 NIFA Career
Opportunity
NIFA is currently recruiting for the position of Deputy
Director of the Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition. This is a critical
leadership position for NIFA and a permanent career SES position. The
position is currently posted on USA Jobs and the
NIFA website under Careers.
The job announcement number is AG-22-2018-0064. All applications must be
received by August 9, 2018.
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 Future Soil
Conservationist Unearths Valuable Skills at USDA
As an aspiring soil conservationist, Luther Thompson II
is eager to dig into future career opportunities. Thompson is a rising senior
at Alcorn State University, a historically black land-grant university in
Lorman, Mississippi. This is his fourth summer as an intern with the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS helps America’s farmers,
ranchers, and forest landowners conserve the nation’s soil, water, air and
other natural resources. Read
the USDA blog.
From L-R: Brenda Schnell, Alliance NRCS Field Office
secretary, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and USDA Pathways intern,
Luther Thompson II at Ackerman Ag Service and Supply, in Alliance, Nebraska.,
(May 17, 2018). Photo credit: Lance Cheung
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 Youth
Entrepreneurship Leads to Stronger Texas Economies
Concerns about small business access to capital are a
significant reality for new entrepreneurs. According to the Congressional
Research Service reports, small businesses are behind the curve accessing
the capital investment needed to start or expand their operations that lead to
job creation and improved economies in the local regions. Federal funding
through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has been
allocated to assist entrepreneurs meeting specific qualifications and focused
on rural Texas communities, particularly low-income, underserved
communities, and veterans starting a small business. Read
the full Prairie View A&M University article.
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Summer Food Rocks
The Summer Food Service Program ensures that
low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals even when school is
not in session. This summer, the United States Department of Agriculture plans
to serve more than 200 million free
meals to children under the age of
18 at approved sites. Learn where you can find a 2018 Summer Meal site with the Food and Nutrition Service.
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NIFA Invests $5 Million to
Improve Food Quality
NIFA recently awarded 16 Improving Food Quality grants designed
to improve our knowledge and understanding of the chemical, physical, and
biological properties of foods and food ingredients. Our better understanding of
the impact of foods and food ingredients in our diet and on the gut microbiome will help human health and well-being. These awards focus on functionality of
bio-actives in the gut, physiochemical properties of protein, satiety,
saltiness, digestibility and an array of quality aspects of food including shelf life and organoleptic properties. These grants are a part of NIFA’s
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).
NIFA Invests $7
Million to Improve Plant Breeding for Agricultural Production
NIFA recently awarded 22 Plant
Breeding for Agricultural Production grants that will advance development
of publicly available cultivars bred to improve the production efficiency,
yield, sustainability, resilience, healthfulness, product quality, and value of
U.S. agricultural plants while increasing farmer profitability and
exports. The awards include both
classical and genomics-enabled plant breeding research focused on pre-breeding
and germplasm enhancement, cultivar development, selection theory, and applied
genetics. Further, NIFA and the National Peanut Board will co-fund three of
these awards, taking advantage of a provision in the 2014 Farm Bill that
encourages these types of public-private research partnerships. More
information about NIFA’s commodity boards program is available on the NIFA website. These grants are a part of NIFA’s Agriculture
and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).
NIFA Invests $5.1
Million to Improve Agriculture Production Systems
NIFA recently awarded 14
Agricultural Production Systems Research grants that will lead to
the development of innovative sustainable solutions to problems limiting or
threatening the productivity, efficiency, and profitability of agricultural
production systems. The research will help address critical or
process-limiting dynamics that occur among and within the various management
components of these systems. These grants are a part of NIFA’s Agriculture
and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).
NIFA Invests $4.9 Million in Bioprocessing and Bioengineering
Research
NIFA recently awarded 11 Bioprocessing
and Bioengineering grants that will create economic and trade opportunities
for the U.S. bioeconomy. The projects will work toward this end by:
- Creating production efficiency and capacity of
biomass, biofuels, feedstock, bioenergy, and bio-based products;
- Advancing and expanding the utilization of waste
and byproducts generated in agricultural and food systems;
- Engineering new or improved products and
processes that make use of materials from agricultural origin (such as
bioplastics and biocomposites);
- Refining the long-term sustainability of
agricultural and forestry processing systems that balance productivity along
with economic, environmental, and social outcomes.
Bioconversion of wastes for production of commercially
viable products such as biogas for electricity; byproducts for organic
fertilizer and high value compounds such as lycopene, and biodegradable
bioplastics are some of the ultimate goals of the federal investment. These
grants are a part of NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).
NIFA Invests $5.6 Million in Biomass Feedstock Genetic
Development and Evaluation
NIFA recently awarded six
Biomass Feedstock Genetic Development and Evaluation grants that
support long-term genetic development and performance evaluation of biomass
feedstock crops. Inexpensive, disease and pest resistant cultivars are necessary
to feed the growing demand for biobased products in the emerging bioeconomy,
which can create American economic opportunity and jobs, especially in rural
areas. These woody and herbaceous crops, such as poplar and perennial grasses,
may be converted to biofuels, industrial chemicals and high value biobased
products. Marginal land, which does not compete with existing food and fiber
crops, have great potential to support these perennial crops. Further,
perennial and cover crops may enhance and intensify certain existing
agricultural systems. These grants are a part of NIFA’s Agriculture and Food
Research Initiative (AFRI).
NIFA Invests $5 Million in Lignin or Nano-cellulosic Co-products from Biomass Feedstocks Research
NIFA recently awarded ten co-product
related grants that will advance development of high-value biobased
co-products that will bolster the economic viability of regional biorefineries
and bioenergy systems. These awards will help create value-added products from
lignin or nano-cellulosic technologies. The intended outcome is to foster
commercialization of agriculture- and forestry-based bioproducts from
regionally-appropriate feedstocks that can provide consumers with safer, more
cost effective, and environmentally preferable purchasing options. Biobased
products can include a wide array of chemicals, lubricants, films, and
industrial polymers, among other uses. These grants are a part of NIFA’s
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).
NIFA Invests $15.4 Million in Sustainable Agroecosystems:
Functions, Processes and Management
NIFA recently awarded 35 Sustainable Agroecosytems grants that will improve the
sustainable management of agro-ecosystems (agricultural, forest and range)
while maintaining or improving the supporting natural resources and ecosystem
services. The funded research will improve our understanding of the
interactions among physical, chemical, and biological processes that determine
the health and quality of soil, water and air resources, and how these respond
to natural and human based changes and management. Other research will
provide science-based information that integrates the complex interactions
between natural processes and management practices, and that is needed to make
decisions to support agricultural production, including bioenergy and biobased
product feedstocks, maintain or improve ecosystem services, and avoid critical
thresholds of irreversible damage or loss to our natural resource base. These
grants are a part of NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).
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