UDAF Survey on Upcoming Rural Health Transformation Grant

The Utah Department of Agriculture & Food (UDAF) is surveying potential applicants to the Rural Health Transformation Grant Program, which will open a grant cycle in the coming months. Survey data will assist in determining the priorities of the grant across its funding cycle, which will likely be distributed over the next 5 years (2026-2031). 

UDAF, through the Rural Health Transformation Program, has been granted approximately $9 million of federal funding to award in the first year to producers and food manufacturers to help them increase the availability of locally grown/raised food products in rural areas of Utah. Expanded from the Food Security Grant in previous years, the Rural Health Transformation Grant will now provide funding to support the purchase of some production items in addition to processing items.  Regular inputs or overhead costs will not be eligible to receive grant funding.

“UDAF recognizes that our rural communities often need dedicated support to make sure that agricultural producers and the general population can both thrive,” says Kelly Pehrson, Commissioner of Agriculture at UDAF. “Demands for the legislature to fund these kinds of grant programs have increased year after year, and our goal is to continue providing these resources to the areas that need the infrastructure the most.”

Recipients of the grant will have one year to spend their awarded funds. More information about the grant will be published in the coming weeks.

The survey is available at this link: https://forms.gle/Emf82444TToTmM7W8 Responses will be collected until 11:59 PM on Sunday, April 26th, 2026. For more information, contact Allison Ross, Grant Program Manager at UDAF, at [email protected].