CUSP Drought Funding Fall 2025

About CUSP

The California Underserved and Small Producer (CUSP) Program is designed to facilitate support for small and medium scale California agricultural producers, or small and medium scale Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (SDFR’s) through technical assistance with business planning and financial and marketing strategies, and also provides direct farmer grants for drought relief for those same priority groups.

Preview the entire application here:

The application window opens September 1st and closes October 15th, 2025 at 11:59 pm

Eligibility:

Agricultural producers must be farming in California (farm address has to be in California)
Agricultural Producers must be grossing less than $400k or any dairy/ranching operation making up to $1,000,000 in annual sales
Farmers can receive up to $20,000 in CUSP funding in a 12-month period, regardless of the granting organization(s)
- For a list of other CUSP granting organizations: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/CUSP/DirectProducerResources.html
Eligible producers may receive up to $20,000 in CUSP Drought Relief funds as well as up to $20,000 in CUSP Extreme Weather Relief funds (for a total of up to $40,000) within a 12-month period (from date of CDFA approval/verification)

General Information and Timeline

Examples of covered expenses can include but are not limited to:

Increased electric utility bills of 30% or more due to increased electricity rates
Surface water costs if increase from year prior
Cost of hauling water for livestock or crops (due to drought, not due to business model)
Lowering ag well pumps if a primary source of water is lost
Emergency upgrades to irrigation system (paired with conservation)
Decreased crop yields/crop loss due to less water available or having to fallow land
Drilling of new wells or repairs on existing wells if sole source of water for operation.
Use of funds for upgrading to a larger pump that draws more water, up to 40 horsepower

Review Process:

CUSP is a reimbursement-based grant, so farmers should be prepared to demonstrate that they’ve had increased costs, new expenses, or an unexpected decrease in gross revenue due to drought.
Applications are mainly evaluated based on the quality of their “supporting documentation. Applicants *must* submit one document, and may submit up to three.

Application Information and Tips

Applications are mainly evaluated based on the quality of their supporting documentation. Receipts and documentation for reimbursement can go back no further than 2017.

Applicants must submit one document, and may submit up to three documents.

Good examples of effective documentation include:

- Profit & Loss/Schedule F statements comparing revenue from consecutive years
- Harvest or sales records comparing yields from consecutive years
- Notice from a Groundwater Sustainability Agency or other water utility company demonstrating a decrease in water supply or increase in water costs
- Receipts demonstrating increased costs for water infrastructure, such as a drip system, mulch or other materials to increase soil water-holding capacity
- Receipts from a water transport company
- Receipts for livestock feed
- Utility bills demonstrating increased electricity or water cost

Foundant

CAFF’s grant process will be happening entirely in our online grant management system.
Applicants will register for an account in our system or log into an existing account and from there will be able to fill out the application.
- If the applicant already has an account registered, they should use that log in info. If they don’t know their log in information, they can reach out to farmerfund@caff.org or call 831-291-3927 for tech support.
Foundant has its own library of tech help resources: https://support.foundant.com/hc/en-us/categories/1500001292601-Grant-Scholarship-Lifecycle-Manager

Have Questions?

See CAFF’s CUSP Frequently Asked Questions in English and Spanish, or check caff.org/relief for more information.

English: Contact farmerfund@caff.org or call Amber Schat-Kenig at (831) 291-3927 with any questions!
Español: Contactar a ayuda@caff.org o al (831) 272-4032