USDA SBIR and STTR awards and R&D opportunities
USDA runs SBIR and STTR through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, funding agriculture, food and forestry technology as grants. USDA's official SBIR/STTR site has its current topics and deadlines.
- Awards, 2022–2026
- 353
- Awarded
- $114 million
- Phase II share
- 33%
- Open USDA R&D notices
- 0
Open USDA R&D opportunities
No open USDA R&D notices on SAM.gov right now. USDA's SBIR topics are published on its own site; see open R&D notices from every agency.
Get alerts for R&D notices from USDA
FedReady emails you new BAAs, R&D solicitations and SBIR/STTR notices from SAM.gov in your research area, the week they post. Free.
Get R&D alertsUSDA and the 2026 SBIR restart
SBIR and STTR lapsed from October 1, 2025 until the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act reauthorized them on April 13, 2026, through September 30, 2031. USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture posted its SBIR/STTR Phase I solicitation on October 1, 2026, and it closes November 17, 2026.
USDA SBIR and STTR awards by year
| Award year | Phase I | Phase II | Dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 81 | 42 | $40.2 million |
| 2023 | 77 | 42 | $39.7 million |
| 2022 | 77 | 34 | $34.1 million |
| 2021 | 77 | 31 | $27.6 million |
| 2020 | 83 | 29 | $26.5 million |
| 2019 | 79 | 26 | $23.9 million |
| 2018 | 79 | 35 | $28.5 million |
| 2017 | 88 | 26 | $24.2 million |
| 2016 | 76 | 34 | $27.8 million |
34 of the 353 awards since 2022 were STTR, which requires a research institution partner.
2025 and 2026 are low because the programs' authority lapsed from October 2025 to April 2026, and because agencies report new awards to SBIR.gov months late (some agencies' newest reported awards are from 2024 or 2025).
Top USDA SBIR recipients
Small businesses with the most USDA SBIR and STTR dollars since 2022:
| Company | State | Awards | Dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isotruss, Inc. | UT | 4 | $1.5 million |
| Integrated Lipid Biofuels, LLC | WA | 3 | $1.5 million |
| Guild Associates Inc | OH | 3 | $1.5 million |
| Apex Bait Technologies, Inc. | CA | 3 | $1.4 million |
| Mobius PBC | TN | 2 | $1.3 million |
| Universal Schedule & Booking LLC | WV | 4 | $1.1 million |
| Sustainable Chemicals LLC | CO | 3 | $1 million |
| Application Insight, LLC | MI | 3 | $999,693 |
| Visimo LLC | PA | 3 | $949,885 |
| Lateralsystems LLC | OR | 2 | $831,650 |
| Padma Agrobotics LLC | AZ | 2 | $831,500 |
| Lakril Technologies Corporation | IL | 2 | $831,500 |
| Max-Ir Labs Incorporated | TX | 2 | $831,494 |
| Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc. | CA | 2 | $831,453 |
| Imvela Corp. | NY | 2 | $831,426 |
Newest USDA SBIR and STTR awards
| Awarded | Company | Project | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2024 | Working Trees, Inc | SBIR Phase II Working Trees: Scaling Agroforestry Carbon Projects Across Agricultural Supply Chains | $598,827 |
| Sep 10, 2024 | Aether LLC | STTR Phase II A Novel Device and Methodology for Detection and Quantitative Measurement of Fugitive Methane Releases | $649,989 |
| Sep 10, 2024 | Micro-Precision Technologies, Inc. | SBIR Phase II GeoFire Real-Time Wildfire Alert System | $650,000 |
| Sep 10, 2024 | Cellacure, LLC | SBIR Phase I Towards Sustainable Agriculture: Intelligent Nano-Biopesticides for Precision Pest Control | $174,924 |
| Sep 10, 2024 | Home Grown Fuels, LLC | SBIR Phase II In-situ phytoremediation of PFAS-contaminated soils to return farmland to useful productivity | $650,000 |
| Sep 7, 2024 | Geovisual Technologies Inc | SBIR Phase II Variable Rate Fertilizer Application for Efficient, High Yield Vegetable Production | $600,000 |
| Sep 4, 2024 | Plains Technologies, LLC | STTR Phase I Robotic Cover-Crop Drill | $175,000 |
| Sep 4, 2024 | American Sport Fish Hatchery Management Group LLC | STTR Phase II Production of Largemouth Bass for the food fish market using commercial split-pond systems | $650,000 |
| Sep 4, 2024 | Oceanit Laboratories Inc | STTR Phase I MOP MAP Technology for controlled ripening in climacteric produce: DileX and Accel-X | $175,000 |
| Sep 4, 2024 | Big Data in a Box, Inc. | SBIR Phase II SPIDER: A Smart Portable Interactive Data Extraction and Reporting Tool for Organic Farmers | $650,000 |
| Sep 1, 2024 | VST LLC | SBIR Phase II A protein subunit vaccine for control of Asian long-horned ticks in cattle | $599,455 |
| Sep 1, 2024 | Mighty Cricket, Inc | SBIR Phase II Developing Pre-Consumer Waste as Low-Cost Cricket Feed for Small Farming Operations | $650,000 |
Frequently asked questions
How many SBIR awards does USDA make?
Department of Agriculture made 353 SBIR and STTR awards worth $114 million from 2022 through the latest SBIR.gov data, 118 of them Phase II. The average Phase I award was about $163,784 and average Phase II about $639,714.
Where does USDA post SBIR topics?
On its official SBIR/STTR site (www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/sbir-sttr). Related R&D solicitations and broad agency announcements are also posted on SAM.gov.
Is USDA accepting SBIR proposals in 2026?
SBIR and STTR lapsed from October 1, 2025 until the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act reauthorized them on April 13, 2026, through September 30, 2031. USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture posted its SBIR/STTR Phase I solicitation on October 1, 2026, and it closes November 17, 2026.
Other SBIR agencies
DoD · HHS · DOE · NASA · NSF · Commerce · DHS · DOT · EPA · Education
Award data from SBIR.gov's public award file, updated monthly; contact and researcher names are left out. Open notices from SAM.gov, updated daily.