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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing its intention to receive and consider a single source application for award of a cooperative agreement in fiscal year 2018 (FY 2018) to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to support global strategies that address food safety, nutrition and public health. The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to: 1. Utilize FAO's extensive research and expertise on country development and aid activities. 2. Contribute to the research, knowledge base and development of food safety systems globally due to the increasingly diverse and complex food supply. 3. Enhance and broaden FDA's ability to address global food safety, nutrition, and public health issues associated with food. 4. Provide opportunities to leverage additional resources of other countries. 5. Support the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and FDA's International Food Safety Capacity Building Plan, which emphasizes the concept of preventing food safety-related problems before they occur and the importance of establishing strong relationships and mutual support among all stakeholders, including multilateral organizations, to improve worldwide food safety. 6. Support food safety, nutrition and public health programs that align with FDA's mission.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Office of Training Education and Development (OTED) is announcing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a Cooperative Agreement Grant. The goals of this Cooperative Agreement Grant are to continue the development of the Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) National Curriculum Standard (NCS) for the laboratory competency and curriculum frameworks, further work on the development and validation of competency statements. As the NCS is completed at each level, then training content can be developed to meet the standard, post web courses and deliver classroom courses to IFSS laboratorians nationwide. Under FSMA Section 209, FDA is directed to improve the training of state, local, territorial and tribal food safety officials and set standards and administer training and education programs to ensure a competent work force doing comparable work.

The AgrAbility program increases the likelihood that farmers, ranchers, farm workers and farm family members with disabilities will experience success in agricultural production. The program supports projects between State Cooperative Extension System and private, non-profit disability organizations who work in partnership to provide agricultural education and assistance directed at accommodating disability in farm operations for individuals with disabilities, and their families, who engage in farming and farm-related occupations.

The Plant Biotic Interactions (PBI) program supports research on the processes that mediate beneficial and antagonistic interactions between plants and their viral, bacterial, oomycete, fungal, plant, and invertebrate symbionts, pathogens and pests. This joint NSF-NIFA program supports projects focused on current and emerging model and non-model systems, and agriculturally relevant plants. The program's scope extends from fundamental mechanisms to translational efforts, with the latter seeking to put into agricultural practice insights gained from basic research on the mechanisms that govern plant biotic interactions.

The purpose of this program is to promote and strengthen the ability of Alaska Native-Serving Institutions and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions to carry out education, applied research, and related community development programs. NIFA intends this program to address educational needs, as determined by each institution, within a broadly defined arena of food and agricultural sciences-related disciplines. Priority will be given to those projects that enhance educational equity for underrepresented students; strengthen institutional educational capacities; prepare students for careers related to the food, agricultural, and natural resource systems of the United States; and maximize the development and use of resources to improve food and agricultural sciences teaching programs.

The Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants (SPECA) program seeks to: (a) promote and strengthen secondary education and two-year postsecondary education in the food, agriculture, natural resources and human (FANH) sciences in order to help ensure the existence of a workforce in the United States that's qualified to serve the FANH sciences system; and (b) promote complementary and synergistic linkages among secondary, two-year postsecondary, and higher education programs in the FANH sciences in order to advance excellence in education and encourage more young Americans to pursue and complete a baccalaureate or higher degree in the FANH sciences.

The intended outcome of this FOA is to advance efforts for a nationally integrated food safety system (IFSS) by supporting Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS), Rapid Response Teams (RRT) and Food Protection Task Force (FPTF) programs, as well as special projects. For the purposes of this FOA, the term State encompasses all eligible organizations as defined in Section 3.

The overall goal of the Organic Transitions Program (ORG) is to support the development and implementation of research, extension and higher education programs to improve the competitiveness of organic livestock and crop producers, as well as those who are adopting organic practices. NIFA administers the ORG program by determining priorities in U.S. agriculture through Agency stakeholder input processes in consultation with the NAREEEAB. ORG will continue to prioritize environmental services provided by organic farming systems in the area of soil conservation, pollinator health, and climate change mitigation, including greenhouse gases (GHG), as well as the development of educational tools for Cooperative Extension personnel and other agricultural professionals who advise producers on organic practices, and development of cultural practices and other allowable alternatives to substances recommended for removal from the National Organic Program's National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. It is expected that all projects will integrate research, education and extension activities, as appropriate to project goals, although some projects may be weighted more heavily than others in one or more of these areas. However, all proposals should have activities and impact in research and at least one of the other areas: education and extension.

The AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program supports grants in the six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. The six priority areas are: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Research-only, extension-only, and integrated research, education and/or extension projects are solicited in this Request for Applications (RFA). See Foundational and Applied Science RFA for specific details.

The Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program is intended to increase knowledge of agriculture and improve the nutritional health of children, and to bring together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system to increase the capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education within host organizations. The application deadline is July 9, 2018.

The purpose of the SCRI program is to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry by awarding grants to support research and extension that address key challenges of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of food and agriculture, including conventional and organic food production systems. Projects must address at least one of five focus areas: Research in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics Efforts to identify and address threats from pests and diseases, including threats to specialty crop pollinators Efforts to improve production efficiency, handling and processing, productivity, and profitability over the long term (including specialty crop policy and marketing) New innovations and technology, including improved mechanization and technologies that delay or inhibit ripening Methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control, and respond to potential food safety hazards in the production efficiency,handling and processing of specialty crops.

The purpose of the 1890 Scholarships Program is to provide scholarships to support recruiting, engaging, retaining, mentoring, and training of undergraduate students at the 1890 land-grant institutions, resulting in baccalaureate degrees in the food and agricultural sciences and related fields. The scholarships are intended to encourage outstanding students at 1890 institutions to pursue and complete baccalaureate degrees in the food and agricultural sciences and related fields that would lead to a highly skilled food and agricultural systems workforce.

The purpose of the Aquaculture Research program is to support the development of an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in the U.S. and generate new science-based information and innovation to address industry constraints. Over the long term, results of projects supported by this program may help improve the profitability of the U.S. aquaculture industry, reduce the U.S. trade deficit, increase domestic food security, provide markets for U.S.-produced grain products, increase domestic aquaculture business investment opportunities, and provide more jobs for rural and coastal America. The Aquaculture Research program will fund projects that directly address major constraints to the U.S. aquaculture industry and focus on one or more of the following program priorities: (1) genetics of commercial aquaculture species; (2) critical disease issues impacting aquaculture species; (3) design of environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture production systems; and (4) economic research for increasing aquaculture profitability.

This cooperative agreement funding opportunity is a continuation towards the development of the Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) National Curriculum Standard (NCS) for the various jobs within the human food, animal food, and laboratory regulatory programs (retail food, human manufactured food, animal food, produce, milk, lab, and shellfish) with the ability to expand into other program areas as directed (pharmaceuticals, medical devices, radiological health, imports, bioresearch monitoring, tobacco, leadership and management or other training programs OTED, is or becomes responsible for); continuation of conducting course deliveries, researching and assessing stakeholder training needs; researching the effectiveness of current training models; development of a curriculum tracking database; and the design, development and/or evaluation of new or existing web and classroom courses, materials, and job aids for classroom or field training as directed.

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), builds upon the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) which was initiated in 1996 as one of the key activities in a national action plan to combat antibiotic resistance threats. The purpose of this FOA is to protect and promote public health by enhancing, strengthening and sustaining antibiotic resistance surveillance in retail food specimens within the NARMS program. The NARMS cooperative agreements is intended to improve the detection of antibiotic resistance among bacteria in food commodities, as well as expand to new sites to expand the scope of sampling. Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the NARMS Objectives.

FSMIP provides matching funds on a competitive basis to assist eligible entities explore new market opportunities and to encourage research and innovation aimed at improving the efficiency and performance of the U.S. agricultural marketing system. The 2020 allocation for grants is approximately $1 million. Proposals may focus on addressing barriers, overcoming challenges or realizing opportunities manifesting at any stage of the marketing chain including direct, wholesale, and retail. Proposals must have a strong marketing focus, must involve research, and the primary beneficiaries must be agricultural producers and agribusinesses. Proposals that involve training or education programs must include a research component that tests the effects of the program on the marketing goals. Proposals may involve small, medium or large-scale agricultural entities but should benefit multiple producers or agribusinesses. Proposals that benefit one agribusiness or individual will not be considered.

The Equipment Grant Program (EGP) serves to increase access to shared-use special purpose equipment/instruments for fundamental and applied research for use in the food and agricultural sciences programs at institutions of higher education, including State Cooperative Extension Systems. The program seeks to strengthen the quality and expand the scope of fundamental and applied research at eligible institutions, by providing them with opportunities to acquire one major piece of equipment/instruments that support their research, training, and extension goals and may be too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NIFA grant programs. The EGP does not support the acquisition of suites of equipment to outfit research laboratories /facilities or to conduct independent experiments simultaneously. Similarly, the EGP does not fund common, general purpose ancillary equipment that would normally be found in a laboratory and/or is relatively easily procured by the organization or through other NIFA grant programs. Rather, it is intended to help fund items of equipment that will upgrade infrastructure. Moreover, EGP does not fund research projects, including research that uses the equipment acquired with support from the program nor does it support the operation and maintenance of facilities.

The Plant-Biotic Interactions (PBI) program supports research on the processes that mediate beneficial and antagonistic interactions between plants and their viral, bacterial, oomycete, fungal, plant, and invertebrate symbionts, pathogens and pests. This joint NSF-NIFA program supports projects focused on current and emerging model and non-model systems, and agriculturally relevant plants. The program's scope extends from fundamental mechanisms to translational efforts, with the latter seeking to put into agricultural practice insights gained from basic research on the mechanisms that govern plant-biotic interactions. Projects must be strongly justified in terms of fundamental biological processes and/or relevance to agriculture and may be purely fundamental or applied, or include aspects of both perspectives. All types of symbiosis are appropriate, including commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, and host-pathogen interactions. Research may focus on the biology of the plant host, its pathogens, pests or symbionts, interactions among these, or on the function of plant-associated microbiomes.

he objectives of this Agreement are to further development of change detection research using an existing methodology developed at Oregon State University by Robert Kennedy termed LandTrendr. The two networks both utilize this approach as part of their respective long-term monitoring programs and rely on its development as technology changes. In addition to LandTrendr, OSU has also developed a companion stand-alone program called TimeSync which is crucial during the validation of the LandTrendr-delineated disturbances. This tool also needs to be upgraded to be compatible with current Windows operating systems. This agreement would allow the I&M networks to work collaboratively with OSU to ensure I&M networks receive the specific tools they need to continue their respective long-term monitoring programs without interruption. Oregon State University will also facilitate easier use of LandTrendr for the public and other researchers because this service is being moved to cloud computing which will greatly increase compute speed, decrease the amount of data storage necessary at the network offices, and remove the need for high level computing within the office. STATEMENT OF WORK RECIPIENT AGREES TO: 1. Provide computer code on running LandTrendr through Google Earth Engine 2. Provide documented workflow on Google Earth Engine 3. Provide computer code to process output rasters of changes to polygons of change 4. Provide updated version of TimeSync compatible with Windows 10 5. Provide documented workflow on installing and running TimeSync

The IPR Program plays an important role in the implementation of the National Preparedness System by supporting the building, sustainment, and delivery of core capabilities essential to achieving the National Preparedness Goal (the Goal) of a secure and resilient Nation. The IPR Program supports the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Mission to Strengthen National Preparedness and Resilience.