The next round of Illinois’ Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program is expected to open this fall, with $1.8 million available for 2027.

If you’re an Illinois farmer, food business, or organization looking to invest in the infrastructure needed to grow, process, store, aggregate, or distribute more local food, now is the time to start preparing.

The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program (LFIG) provides funding to strengthen Illinois’ local food system by helping farmers and food system businesses and organizations make critical infrastructure investments.

Since 2024, $6 million in LFIG grants have supported projects across Illinois, helping build the infrastructure our state needs to produce and move more local food.

You can start preparing now

You don’t need to have a final project in mind or know for certain that you’ll apply to get started.

One of the most useful things potential applicants can do now is begin the required registration process. Starting the pre-application process does not commit you to submitting a full application, but it can give you a head start on several steps that must be completed before the application deadline.

Before applying for LFIG, applicants need to:

• Register with SAM.gov
• Register and pre-qualify through the GATA Grantee Portal
• Register with Euna Grants/AmpliFund, the system where the LFIG application will be submitted

These registrations can take 2–4 weeks on average, so completing them ahead of time can help prevent a last-minute scramble when the application period opens.

What we’re hearing from LFIG applicants

While preparing for the next round, Illinois Stewardship Alliance has also been working with farmers, food businesses, and other food system partners to better understand their experiences with the LFIG application and grant process.

We gathered feedback from people who have navigated the program and used that input to develop recommendations for the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA).

We recently shared those recommendations with IDOA, including:

• Giving applicants more time to apply, allowing for stronger proposals to be developed, particularly for farmers and small food businesses that may have limited staff capacity for grant writing.
• Providing more technical assistance throughout the entire grant process, from developing an application to implementing a project and completing requirements for reporting.
• Improving communications and transparency with clearer program requirements, funding decisions, timelines, and expectations, making the process easier to navigate and helping applicants to understand what to expect.
• Making the process more accessible for farmers and food system businesses that the program is designed to support. We’re advocating for improvements that reduce unnecessary barriers and make it easier for applicants to successfully participate.

Get ready for the next round

The 2027 LFIG application is expected to open this fall. While we await the official application timeline and additional details, completing the required registrations is one concrete step you can take now.

Illinois Stewardship Alliance will continue sharing updates as more information becomes available.

And if you know an Illinois farmer, food business, or organization that could benefit from investing in local food infrastructure, please share this opportunity with them.

The more Illinois producers and food system partners who can access these resources, the more we can strengthen the infrastructure needed to grow a more resilient local food system.