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Editors: Kelly Sprute and Judy Rude                                                             Nov. 29, 2017

Making a Difference

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Donates Tons of Food to Feed Communities

New Hampshire residents who rely on the state’s food pantries have been enjoying fresh food donated by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), including tilapia and lettuce produced in sophisticated aquaponics systems and squash and other vegetables grown at university farms.

“A central component of our mission is to assist New Hampshire’s farmers and growers by conducting research that helps them make better decisions about what to grow for market. This, in turn, directly benefits the state’s agricultural economy. Donating the fresh food outputs from our research to our state’s food pantries allows us to not only provide nutritious vegetables and fish to those in need, but to not compete with our producers,” said Jon Wraith, director of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station and dean of the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture.

The experiment station works with a select group of organizations regarding food donations, including the Cornucopia Food Pantry at the Waysmeet Center in Durham, St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Exeter, and the New Hampshire Food Bank. So far this year, UNH has donated almost 5,000 heads of lettuce and 1,100 pounds of fish grown in aquaponics systems at the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses and the Anadromous Fish and Invertebrate Research Lab. Read the full University of New Hampshire article.

NIFA News

NIFA Staff Meets with Mexico's Secretariat of Agriculture

Mexico's Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries, and Food (SAGARPA) visits NIFA Nov. 27, to better understand how cooperative extension works in the U.S. and how Mexico can collaborate with NIFA and land-grant universities.

Pictured from left to right: Cristina Ciranda, International Programs intern: Erica Summer, Foreign Agricultural Service: Mariana Lira, Agricultural Attaché, U.S. Mexican Embassy: Adriana Otero, Foreign Agricultural Service, México; Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA Director; Mely Romero Celis, Under Secretary for Rural Development, SAGARPA; Otto Gonzalez, Director, NIFA Center for International Programs (CIP), Teresa Saavedra, Advisor for the Under Secretary of Rural Development; Michael McGirr, national program leader, CIP; Luis Martinez, Agricultural Counselor, U.S. Mexican Embassy. NIFA photo.

News for You

Oklahoma State University Named 2017 C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award Winner The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities named Oklahoma State University (OSU) the winner of the 2017 C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award at its annual meeting in Washington, DC. The award recognizes programs that demonstrate how colleges and universities have redesigned their learning, discovery, and engagement missions to become even more involved with their communities. The national award is named for C. Peter Magrath, APLU president from 1992 to 2005. OSU's Solutions-based Health Innovations and Nutrition Excellence (SHINE) was created in 2006 as a collaboration between OSU and the Chickasaw Nation, a local Native American tribe. The Chickasaw Nation partnered with OSU to study nutrition and public health issues identified by Chickasaw citizens, combining cultural, historical, and programming knowledge with nutrition and public health expertise. The collaboration has developed a wide-ranging, nationally recognized model of public health collaboration between a university and a Native American nation. The team developed the Eagle Adventure program for children in the first through third grades. The program embraces the traditions of Native American storytelling to educate participants on practices that prevent type 2 diabetes through dietary and physical activity. Read the full OSU award article.  Photo provided by OSU.

Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Meets Former Vice-President You know your work is making an impact when world leaders come calling. Michigan State University (MSU) Foundation Professor and Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty member Dr. Bruno Basso recently received such a call from former Vice President Al Gore. Basso was invited to sit down for a one-on-one meeting Nov. 14, with the renowned environmentalist and 2007 Nobel Peace prize winner in San Francisco, California. Basso developed a new method that integrates remote sensing imagery of crops with simulation models to examine why crop yields vary over space and time. This method quantifies water, carbon and nutrient fluxes within a farmer’s field, and across fields in the US and globally. The data is used to pinpoint the exact amount and placement of fertilizer and water necessary to produce and sustain healthy crop yields.   Basso said Gore took a keen interest in the science behind the technology  Read the full MSU article.

USDA Message

Be Counted: Census is Your Voice, Future, Opportunity 

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue explains why every U.S. farmer and rancher needs to be counted in the upcoming census of agriculture. Watch the Ag Census video. 

RFA Grant and Award Announcements

NIFA Funds Food Safety and Nutrition to Promote Safe Food Supply

NIFA announced support for research, education, and extension projects that promote a safe, nutritious food supply. The funding is made possible through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.
 
AFRI is America’s flagship competitive grants program for foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. These awards were made through two grant programs: AFRI Foundational: Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health, and the AFRI Food Safety Challenge Area. These investments seek to increase our understanding of the microbial, chemical, and physical safety and quality of foods, as well as protect consumers from contaminants at every stage of the food chain, from production to consumption. Read the full AFRI award announcement.

NIFA Announces Support for Education, Mentoring, and Technical Assistance Programs to Help New Farmers and Ranchers

NIFA announced $17.7 million in available funding to support the delivery of education, mentoring, and technical assistance programs that help beginning farmers and ranchers in the U.S. and its territories. Funding is made through NIFA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. BFRDP targets farmers and ranchers who have never operated a farm or ranch, or have not operated a farm or ranch for more than 10 years. Read the full BFRDP announcement.

NIFA Awards Funds to Support Sustainable Forest and Rangeland Programs

NIFA announced three grants to help promote sustainable management practices by America's forest landowners and ranchers. The grants from NIFA’s Renewable Resources Extension Act – National Focus Fund Projects (RREA-NFF) support regional and national projects that address emerging issues through innovative projects that can be replicated in other regions.

“These awards further our commitment to enhance the sustainability of the nation’s privately-owned forest and rangeland resources,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “Through these innovative projects delivered by extension educators and specialists, landowners and managers will be able to make better informed, science-based decisions about their lands in order to achieve their conservation and economic goals." Read the full RREA-NFF award announcement.

NIFA Helps Veterans Learn Skills for Farming and Ranching Careers

NIFA announced a new grant opportunity to help military veterans pursue farming and ranching careers. Funding is made through NIFA’s Enhancing Agricultural Opportunities for Military Veterans Competitive Grants Program (AgVets). AgVets seeks to increase the number of military veterans gaining knowledge and skills through comprehensive, hands-on, and immersive model farm and ranch programs offered regionally that lead to successful careers in the food and agricultural sector. Read the full AgVets announcement.

NIFA Awards Funds to Support Rural Veterinary Services

NIFA announced 13 grants to support rural veterinary services and relieve veterinarian shortages in parts of the U.S. and its insular areas. The funding from NIFA’s Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

NIFA’s Veterinary Services Grant Program supports two funding categories: education, extension, and training projects are open to state, national, or regional organizations and institutions of veterinary medicine recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association, and Rural Practice Enhancement projects are open to for-profit or non-profit organizations and practices that wish to operate veterinary clinical services in designated rural veterinarian shortage areas. Read the full VSGP award announcement. 

NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve societal challenges.  NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture.

NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve societal challenges.  NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture.

If you wish to submit a news item or information, send to NIFAUpdate

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