OARS funding Agriculture

The AFRI Foundational Program is offered to support research grants in the six AFRI priority areas to continue building a foundation of knowledge critical for solving current and future societal challenges. The six priority areas are: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Renewable Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Single-function Research Projects, multi-function Integrated Projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants are expected to address one of the Program Area Priorities (see Foundational Program RFA for details).

The OREI seeks to solve critical organic agriculture issues, priorities, or problems through the integration of research, education, and extension activities. The purpose of this program is to fund projects that will enhance the ability of producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. Priority concerns include biological, physical, and social sciences, including economics. The OREI is particularly interested in projects that emphasize research, education and outreach that assist farmers and ranchers with whole farm planning by delivering practical research-based information. Projects should plan to deliver applied production information to producers. Fieldwork must be done on certified organic land or on land in transition to organic certification, as appropriate to project goals and objectives. Refer to the USDA National Organic Program (http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop) for organic production standards.

The purpose of CIG is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies, while leveraging the Federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection 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) into NRCS technical manuals and guides or to the private sector. CIG is used to apply or demonstrate previously proven technology in order to increase adoption with an emphasis on opportunities to scale proven, emerging conservation strategies. CIG promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities among communities, governments, and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users. CIG funds projects targeting innovative on-the-ground conservation, including pilot projects and field demonstrations. CIG does not fund research projects, with the exception of on-farm conservation research. On-farm conservation research is defined as an investigation conducted to answer a specified conservation-related question using a statistically valid design, while employing farm-scale equipment on farm fields. Specifically, a valid study design will use an appropriate number of replications and statistical analysis of results. To the extent NRCS funds research projects through CIG, the Agency will only fund research projects that stimulate innovative approaches to natural resource management in conjunction with agricultural production.

For FY 2015, Kentucky NRCS will consider proposals that demonstrate the use of innovative technologies and/or approaches to address at least one of the below bulleted topics: * Soil Health * Water Quality * Forage Quality and Quantity

The Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD) Program was established in 2009 as a National Science Foundation (NSF) program supported in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The goal of BREAD is to support innovative basic scientific research designed to address key constraints to smallholder agriculture in the developing world. Proposals submitted to BREAD must make a clear and well-defined connection between the outcomes of the proposed basic research and its direct relevance and potential application to agriculture in the developing world. In FY 2015, activities in two focus areas will be supported: (1) Developing High Throughput, Low Cost Phenotyping Tools and Devices to facilitate assessment of field-based phenotypes, especially for root and tuber crops (PHENO), and (2) Advancing Basic Research in Crop Plants Relevant to Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries (ABRDC) to develop critically needed sequence and functional genomics resources to enable basic and applied research in crop plants important for smallholder agriculture. As in past competitions, proposals are expected to address project outcomes in the context of broader societal impacts, and as appropriate to the research proposed, engage international partners in scientific collaborations.

The goal of the Food Security Challenge Area for FY 2015 is to develop agricultural production research, education, and extension to develop more sustainable, productive, and economically viable plant and animal production systems. This program will also develop regionally adapted crop cultivars and livestock/breeds that contribute to rural economic development and prosperity while enhancing food security. These investments will increase food security by improving agricultural production systems at the regional and national levels and by encouraging diversification of agricultural production.

NIFA initiates a new challenge area to address critical water resources issues such as drought, excess soil moisture, flooding, quality and others in an agricultural context. Funding will be used to develop management practices, technologies, and tools for farmers, ranchers, forest owners and managers, public decision makers, public and private managers, and citizens to improve water resource quantity and quality. NIFA's approach will link social, economic, and behavioral sciences with traditional biophysical sciences and engineering to address regional-scale issues with shared hydrological processes and meteorological and basin characteristics.

This Challenge Area Focuses on the societal challenge to end obesity among children, the number one nutrition-related problem in the US. Food is an integral part of the process that leads to obesity and USDA has a unique responsibility for the food system in the United States. This program is designed to achieve the long-term outcome of reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents 2-19 years. The Childhood Obesity Prevention Program supports Multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants.

The Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD) Program was established in 2009 as a National Science Foundation (NSF) program supported in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The goal of BREAD is to support innovative basic scientific research designed to address key constraints to smallholder agriculture in the developing world. Proposals submitted to BREAD must make a clear and well-defined connection between the outcomes of the proposed basic research and its direct relevance and potential application to agriculture in the developing world. In FY 2015, activities in two focus areas will be supported: (1) Developing High Throughput, Low Cost Phenotyping Tools and Devices to facilitate assessment of field-based phenotypes, especially for root and tuber crops (PHENO), and (2) Advancing Basic Research in Crop Plants Relevant to Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries (ABRDC) to develop critically needed sequence and functional genomics resources to enable basic and applied research in crop plants important for smallholder agriculture. As in past competitions, proposals are expected to address project outcomes in the context of broader societal impacts, and as appropriate to the research proposed, engage international partners in scientific collaborations.

A. Purpose and Priorities The National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Program will award grants that increase the understanding and adoption of established food safety standards, guidance, and protocols. Grants awarded through this program will be carried out in a manner that facilitates the integration of food safety standards and guidance with a variety of agricultural production systems, including conventional, sustainable, organic, and conservation and environmental practices carried out by the eligible entities. The assistance provided by these programs, to the extent practicable, shall be coordinated with and delivered in cooperation with similar services or assistance by other federal agencies or programs serving those eligible entities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) have joined in a collaborative partnership to administer and manage the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Program. This program is designed to develop a comprehensive food safety training, education and technical assistance program for those affected by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Specifically, this program will address the needs of owners and operators of small and medium-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, and small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers. The joint program will award competitive grant funds that enable awardees to establish a National Coordination Center (NCC) for Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance and Regional Centers (RC) for Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance across the country for food safety training, education, and technical assistance. Project Teams for the RCs will reach out into local communities to work wi

Beginning farmer education for adult and young audiences in the United States can be generally traced back to the advent of the 1862 and the 1890 Morrill Land Grant Acts. But for the first time, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub .L. No. 110-234, Section 7410), appropriated $75 million for FY 2009 to FY 2012 to develop and offer education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers. The Agriculture Act of 2014 provided an additional $20 million per year for 2014 through 2018. The reasons for the renewed interest in beginning farmer and rancher programs are: the rising average age of U.S. farmers, the 8% projected decrease in the number of farmers and ranchers between 2008 and 2018, and the growing recognition that new programs are needed to address the needs of the next generation of beginning farmers and ranchers.

This announcement solicits applications for the Rural Recruitment and Retention Analysis Cooperative Agreement. The purpose of the Rural Recruitment and Retention Analysis Cooperative Agreement is to identify and assess trends, tools, resources and successful strategies used by rural communities to recruit and retain needed staff across key sectors of the rural health care delivery system. This will include primary care providers, behavioral health and oral health providers, allied health providers, as well as Rural Health Network Directors and Rural Telehealth Network Directors. The awardee will identify successful tools and strategies used by States, health systems and individual providers to attract the staff necessary to support health care services in rural communities. The awardee will also identify gaps in these areas and propose potential responses to these gaps that will inform rural stakeholders and policymakers. The awardee will focus on helping to foster connections between existing national and State resources to support successful recruitment and retention. The overarching goal is to enhance responsiveness to the challenges faced by rural communities in attracting the workforce needed to meet emerging needs, particularly in an evolving health care system where insurance coverage expansion brings both new opportunities and new challenges.1 This program, a cooperative agreement, requires an ongoing partnership and a collaborative relationship with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in the selection of projects and in the development and implementation of the activities submitted in the work plan. Specifically, the Rural Recruitment and Retention Analysis Cooperative Agreement will work toward: · Conducting an inventory and developing a narrative report of the different rural recruitment and retention strategies currently utilized. There will be a particular emphasis on analyzing nationwide and State-based programs, initiatives and s

FDA announces the availability of funding and requests applications for Grants to Enhance Food Safety: National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Competitive Grants Program for fiscal year (FY) 2015 to address the needs of small and medium-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, or small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers, especially as they relate to the implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).  Projects will help increase their understanding and adoption of established food safety standards, guidance, and protocols. Projects will also facilitate the integration of food safety standards and guidance with a variety of agricultural production systems, encompassing conventional, sustainable, organic, and conservation and environmental practices.

The Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) will fund a cooperative agreement to support a Rural Assistance Center (RAC). The RAC is a gateway to information on rural health for residents in rural areas of the United States and for all others interested in the issue. Through daily interactions and responding to inquiries and concerns, the RAC will be able to ensure that ORHP and the Department of Health and Human Services are informed of developing and ongoing grass-roots issues in the rural U.S. The role of ORHP as the Department of Health and Human Service¿s focal point for rural information allows its staff to identify key regulatory and statutory issues. The staff of ORHP will work collaboratively with the RAC to prioritize key issues and develop information resources to share with callers and web users. It is also expected that RAC staff will produce publications to respond to emerging issues. ORHP and Department staff will review RAC proposals for publications to ensure that critical issues are appropriately identified. When publications are prepared for release, ORHP and Department staff will review them for accuracy and completeness. The awardee must be able to identify and facilitate access to information from a wide range of sources that deal with aspects of rural health care. ORHP will also coordinate information sharing between the RAC and the Rural Health Research Centers, the Rural Recruitment and Retention Network, State Offices of Rural Health, and other projects that are funded by the Office. RAC staff will work with ORHP to develop strategies for dissemination of key research findings and for providing synthesis of key research findings. The applicant should be familiar with providers of Technical Assistance (TA) for rural health care providers funded by ORHP and be able to make referrals, avoid duplication of services, and ensure that rural residents are directed to appropriate resources for their information needs. The awardee will provide

The objective of Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) is to support new and sustainable approaches to accelerate the development and deployment of Clean Energy Solutions (CES)for increasing agriculture productivity and/or value in developing countries. Such solutions are those that integrate clean energy technologies and innovative business models to: (i) Enhance agricultural yields/productivity; (ii) Decrease post-harvest loss; (iii) Improve farmer and agribusiness income generating opportunities and revenues; and/or (iv) Increase energy efficiency and associated savings within the operations of farms and agribusinesses - while stimulating low carbon economic growth within the agriculture sector of developing countries.

The Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America is seeking applications for its 2015 Safety Grants Program, the purpose of which is to encourage and provide financial support for the implementation of evidence-based safety and health interventions that protect agricultural workers. With a theme of "strengthening partnerships for safety," the priority for ASHCA's 2015 grants are projects that engage both management and workers in safety efforts; facilitate new partnerships for providing timely, effective safety programs; reach out to stakeholders that have limited access to safety programs; implement evidence-based agricultural safety and health strategies; and have the potential for being sustained beyond the grant period.

For fiscal year (FY) 2015, BRDI will require that funded projects address only one (1) of the following three (3) legislatively mandated technical areas: 1. Feedstocks development - The intent of this Topic Area is to address research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities regarding feedstocks and feedstock logistics (including harvest, handling, transport, preprocessing, and storage) relevant to production of raw materials for conversion to biofuels and biobased products. The BRDI program is designed to support near-term commercial systems. Projects should emphasize development and optimization of existing feedstocks that will be available for testing and demonstration during the life of the project. Proposals that include breeding or genetic improvement of feedstocks should reconcile this work with the Program's emphasis on near-term impacts. 2. Biofuels and biobased products development - The intent of this Topic Area is to address RD&D activities to support (i) development of diverse cost-effective technologies for the use of cellulosic biomass in the production of biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products; and, (ii) product diversification through technologies relevant to the production of a range of biobased products (including chemicals, animal feeds, and cogeneration power) that potentially can increase the feasibility of fuel production in a biorefinery. 3. Biofuels development analysis - The intent of this Topic Area is to apply systems evaluation methods that can be used to optimize system performance and market potential and to quantify the project's impact on sustainability; therefore, successful applications will consider the lifecycle (cradle-to-grave) impacts including environmental, social, and economic implications that are attributable to the project. Successful projects should include these sustainability data in engineering process models and be used over the life of the project to improve the system and quantify sust

The Agricultural History Society seeks nominations for its publication awards through December 31, 2014. To nominate a book, article, or dissertation with a 2014 publication date, please follow the directions below. If you have a question, please email executive secretary Jim Giesen (JGiesen@history.msstate.edu).

The purpose of the ASHCA Safety Grants Program is to encourage and provide financial support for agricultural safety and health interventions at the local and/or regional level in order to facilitate timely application of evidence-based safety/health strategies to protect agricultural workers.

In September, Miami received notice from the government that our new F&A rates are: 44.5% for On Campus Organized Research 44.0% On Campus Sponsored Instruction 39.0% On Campus Other Sponsored Activities 26.0% Off Campus All Programs These rates are effective beginning September 1, 2014. Awards received beginning in September and all proposal submissions going forward will be required to use the new rates.