OARS funding Agriculture

The purpose of CIG is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and innovative approaches (such as market-based systems) to agricultural producers, into NRCS technical manuals and guides, or to the private sector. CIG generally funds pilot projects, field demonstrations, and on-farm conservation research. On-farm conservation research is defined as an investigation conducted to answer a specific applied conservation question using a statistically valid design while employing farm-scale equipment on farms, ranches or private forest lands.

The purpose of the Crop Protection and Pest Management program is to address high priority issues related to pests and their management using IPM approaches at the state, regional and national levels. The CPPM program supports projects that will ensure food security and respond effectively to other major societal pest management challenges with comprehensive IPM approaches that are economically viable, ecologically prudent, and safe for human health. The CPPM program addresses IPM challenges for emerging issues and existing priority pest concerns that can be addressed more effectively with new and emerging technologies. The outcomes of the CPPM program are effective, affordable, and environmentally sound IPM practices and strategies needed to maintain agricultural productivity and healthy communities.

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.

Humanity depends upon the Earth's physical resources and natural systems for food, energy, and water (FEW). However, both the physical resources and the FEW systems are under increasing stress. It is becoming imperative that we determine how society can best integrate social, ecological, physical and built environments to provide for growing demand for food, energy and water in the short term while also maintaining appropriate ecosystem services for the future. Known stressors in FEW systems include governance challenges, population growth and migration, land use change, climate variability, and uneven resource distribution. The interconnections and interdependencies associated with the FEW Nexus pose research grand challenges. To meet these grand challenges, there is a critical need for research that enables new means of adapting societal use of FEW systems. The INFEWS program seeks to support research that conceptualizes FEW systems broadly and inclusively, incorporating social and behavioral processes (such as decision making and governance), physical processes (such as built infrastructure and new technologies for more efficient resource utilization), natural processes (such as biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles), biological processes (such as agroecosystem structure and productivity), and cyber-components (such as sensing, networking, computation and visualization for decision-making and assessment). Investigations of these complex systems may produce discoveries that cannot emerge from research on food or energy or water systems alone. It is the synergy among these components in the context of sustainability that will open innovative science and engineering pathways to produce new knowledge, novel technologies, and innovative predictive capabilities.

The Course Hero-Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching will support rising stars in the academy who love teaching, demonstrate excellence as educators, and are making their mark as exceptional researchers, poised to shape their fields. Designed for young scholars working towards tenure, the Course Hero-WW Fellowship is a "genius grant" that will emphasize the balance between scholarly excellence and commitment to teaching practice that draws on new approaches to pedagogy, creating a new level of engagement for students in and beyond the classroom. In short, Fellows will be emerging heroes in their fields, on a clear trajectory to become great college educators. In its inaugural year, the Course Hero-WW Fellowship will identify five outstanding junior faculty members. Fellows will receive a one-year grant of $40,000-approximately $30,000 to support the engagement of a student assistant and the balance to be used for research and travel support. Exceptional candidates teach in ways that build student confidence and mastery of a subject; encourage critical thinking; explore foundational concepts through the lens of broader themes and global events; promote the power of learning communities beyond the classroom; leverage technology to complement the classroom experience; consider and serve different learning styles; prepare students for lifelong learning; and can serve as replicable teaching models for other educators. Selection takes place in June 2018. The five Fellows will be invited to attend the Course Hero Education Summit in July 2018, where their Fellowships will be announced.

Projects supported by the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program will: (1) address a state, regional, national, or international educational need; (2) involve a creative or non-traditional approach toward addressing that need that can serve as a model to others; (3) encourage and facilitate better working relationships in the university science and education community, as well as between universities and the private sector, to enhance program quality and supplement available resources; and (4) result in benefits that will likely transcend the project duration and USDA support.

The Alfalfa and Forage Research Program (AFRP) for fiscal year (FY) 2018 to increase yields and quality; improve harvest and storage systems; develop methods to estimate forage yield and quality to support marketing and reduce producer risks; explore new and novel uses for alfalfa; and conduct life cycle analysis to enhance field to market opportunities.

The NRCS - Arkansas State Office, an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is seeking support from and opportunities to partner with likeminded natural resource conservation partners. The overall intent of this solicitation is to solicit partnerships to help enhance the implementation of key conservation objectives and priorities outlined further in this document. Proposals will be accepted from Arkansas. NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2018 will be approximately $3,000,000. Proposals are requested from eligible entities, non-profits, governmental or non-governmental organizations, and institutions of higher learning for competitive consideration of awards for projects between one and three years in duration. This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions. Applications will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this notice. Incomplete and/or noncompliant applications will be eliminated from competition and notification of elimination will be sent to the applicant. The Arkansas State Conservationist reserves the right not to fund any or all applications. NRCS will accept applications under this notice for single or multiyear applications submitted by eligible entities.

The Farm Business Management and Benchmarking (FBMB) Competitive Grants Program provides funds to (1) improve the farm management knowledge and skills of agricultural producers; and (2) establish and maintain a national, publicly available farm financial management database to support improved farm management.

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 purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to support enhanced human and animal food safety by strengthening the capacity, collaboration, and integration of food-safety laboratories and networks, thereby facilitating an effective and coordinated response to future human and animal food safety issues. The current FOA solicits applications from FDA's Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network laboratories for research related to emerging public food safety issues identified by the Vet-LIRN network office (VPO), for equipment and personnel necessary to expand laboratory capability and capacity, and for other related activities. This cooperative agreement program is intended to build domestic laboratory capacity as put forth in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), by developing the Vet-LIRN laboratory Network capabilities and capacity to investigate potential animal foodborne illness outbreaks.

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.

Miami University researchers can provide input about the professional development opportunities they'd like to see OARS offer in the next year by completing this 5-minute survey.

USAID intends to award one Cooperative Agreement in the form of a Leader with Associates (LWA) mechanism pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity. This NFO seeks applications from organizations with demonstrated expertise in seed systems and proven management capabilities with the broad range of needed seed-related support services as well as innovative tools, approaches, information, and methods to develop and deploy those critical support services. The goal of Seed Systems Support Activity (S3A) is to enhance farmers' access to a full range of seed choices and options to maximize their responsive decision making and planning for production. The Activity seeks to improve functioning of national seed sector in Feed the Future countries and in countries with resilience and emergency seed security programs.

NIFA's Agriculture in the Classroom Program (AITC) serves nearly 5 million students and 60,000 teachers annually through workshops, conferences, field trips, farm tours, and other educational activities. AITC programs include working with state AITC activities engaged in a variety of issues relating to agricultural literacy. Other programs emphasized by the NIFA AITC office include:*Science literacy*Agricultural careers*Nutrition*Pre-service and professional develop opportunities for teachers.The disciplines of agriculture and education have been related for much of our nation's history. When most Americans lived on farms or in small towns, students often did farm chores before and after school. Old schoolbooks have numerous agricultural references. As the farming population began to decline, agricultural emphasis decreased in educational materials as well.A core group of educators and agriculturalists pushed for more youth education about agriculture. They recognized the interlocking role of farming and food and fiber production with environmental quality, which included wildlife habitat, clean water, and the preservation of forests. This group went on to promote the national effort of AITC. Today AITC continues to help students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture in the economy and society so they will become citizens who support wise agricultural policies.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications will be accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of Virginia. A total of up to $450,000 is available for CIG in FY 2018. All non-Federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of Federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2018 is $75,000. The purpose of CIG is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and im1ovative approaches (such as market-based systems) to agricultural producers into NRCS technical manuals and guides, or to the private sector. CIG generally funds pilot projects, field demonstrations, and on-farm conservation research. On-farm conservation research is defined as an investigation conducted to answer a specific applied conservation question using a statistically valid design while employing farm-scale equipment on farms, ranches or private forest lands.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications will be accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of ME. A total of up to $250,000 is available for CIG in FY 2018. All non-Federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of Federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2018 is $75,000.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Office of Training Education and Development (OTED) is announcing the availability of a cooperative agreement to be awarded under a Limited Competition. FDA can guarantee one year of funding with the possibility of up to four years of additional, noncompetitive support, dependent on performance and continued availability of federal funds.The national associations /organizations eligible to apply for funding under this cooperative agreement must be a national association/organization that represents State and local laboratories that conduct food and/or animal feed testing on behalf of State and local regulatory programs.The awardee will be required to sub award a minimum of 25% of the funds received under this award to at least two different associations to meet the goals of the cooperative agreement. One association must represent state manufactured food regulatory officials and the other association must represent state animal feed regulatory officials.

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.

Projects supported by the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program will: (1) address a state, regional, national, or international educational need; (2) involve a creative or non-traditional approach toward addressing that need that can serve as a model to others; (3) encourage and facilitate better working relationships in the university science and education community, as well as between universities and the private sector, to enhance program quality and supplement available resources; and (4) result in benefits that will likely transcend the project duration and USDA support.