For those of you following NIFA’s progress through the Project CAFÉ, we have an update for you. The Phase 3 Project CAFÉ teams continue to make good progress and have completed over 75% of their work on the eight current initiatives:

• Determining a tool for grant portfolio data analysis;
• Enhancing the user experience on NIFA’s public website;
• Developing recommendations for RFA improvements;
• Expanding workshops and webinars;
• Improving payment time to panelists;
• Developing a program implementation schedule from RFA to award;
• Developing NIFA training materials;
• Streamlining panel manager hiring processes.

Two of these initiatives are focused on streamlining activities related to our peer review process for competitive grant applications:

In the first panel-related effort, our CAFÉ team is working to improve the payment time to panelists. So far, this team has identified at least two documents that can be removed from the current set of paperwork that panelists are required to sign. Additionally, the team has developed further checks and balances that will be put in place to verify that these payments are processed in a timely manner.

The other panel-related initiative is focused on streamlining the hiring of panel managers, who oversee our peer review panels. Through this effort, the improvement team has identified documents that can be removed from the current set of paperwork that is required to hire panel managers. This team is also working to create a more efficient onboarding process for panel managers through the development of streamlined communications. 

Together, the results of these initiatives will enable panels to be put in place more quickly, which will, in turn, help ensure the application review process is completed efficiently.

We expect to have more results to share with you next month as the Phase 3 CAFÉ initiatives draw to a close. Please continue to check progress on all initiatives by visiting the Project CAFÉ Dashboard.

Dr. Carrie Castille
Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

NIFA Farm of the Future Virtual Stakeholder Listening Session

NIFA seeks input to establish a new Farm of the Future competitive grant program. Section 799 of the FY2021 Omnibus Appropriations Bill provided $4 million to NIFA, “for a competitive grant to an institution in the land-grant university system to establish a Farm of the Future testbed and demonstration site.” NIFA plans to implement this program by supporting an integrated research and extension project.

As a stakeholder, customer, or partner, you are invited to contribute your expert opinion on how Federal investments can best address current needs and challenges facing farms of the future by participating in a virtual stakeholder listening session. Ultimately, this information will guide development of a Request for Applications.

Virtual stakeholder listening session Thursday, May 6 from 2– 4 p.m. (Central Time). Register in advance to attend this Zoom virtual listening session on online.

Farmer working on laptop in field, courtesy of Getty Images.

NIFA Invests $17.2M for Ag Education and Workforce Development

NIFA announced today an investment of $17.2 million for 37 awards in Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates. This program is funded through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. “Developing the next generation of research, education and extension professionals in food and agricultural sciences is critical to the growth of the agriculture industry,” said NIFA Director Dr. Carrie Castille. “NIFA programs support colleges, universities and technical education institutions to ensure a steady pipeline of talent to fuel the future workforce.” For more information, read the NIFA press release.

Woman operating drone over agricultural field, courtesy of Adobe Stock.

USDA is Inviting the Public to its First-Ever Food Loss Innovation Fair

USDA is inviting the public to its first-ever Food Loss and Waste Innovation Fair, which will be held at the end of May. USDA’s Stephanie Ho talks with USDA's Food Loss and Waste Liaison Jean Buzby about what the USDA is doing for food loss and safety. For more information, listen to the USDA broadcast.

Partnership Awards Program

NIFA recognizes there are many outstanding contributions that our partners at the land-grant universities and other cooperating institutions and organizations have achieved. NIFA invites all land-grant universities and cooperating institutions and organizations to submit nominations for the 2021 NIFA Partnership Awards Program. This program recognizes outstanding contributions aligned with NIFA's strategic goals in support of the USDA mission.

Specific instructions and other information regarding this awards program are on the NIFA Partnership Award webpage. Nominations must be submitted via the NIFA Partnership Awards Nomination Form. All signed nomination forms must be submitted by May 28, 2021, via email using scanned files that have been saved as .pdf or .jpg files to performance@usda.gov according to instructions in the award guidelines.

Winning nominations will be recognized at the NIFA Day of Appreciation tentatively scheduled for June/July 2021.

NIFA Hall of Fame

NIFA is seeking nominations for the NIFA Hall of Fame. Inductees into the NIFA Hall of Fame have worked, coordinated, or supported activities exemplifying NIFA’s synergy of excellence in any combination of research, education, and extension approaches on local, regional, national, or international levels.

Inductees have also demonstrated a measurable and positive impact on the lives of citizens and NIFA's mission to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve societal challenges.

The NIFA Hall of Fame Nomination Form and NIFA Hall of Fame background criteria and form are located on the NIFA Hall of Fame Awards website. Nominations must be emailed to Kimberly Whittet no later than May 28, 2021.

Hall of Fame inductees will be recognized at the annual NIFA Day of Appreciation tentatively scheduled for June/July 2021.

Vision for Robots Tending Crops

Researchers are applying and integrating layers of technologies -- including sensors, machine learning, artificial intelligence, high-throughput phenotyping platforms such as drones and small-scale rolling robots that can also fertilize, weed and cull single plants in a field -- with the ultimate goal of replacing farmers' reliance on heavy machinery and broadcast spraying in operations of all sizes. Researchers on this project, known as COALESCE -- COntext Aware LEarning for Sustainable CybEr-agricultural systems, won a five-year, $7 million Cyber-Physical Systems Frontier award jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For more information, read the Iowa State University article.

Small-scale robots that can fertilize, weed, and cull single plants in a field. Photo courtesy of Iowa State University.

Artificial Intelligence Takes on the Two-Spotted Spider Mite

University of Florida (UF) scientists have developed a smartphone app to detect two-spotted spider mites. With quicker detection, the system would help growers get a leg up on the notorious plant pest for which most spray regularly. “The two-spotted spider mite is one of the major pest problems in strawberry production, and its manual detection is labor-intensive and time-consuming,” says UF Professor Daniel Lee, a lead researcher on the project that is funded by a $491,000 grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The technology is still two to three years from being usable by farmers, Lee says. For now, scientists are fine-tuning the app. For more information, read the UF blog article.

Two-spotted spider mite. Image courtesy of University of Florida.

HBCU Agriculture Business Innovation Center Webinar Announcement for Stakeholder Feedback

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) will host a webinar to obtain stakeholder feedback regarding the development of a new competitive funding program to establish one Agriculture Business Innovation Center at a selected Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Two million dollars were appropriated in FY 2021 to fund this program. The webinar is scheduled for May 25, from 1 – 3 p.m. Central Time. Go online to register.

Webinar graphic courtesy of Adobe Stock.