Molokai and three on Lanai, were given out by Maui Economic Opportunity’s Business Development Center, which is once again administering the program.

More than 110 grants are expected to be awarded with the $3 million from the county, MEO said Thursday. The nonprofit expects to award another 20 to 25 grants Friday and announce all awards by the end of the month.

There were a total of 213 applications for this third round of grants.

The Micro Agriculture Grant program arose during the pandemic in 2019 to support small farmers. The two previous agriculture microgrant programs, funded by Maui County and operated by MEO’s Business Development Center, helped more than 160 small farmers.

Grantees do not receive the funds directly; instead, MEO gathers quotes from vendors for the farmers’ or ranchers’ goods and services and makes the payment.

Grants targeted farms on fewer than 12 acres and livestock ranches up to 40 acres possessing a county business or state general excise license. Preference was given to women and Native Hawaiians.

The funds will be used to directly impact the availability of locally grown produce, livestock and poultry and other related products. Funds could be used for farming equipment and machinery; processing and storage equipment; infrastructure, expansion and upgrades; inventory and supplies; packaging and technology.