October 2026 Update
USDA announced on March 31, 2026 that REAP will not make further grant awards until new regulations (7 CFR Part 4280, Subpart B) take effect, and that a new Notice of Funding Opportunity will follow. Applicants without a fully executed grant agreement will need to reapply under the new NOFO. REAP guaranteed loans continue to be awarded.
Eligibility & requirements. REAP serves agricultural producers (individuals or entities deriving at least 50% of gross income from agricultural production) and rural small businesses meeting SBA size standards. Rural small business projects must be located in eligible rural areas - outside cities or towns of more than 50,000 inhabitants and their contiguous urbanized areas. Eligible projects include renewable energy systems (solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, geothermal, ocean) and energy efficiency improvements to facilities or buildings. Technology must be commercially available and technically feasible.
What you get. The program provides competitive grants and guaranteed loans for purchasing and installing renewable energy systems or making energy efficiency improvements. Exact grant and loan levels are set in each Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Deadlines. No current application window is open for grants. Per the USDA Rural Business Cooperative Service stakeholder announcement of March 31, 2026, REAP "will not be making further grant awards until the new regulations are in effect" (regulations at 7 CFR 4280 Subpart B are being updated). A new Notice of Funding Opportunity will be published once the new regulations take effect, and prior applicants without a fully executed Financial Assistance Agreement will have the opportunity to reapply.
How it works. When funding windows open, applicants submit proposals through USDA Rural Development state offices. REAP Guaranteed Loans continue to be awarded during the grant pause, so loan applicants can still proceed.
Important notes. This is primarily a farm and rural-business program - it is not open to typical suburban or urban homeowners. The March 2026 announcement is the controlling current status: expect grant applications to reopen only after the new regulations and funding notice are published. Check the program website and FAQs for updates.
Why the loan path is the live path right now
The March 31, 2026 announcement split REAP into two halves with different clocks. The grant half is paused: USDA Rural Development will not make further grant awards until the updated regulations at 7 CFR Part 4280, Subpart B take effect, and a new Notice of Funding Opportunity follows them. The loan half never stopped. REAP guaranteed loans continue to be awarded during the grant pause, per the same announcement, so a farm or rural business with a project that cannot wait for the new funding notice still has a program route today: financing with a federal guarantee behind it, rather than a cost-share grant. Which half fits a project is therefore first a timing question. A project that can wait can prepare for the new NOFO; a project on a replacement deadline (a failed system, a construction window) is the one the continuing loan path exists for.
Who it is for, in the record's own tests
Eligibility turns on three tests, all stated in the record above. First, the applicant test: an agricultural producer derives at least 50% of gross income from agricultural production, and a rural small business meets SBA size standards. Second, the place test, which applies to rural small business projects: the project sits in an eligible rural area, meaning outside cities or towns of more than 50,000 inhabitants and their contiguous urbanized areas. Third, the project test: the work is a renewable energy system (the record lists solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, geothermal, and ocean) or an energy efficiency improvement to a facility or building, and the technology is commercially available and technically feasible. A project that fails any one of the three is outside the program no matter how strong it is on the other two, which is why the checks below run in that order.
How the guaranteed-loan route works, step by step
- Run the three eligibility tests first. Confirm the 50% agricultural income share or the SBA size standard, confirm the project location against the 50,000-inhabitant rural line, and confirm the project is a listed renewable system or an efficiency improvement using commercially available technology.
- Scope the project before approaching anyone. The record's project categories are purchases and installations of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements to facilities or buildings, so the scope should name the equipment, where it is installed, and what it replaces or improves.
- Take the loan route through USDA Rural Development. Guaranteed loans continue to be awarded during the grant pause; the USDA Rural Development state office for your state is the record's stated channel for program applications, and it can confirm how guaranteed-loan applications are being taken while the grant side is closed.
- Keep the grant option documented, not assumed. If you applied for a grant in a prior round and do not hold a fully executed Financial Assistance Agreement, the record says you will need to reapply under the new NOFO when it is published. Nothing carries over automatically.
- Watch the two official triggers. Grant applications reopen only after the new 7 CFR 4280 Subpart B regulations take effect and the new Notice of Funding Opportunity is published. Until both have happened, treat any third-party claim that REAP grants are open as out of date.
What to prepare while the grant window is closed
This record does not publish a document checklist, and this page will not invent one. The papers worth assembling follow from the tests and mechanics above: the income records that show the agricultural share of gross income against the 50% line, the SBA size-standard basis for a small business applicant, documentation of the project location for the rural-area test, and written equipment quotes that show the technology is commercially available. For the project itself, an energy assessment is what documents an efficiency improvement's baseline; the EnergyBS home energy audit checklist explains what an assessment records, and the same discipline applies to a barn, a processing building, or a farm shop. Preparing these during the pause is also what the reapply rule rewards: when the new NOFO opens, an applicant with the file already assembled is not starting from zero.
Worked examples (hypothetical)
The arithmetic below uses only the record's own thresholds and labelled hypothetical figures, so it tests eligibility mechanics, not award amounts, which this record does not publish.
Take a hypothetical farm with $240,000 of gross income, of which $150,000 comes from agricultural production. The production share is $150,000 divided by $240,000, which is 62.5%. That clears the record's at-least-50% test for an agricultural producer. The same farm with $110,000 of production income would sit at 45.8%, below the line, and would not qualify as an agricultural producer on these figures, whatever the project.
The place test is a single comparison. A small business project in a town of 42,000 inhabitants sits under the record's 50,000 line; the identical project in a city of 58,000 sits over it. The record adds a second limb, though: contiguous urbanized areas count with the city, so a location just outside a large city's boundary is not automatically rural. The boundary question is exactly the kind to put to the state office before money is spent on design work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are REAP grants open now? No. Per the USDA Rural Business Cooperative Service announcement of March 31, 2026 in this record, REAP will not make further grant awards until the new regulations at 7 CFR 4280 Subpart B take effect, and a new Notice of Funding Opportunity will follow. Guaranteed loans are the part of the program still being awarded.
I applied for a REAP grant before the pause. Does my application carry over? Not unless you hold a fully executed Financial Assistance Agreement. The record states that applicants without one will need to reapply under the new NOFO once it is published.
Can a homeowner apply for REAP? No. The record limits the program to agricultural producers and rural small businesses, and notes it is not open to typical suburban or urban homeowners. Household programs are listed separately in this directory.
What counts as rural for a small business project? Per the record, the project must be in an eligible rural area: outside cities or towns of more than 50,000 inhabitants and their contiguous urbanized areas. Locations near a large city can fail the test through the contiguous-area limb even when the immediate town is small.
What projects qualify? Renewable energy systems (solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, geothermal, and ocean, per the record) and energy efficiency improvements to facilities or buildings. The technology must be commercially available and technically feasible; experimental or pre-commercial equipment is outside the record's description.
Program details change - verify current rules on the official program page before applying.