Plus, the launch of a new Systems Change and Innovation Grant for farmers.

Since 2017, the ASPCA has partnered with Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) — an organization that works to ensure all food-producing animals are raised in a more humane and healthy manner — to underwrite a number of FACT’s Fund-a-Farmer grants. The funding is available to farmers who want to obtain or already hold a meaningful animal welfare certification, as well as to farmers working to improve their animals’ access to pasture.

Providing these grants advances the ASPCA’s mission to build a more humane farming system as an alternative to cruel and unsustainable factory farming. This critical funding can give farm animals better lives by providing farmers with financial assistance for adequate fencing, access to food and water on pasture and in shelter, and other costs associated with other higher welfare practices.

At a Glance

✓ FACT awarded 72 Fund-a-Farmer Grants in 2025, totaling nearly $220,000 to farmers in 27 states and Puerto Rico.

✓ ASPCA underwrote 20 of those grants.

✓ Since 2017, ASPCA has supported 151 farms with Fund-a-Farmer Grants, distributing over $417,000 to farms and ranches in 39 states.

✓ Over 156,000 animals’ lives are improved annually through this ASPCA funding.

For the first time, the ASPCA also underwrote two $10,000 Systems Change and Innovation Grants to farmers who aim to make significant changes on their farms:

Willowbrook Farms in Cassopolis, Michigan, was awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Systems Change and Innovation Grant to transition their farm’s broiler chicken operation from conventional breeds to slower-growing, heritage breeds. This transition will substantially improve the welfare of their birds.

Feathered Acres Farm in Belgrade, Minnesota, was awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Systems Change and Innovation Grant to expand their pasture-based system and transition pigs out of cement-floored barns, promoting better animal welfare and sustainability.

Here are more highlights from the full list of 2025 grantees:

Caer Luna Farm in Cambridge, New York, was awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Grant to purchase more electric fencing and a solar charger for the fencing system. These additions will help them expand their sheep’s pasture access and certify the farm as Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) by A Greener World.

Merry Chase Farm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Grant to purchase and install perimeter fencing that allows animals to graze rotationally and earn the farm welfare certification from Certified Humane.

Staples Farm in Harrah, Oklahoma, was awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Grant to purchase a farrowing hut that provides mother pigs access to grazing while protecting piglets until they are big enough to go outside and earn the farm AWA-certification by A Greener World.

Woolly Cheese Co. in Sedro Woolley, Washington, was awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Grant to address flock nutrition issues by improving depleted soil fertility and adding beneficial grass and legume species for their sheep to eat, allowing the farm to earn AWA-certified by A Greener World.

The ASPCA is committed to building more opportunities for farmers across the country so they can transition to higher-welfare systems and improve the lives of their animals. We recognize that independent farmers often face financial barriers when attempting to transition to certified higher-welfare systems, like ensuring their farms have the necessary infrastructure to provide animals with continuous access to pasture.

Grant programs like those led by FACT are a great start, but they consistently demonstrate that the need for support far outweighs the resources currently available. Help us fill the funding gap for more humane farmers! Please use our easy online form to send a message to your members of Congress, asking them to pass legislation that supports higher-welfare farming systems.