NRCS' Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program Fiscal Year (FY) 2026
Natural Resources Conservation Service
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- Posted
- Jul 23, 2026
- Amount
- $75,000 to $3 million per award
- Application deadline
- Sep 21, 2026 (in 13 days)
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Classification and identifiers
- Solicitation number
- USDA-NRCS-NHQ-FSCP-26-NOFO0001453
- Assistance listing (CFDA)
- 10.934
FundingLandscape analysis
NRCS Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program FY 2026
Submit the complete application through Grants.gov by September 21, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. NRCS is holding a second applicant webinar on August 20 from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern and lists project-specific target areas and requested partner roles on the program page. Use the Grants.gov package and the current project page together. The Grants and Agreements Division, not program staff, is the directed contact for application questions.
Primary sources verified 2026-08-10.
Why it matters
NRCS expects $35 million in federal funding for this competition. That is the total program amount, not one award. The agency expects up to 25 awards from $75,000 to $3 million and may partially fund selected projects.
The applicant is a nonfederal delivery partner, not an individual landowner seeking a direct control payment. Selected recipients help provide restoration, on-farm trapping support, training, equipment, producer assistance, and related services in listed pilot areas.
The work is structurally coordinated. APHIS Wildlife Services retains operational control of feral swine management, and partners cannot plan or conduct trapping independently of APHIS participation and oversight.
The current competition covers identified pilot areas in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. A broadly eligible entity still needs a proposal that fits one of the current project areas and partner roles.
Program pool versus individual award
- Total federal program funding
- $35 million expected
- Expected number of awards
- Up to 25
- Individual award range
- $75,000 to $3 million
- Required nonfederal cost share
- 25% of total project costs, including some cash
- Anticipated project period
- Four to five years, starting around December 2026
Who can actually apply
- Eligible prime applicants are state, county, city or township, and special-district governments; federally recognized Tribal governments and other Tribal organizations; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; and public, state-controlled, or private institutions of higher education.
- For-profit organizations, foreign organizations and foreign public entities, and partnerships or similar groupings are ineligible as prime applicants. One eligible entity submits the application; additional partners may participate as subrecipients.
- The proposed work must address the requested partner role in a listed 2026 pilot area. Eligibility by organization type does not create eligibility for unrelated geography or a self-designed project outside the identified pilot structure.
- Any producer receiving a payment through a funded project must meet the applicable 7 CFR Parts 12 and 1400 requirements, control the involved land for the period of performance, and ordinarily satisfy the $900,000 adjusted-gross-income limit. The recipient must maintain the required evidence.
- Payments cannot duplicate assistance already received or contracted under another USDA conservation program for the same practice. Recipients must self-certify against duplicative producer payments.
- A complete application must commit nonfederal share equal to 25% of total project costs. Cash and allowable in-kind contributions may be combined, but every project must include some cash. Outside contributions need signed commitment letters covering their full value.
Deadline, forms, and submission sequence
- Select one current pilot area and read its project page for geography, local concerns, and the partner role NRCS and APHIS are seeking. Confirm that the legal applicant and proposed delivery structure fit the NOFO.
- Maintain active SAM.gov registration and Grants.gov access for the submitting entity and Authorized Organizational Representative. The applicant must remain eligible and not excluded from federal awards by the deadline.
- Build the project around coordinated component 2 and component 3 work: restoration, landowner or producer assistance, training, equipment, and trapping support consistent with APHIS technical standards. Do not budget independent lethal removal, third-party trappers for participating landowners, unmanned aircraft systems, snares, relocation, toxicants, or other prohibited techniques.
- Prepare the Project Narrative within its 15-page limit. Cover the background, objectives, methods, partner roles, estimated eligible-producer participation, action plan and milestones, management and communications, institutional capability, resources, deliverables, standardized damage metrics, evaluation, benefits, outreach, and transferability.
- Prepare the Project Abstract with the applicant, duration, federal request, nonfederal share, title, location, partners, plain-language approach, measurement plan, predicted benefits, and technical and administrative contacts.
- Complete SF-424 and SF-424A and a year-by-year narrative budget that connects federal and cost-share amounts to activities, explains personnel and consultant costs, and includes statements of work for subcontractors and consultants.
- Attach Current and Pending Support, GADSUM9 applicant contacts, a NICRA when applicable, subaward material when applicable, signed commitment letters for every outside cost-share contribution, and any required conflict-of-interest disclosure. Complete the lobbying forms as applicable.
- Reconcile every outside cash and in-kind contribution across the SF-424A, budget narrative, and signed commitment letter. The NOFO says an application without signed commitments covering the full cost-share value is incomplete.
- Submit through Grants.gov before 11:59 p.m. Eastern on September 21 and retain the electronic timestamp and transmission notices. Check the opportunity history, application package, project page, and webinar material again before submission.
What the official technical review weights
- Activities carry 30%. Reviewers assess contribution to pilot goals and whether every partner and participant role, including roles for each control technique, is clearly defined.
- Feasible tools carry 15%. The design must use sound methods and demonstrated technology and follow APHIS guidance and applicable state and local law.
- Feasible costs carry 15%. The budget must be adequately explained, justified, and allowable.
- Measures of success carry 10%. The proposal should consider beneficial and adverse effects and state measurable outcomes likely to be achieved.
- Likelihood of success carries 15%. The timeline and milestones must be clear, reasonable, and attainable.
- Landowner participation and community interest carry 10%. Reviewers consider participation, transfer of continuing control to producers and communities, delivery partnerships, project management, and team communication.
- Existing programs carry 5%. The review recognizes areas where state- or Tribal-administered feral swine control programs contribute to the proposed activities.
Readiness checklist
- Name the exact listed pilot area and requested partner role.
- Confirm one eligible prime applicant and document every proposed subrecipient or delivery partner.
- Agree with NRCS and APHIS role boundaries, including APHIS operational control of management and trapping activities.
- Map proposed activities against the NOFO list of allowable and prohibited producer-assistance methods.
- Estimate eligible producer participation and establish land-control, AGI, and nonduplication records.
- Commit 25% of total project cost from allowable nonfederal sources, include some cash, and obtain signed letters for every outside contribution.
- Build a four- to five-year action plan from the anticipated December 2026 start.
- Define standardized damage-assessment collection, APHIS mobile-data collection, local measures, outcomes, and broader transferability.
- Reconcile the 15-page narrative, abstract, SF-424A, budget narrative, subawards, commitment letters, contacts, support disclosures, and conflict disclosures.
- Confirm active registrations, the submitting Authorized Organizational Representative, the current application package, and the September 21 Eastern cutoff.
Primary sources
Related opportunities and the next search
- Search current feral-swine and invasive-species funding
Review current source-linked records, then save the search if invasive-species delivery is a recurring responsibility.
- Search conservation-district and producer assistance grants
Use a separate monitoring lane for delivery partnerships whose geography, practices, and producer rules differ from FSCP.
- Review the USDA funding guide
Compare USDA program routes without treating every conservation award as a direct landowner grant.
Analysis change log
- 2026-08-10: Initial analysis verified against the July 23 Grants.gov record, full FY 2026 NOFO, NRCS project-area page, commitment-letter template, and APHIS program page. It separates the $35 million program amount, $75,000 to $3 million award range, 25% total-project cost share, direct-applicant rules, producer participation rules, APHIS operational control, documents, and weighted review criteria.
Amount
$75,000 to $3 million per award
Who can apply
Eligible prime applicants include state and local governments, Tribal governments and organizations, nonprofit organizations, and public or private higher education institutions for listed pilot areas in 14 states.
About this opportunity
The purpose of the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Project (FSCP) is to respond to the threat feral swine pose to agriculture, native ecosystems, and human and animal health. Feral swine are a destructive, non-native, invasive species and their populations have expanded across the United States since the 1980’s. Over an estimated $3.4 billion in damage, including agricultural, is caused by feral swine each year. The species can have significant negative impacts on plant and animal habitats, soils, water quality, as well as other natural and cultural resources. Livestock and humans are also susceptible to diseases carried by feral swine. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 directs the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to carry out the pilot program where the Secretary h...