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Making a Difference
NIFA Funding Helps Veterinary Clinic Better Serve Large Animal Clients
With funding from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a Pennsylvania veterinary clinic now can better serve its large animal clients. The veterinary clinic leveraged a $125,000 Veterinary Services Grant to purchase much-needed equipment that will be used in the field and in the clinic’s new haul-in facility.
NIFA’s Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) works to relieve veterinarian shortage situations and support veterinary services. Grants support these goals in a number of ways, including to equip veterinary practices, share in reasonable overhead costs of operating a veterinary practice and establish mobile veterinary facilities in which a portion of the mobile facilities will address education or Extension needs.
In 2023, more than $3.8 million in VSGP grant money was available to support its overall program, including this rural Practice Enhancement Program. Learn more about VSGP program here.
Cambria Veterinary Care ribbon cutting. NIFA image.
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USDA Investment Advances Research and Extension Capacity Across 1890 Historically Black Land-grant Universities
NIFA recently announced an investment of $30.8 million to all 19 of the 1890 historically black Land-grant Universities. This investment, made through the NIFA’s 1890 Institution Teaching, Research and Extension Capacity Building Grants Program will support scientific research that addresses some of our nation’s toughest agricultural challenges.
The 68 projects funded will strengthen the skills and diversity of our nation’s higher-education workforce, bolster scientific research and knowledge delivery systems, and equip 1890 Land-grant Universities with resources needed to better address emerging challenges and create new opportunities. Read more about this award and the projects it will support here.
Researcher in lab. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
University of Maryland Hosts National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research Meeting
The University of Maryland, with NIFA’s coordination, recently hosted the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (NCFAR) meeting, where NCFAR members learned about NIFA-funded research, education, and Extension projects.
University of Maryland College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Dean Craig Beyrouty and scientists met with and provided lab tours for NIFA Director Dr. Manjit Misra, NIFA Stakeholder Affairs Officer Josh Stull, NCFAR Executive Director Laura Wood, and NCFAR members to highlight NIFA-funded projects.
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NIFA Invests $1.5 Million in Two Additional Urban Indoor Agriculture Projects
NIFA’s Urban, Indoor, and other Emerging Agricultural Production Research, Education and Extension Initiative has made two additional awards to the University of Connecticut and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore totaling $1.5 million from its 2022 funds and has added $300,000 to previous awards. The grant program provides grants for research, education and Extension work to solve key problems of urban, indoor and emerging agricultural systems.
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AI, Lasers Used to Evaluate Forest Damage Helps with Rapid Response After Hurricanes
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers are preparing for hurricane season with state-of-the-art monitoring equipment that will help them determine how extensively forests are damaged during individual hurricanes.
When hurricanes careen through Florida, they not only damage homes and businesses, they also destroy forests and timber farms. Getting an accurate assessment for how much timber is damaged by hurricanes is essential for environmental management decisions, salvaging logging operations, tree farms’ insurance estimates and climate change studies, but previously, getting accurate data has been challenging.
But a UF/IFAS team have has developed a combination of remote sensing and artificial intelligence technologies, to create pre- and post-hurricane 3D maps of forests to evaluate forest loss. The team uses satellites and lidar – a technology that uses lasers to collect data and which stands for Light Detection and Ranging – ground equipment to achieve this.
Learn more about this work that is funded by NIFA’s Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events Across Food and Agricultural Systems program.
Storm damaged forest. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
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USDA Appoints Key Experts and Thought Leaders to Board that Informs USDA’s Science and Research Priorities
USDA announced recently the appointment of 10 members to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board. Seven members are new appointments, and three members are re-appointments. Members represent a mix of university, nonprofit, and industry representatives.
The NAREEE Advisory Board provides feedback to the Secretary of Agriculture, to USDA’s Research, Education and Economics (REE) mission area, and to Land-grant colleges and universities on food and agricultural research, education, Extension and economics priorities and policies. Read more about the NAREE Advisory Board and the new appointees here.
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Nominations Deadline Extended for NIFA Hall of Fame and Partner Awards
NIFA is seeking nominations for the NIFA Hall of Fame and its Partner Awards. Nomination deadline has been extended to June 10.
Read the Partner Award guidelines and find nomination forms here. Partner Award nominations forms should be emailed to performance@ars.usda.gov and include “NIFA Partnership Award Nomination” in the subject line
Find more information about NIFA Hall of Fame background information and criteria as well as a link to the nomination form here. Nominations must be e-mailed to the Admin Operations Team at AdminOpsTeam.NIFA@usda.gov and put “Hall of Fame Nomination Submission” in the subject line.
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The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is committed to ensuring that its programs and services are accessible to all individuals, including individuals with disabilities and individuals with limited English proficiency. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in any NIFA event, please contact the appropriate Program staff no later than 10 days prior to the event. To find Program staff by event, please visit the NIFA Calendar of Events. NIFA Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information, will be provided free of charge to limited English proficient individuals upon request. If you need interpretation or translation services please visit NIFA language services or contact Lois Tuttle, Equal Opportunity Specialist, at Lois.Tuttle@usda.gov or (443) 386-9488 no later than 10 days prior to the event.
NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and Extension that solves societal challenges. NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture. Keep informed about NIFA, USDA, our Land-grant and non-Land-grant university partners, and stakeholders with the NIFA Update. Read past issues online, sign up for email updates or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @USDA_NIFA, #NIFAImpacts or LinkedIn @usda-nifa.
If you wish to submit a news item or information, send an email to NIFAUpdate.
USDA is an equal opportunity lender, provider, and employer.
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