State grant of more than $1 million expands USU Extension's free online-sales help for farm and food businesses

LOGAN - The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has given Utah State University Extension a grant of more than $1 million to expand a program that helps rural farm and food businesses sell online, according to a Nov. 9 department announcement.

The money, from the department's Utah Food Security Grant Program under the Rural Health Transformation Program, will grow USU Extension's E-Commerce Accelerator and start a Digital Marketing Intensive mentoring program for agricultural operations.

Business consultants in the accelerator help producers with websites, online stores, search rankings, marketing and sales tracking. USU's program page describes six weeks of weekly virtual meetings at no cost to selected rural Utah businesses, with two to three new businesses accepted a month.

Producers "also need the digital skills and tools to market their products and reach customers," UDAF Commissioner Kelly Pehrson said in the announcement.

Why this matters

Farm and food businesses that sell mostly in person could get free help reaching customers online. The announcement says interested local producers can join the program waitlist; it gave no start date for the new mentoring program.

Source: Utah Department of Agriculture and Food announcement, Nov. 9, 2026; USU Extension E-Commerce Accelerator page