From the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries:
MONTGOMERY, AL – Alabama will receive over $334,000 in funding to distribute to 14 specific project initiatives that have been approved as part of USDA’s 2016 Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) Program awards.
“We are pleased to partner with USDA and administer the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program in Alabama,” said Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan. “We are excited about many of the 2016 projects and are encouraged that these projects will provide outreach, education, and research of specialty crops in Alabama.”
All Alabama project recipients will attend a kickoff meeting on October 21, 2016, at the State Department of Agriculture and Industries headquarters in Montgomery. At this meeting, official contracts will be signed and the specific details of each project’s plan of action will be discussed.
The grants are part of USDA’s continued effort to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops and provide resources to strengthen American agriculture. The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP), administrated by AMS, awarded grant funds for 693 projects in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. Territories.
USDA-AMS Director Elanor Starmor says, “The grants announced will help ensure that our specialty crop sector remains competitive, has the resources it needs to solve challenges, and can meet Americans’ growing demand for these products. This is important for our farmers and rural communities as well as for all American consumers.”
For additional grant information on the awardees, please follow the grant program link in this release https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/SCBGP2016DescriptionofFundedProjects.pdf.
For more information on Alabama’s SCBG program, contact Johnny Blackmon at johnny.blackmon@agi.alabama.gov or by phone at 334-240-7257.