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Source: USDA, 10/1/12
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $101 million in grants to support America's specialty crops producers, who provide the fruits, vegetables, nuts and other nutritious foods for millions of healthy American meals each day. Approximately $55 million of the total will be invested in 56 specialty crop block grants to states that fund 748 initiatives across the country to strengthen markets and expand economic opportunities for local and regional producers. An additional $46 million will go to support new and continuing research and extension activities to address challenges and opportunities for growers and businesses that rely on a sustainable, profitable specialty crops industry. Vilsack made the announcement before touring the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison, Wis., which prepares food, including fresh fruit and vegetables, for delivery to local public schools.
Under Vilsack's leadership, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has supported efforts to strengthen local and regional food systems for farmers of all types and sizes, helping them take advantage of new opportunities and succeed in today's marketplace. Thanks to this support for the diversity of American agriculture, the sector is experiencing one of its best periods in history. Today, both agricultural exports and net farm income are at record levels, while farm debt has been cut in half since the 1980s. Overall, American agriculture supports 1 in 12 jobs in the United States.
"By investing in projects that stimulate growth and development for specialty crop growers of all sizes, we're helping American farmers establish a marketplace for new businesses opportunities in each region of the country," said Vilsack. "These investments will support local and regional markets, and improve access to healthy food for millions of children and supply thousands of farmers markets, restaurants and other businesses with fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables. The grants also help growers solve technology needs or make better informed decisions on profitability and sustainability, leading to stronger rural American communities and businesses."
The goal of USDA's Specialty Crop Block Grant Program is to promote and increase opportunities for specialty crop producers. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands received grants this year, totaling $55 million. Visit www.ams.usda.gov/scbgp to review the 2012 project summaries and view a list of awards by location.
The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program for fiscal year 2012 supports initiatives that:
· Increase nutritional knowledge and specialty crop consumption
· Improve efficiency within the distribution system and reduce costs
· Promote the development of good agricultural, handling and manufacturing practices while encouraging audit fund cost-sharing for small farmers, packers and processors
· Support research through standard and green initiatives
· Enhance food safety
· Develop new/improved seed varieties and specialty crops
· Control pests and diseases
· Create organic and sustainable production practices
· Establish local and regional fresh food systems
· Expand food access in underserved/food desert communities
Since 2006, the program administered by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has awarded $240 million. The program is part of USDA's integrated approach to programs and policies that stimulate food- and agriculturally-based community economic development.
Vilsack's announcement today also highlighted $46 million in new and continuing grants through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI), which supports the specialty crop industry by developing and disseminating science-based tools to address the needs of specific crops. Specialty crops are defined in law as "fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture." Funded projects address five focus areas: 1) improve crop characteristics through plant breeding, genetics and genomics; 2) address threats from pests and diseases; 3) improve production efficiency, productivity and profitability; 4) develop new innovations and technologies and 5) develop methods to improve food safety.
SCRI projects are funded through USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and address research and extension needs for crops that span the entire spectrum of specialty crops production, from researching plant genetics to improving crop characteristics; identifying and addressing threats from pests and diseases; improving production and profitability; developing new production innovations and technologies; and developing methods to respond to food safety hazards.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Amount Awarded: $1,153,175.52 Number of Projects: 23
Increase the sales of North Carolina grown horticultural crops through the continued facilitation of a Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and water analysis cost-share program and the implementation of a series of grower tours and marketing campaign to solely promote specialty crops
•Partner with the Columbus County Extension Service to conduct an advertising campaign to recruit new farmers to the Down East Connect Farmers’ Fresh Market, a virtual farmer’s market, bringing together rural farmers and urban consumers of Southeastern North Carolina, and perform training sessions for season extension of specialty crop commodities. Matching funds will be utilized to cover expenditures for non-specialty crop commodities
•Partner with the North Carolina Blueberry Council to implement a marketing campaign that optimizes social media to further enhance the presence of North Carolina blueberries online
•Partner with the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association to increase demand for real North Carolina Christmas trees by focusing promotional efforts on the industry’s record of environmental stewardship
•Partner with the North Carolina Commercial Flower Growers Association to increase the sales of spring flowering plants through the implementation of a marketing campaign that promotes flowering plants that thrive in North Carolina
•Partner with the North Carolina Greenhouse Vegetable Growers Association to implement a marketing campaign that promotes North Carolina greenhouse vegetables crops thereby changing the purchasing behavior of consumers and retailers when buying North Carolina vegetables
•Partner with the North Carolina Potato Association to implement a marketing campaign that promotes North Carolina grown and new varieties of potatoes so that new conventional and specialty-type potato varieties’ potential can be realized sooner
•Partner with the North Carolina Sod Producers Association to enhance the marketing of turfgrass sod grown and sold in North Carolina through the implementation of a promotional campaign that will continue to focus on relaying the benefits of sod to consumers
•Partner with the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission to implement a marketing campaign that measurably increases consumer awareness of the versatility and nutritional benefits of North Carolina sweet potatoes and encourage families to eat NC sweet potatoes at least once a week
•Partner with the North Carolina Vegetable Growers Association to increase awareness of North Carolina grown produce by exhibiting at a national produce industry trade show, conducting a regional trade exposition, and coordinating a related cooperative advertising campaign
•Partner with the North Carolina Watermelon Association to educate consumers and trade members about North Carolina watermelon by sending a watermelon representative to in-state and out-of-state industry events
•Partner with the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association to enhance the competitiveness of North Carolina specialty crop producers through the facilitation of an innovative training program to small, diversified farmers across North Carolina, which uses a new Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) guidance manual that is oriented to small fruit and vegetable farmers
•Partner with the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association to assist specialty crop farmers interested in transitioning to certified organic production by providing organic guidance and training. Sole priority will be given to writing job scenarios and payment schedules that pertain to fruit and vegetable production
•Partner with the North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association to improve the North Carolina nursery crop worker knowledge of plant marketing and customer service skills through the use of new or revised training materials and resources
•Partner with the North Carolina Strawberry Association to implement a two pronged campaign that will focus efforts to market the nutritional benefits of strawberries to children in North Carolina through lesson plans, a DVD/CD, and website information, and to help strawberry growers develop and implement Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) programs on their farms
•Partner with Preserve Heritage Agriculture and Regional Markets Now (PHARMN) to facilitate a series of educational workshops on sustainable methods for growing wine grapes in the mountains of North Carolina
•Partner with North Carolina State University to evaluate peach rootstocks and soil management strategies to minimize the potential for peach tree short life, develop commercial recommendations for growers of apples and peaches on rootstock selection and preplant strategies, and educate North Carolina growers and county extension agents on peach and apple replant issues and how to minimize the potential for replant problems through rootstock selection and preplant soil management
•Partner with North Carolina State University to help farmers meet the growing demand for locally grown hops through the continuation of trials to identify the best performing hop cultivars and by conducting an educational program on hops for growers, agricultural advisors, and brewers
•Partner with North Carolina State University to expand value-added uses of North Carolina’s sweet-potato crop through the creation of a fortified sweet-potato flour and by increasing the existing nutrition knowledge of sweet potato in children and adults
•Partner with North Carolina State University to assess resistance in Turkish and Trojan firs to a broader array of Phytophthora genotypes and use next generation sequencing technology to develop DNA markers to select for resistance in genetic field trials
•Partner with North Carolina State University to address the development of integrated management tools that will minimize the incidence, severity, and spread of a new boxwood disease known as ‘boxwood blight’ caused by the fungus Cylindrocladium buxicola
•Partner with the Polk County Office of Agriculture Economic Development to upgrade the current temporary cooling systems for specialty crops, provide a small refrigerated box truck along with washing, sorting, and packing stations for specialty crop producers
•Perform pre-award and post-award activities to administer Specialty Crop Block Grant Program funding and ensure that the State Agency and sub-awardees abide by Federal and State requirements and regulations
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