Section 5154 - State Agricultural Fairs and Field Days Grant Program; eligibility(a) A grant program is established within the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to provide financial assistance from funds appropriated for this purpose to eligible agricultural fair associations to support their agricultural fairs or field days.(b) An agricultural fair association shall be eligible to apply for grant funds under this section if it meets all of the following:(1) It operates an agricultural fair or field days that is open a minimum of three consecutive eight-hour days each year or it operates a fair that received grant funding through the previous State stipend fund for agricultural fairs.(2) It timely applies for a grant, submits a complete application, and provides all requested information.(3) It is in good standing with the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.(4) It fully intends to continue operating an agricultural fair or field days that is open a minimum of three consecutive eight-hour days during both the current and next calendar year.(c) The Secretary shall create an application form that agricultural fair associations must utilize when applying for assistance. Agency of Administration Bulletin 5.0 shall apply to all awarded grants, and applicants shall certify that all information they provide is truthful and accurate to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief.(d) The Secretary shall have the discretion to solicit relevant information, establish and enforce an application deadline, and establish a reasonable time frame to distribute grant funds to eligible and qualified applicants. The Secretary may require each applicant to:(1) explain the basis for each request with an informative narrative and pertinent financial data;(2) explain how any awarded grant funds will be used, including whether the funds will support general operations or plant improvement;(3) provide accurate attendance numbers, the amount spent on premiums for competitive exhibits, the amount spent on general operations, and the amount spent on plant improvements for one or more of the most recent fairs or field days;(4) indicate how the requested grant will support continued operations and promote agriculture in the State;(5) explain how recently awarded program grants supported the purposes of this chapter; and(6) explain its goals for the next five years, how it plans to achieve the goals, and the role of the requested grant funds in meeting its objectives.(e) The Secretary shall have the discretion to issue grant awards to eligible agricultural fair associations after the application deadline expires and the Secretary evaluates all timely applications. The Secretary shall equitably distribute the appropriated funds to qualified applicants and strive to support fairs and field days in all areas of the State. When equitably distributing available funds, the Secretary shall consider the following factors:(1) the importance of the requested grant to the applicant;(2) how the grant will help farmers, food producers, and promote agriculture;(3) how the grant will support the local community;(4) each applicant's attendance numbers, the amount it spent on premiums for competitive exhibits, the amount it spent on general operations, and the amount it spent on plant improvements;(5) each applicant's past success in productively utilizing grant funds;(6) each applicant's plans to facilitate the purposes of this chapter; and(7) the relative needs of all applicants and how the distribution of available funds may best meet the purposes of the program.(f)(1) The Secretary shall equitably distribute appropriated funds to eligible qualified applicants. The Secretary shall determine each applicant's percentage of total fair and field days activity through a formula that equally measures each applicant's respective percentage of the total applicant: (B) premium expenditures;(C) general operations expenditures; and(D) plant improvement expenditures for the most recent calendar year.(2) Generally, the Secretary shall award proportionate shares of available grant funds based on each applicant's combined percentage of total applicant activity. No applicant shall receive more than 10 percent of the total appropriated funds unless fewer than 10 fair associations apply. In the Secretary's sole discretion, the Secretary may consider the additional enumerated factors in this section and use an alternate method to equitably distribute available funds.Added by 2023 , No. 73, § 1, eff. 7/1/2023.