(WASHINGTON, September 7, 2021) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that $700 million in competitive grant funding will be available through the new Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) grant program to help farmworkers and meatpacking workers with pandemic-related health and safety costs. The announcement was made in press call with United Farm Workers Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres and …
Protect Against the COVID-19 Delta Variant
If you would have asked us last September if there would still be a need to write a tip about COVID-19 a year later, our answer would have been, “We sure hope not.” So, what’s changed? The simplest explanation is the emergence of the Delta variant. When you hear us talk about food safety, we don’t often talk about variants. …
Climate-Smart Agriculture through CRP
Back in May, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced an initiative to quantify the climate benefits of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts. The multi-year effort will enable USDA to better target CRP toward climate outcomes and improve existing models and conservation planning tools while supporting USDA’s goal of putting American agriculture and forestry at the center of climate-smart solutions to …
Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program Helps after Hurricanes
While Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana this past weekend, its effects have been felt this week in many other states, including parts of Alabama, Florida and Georgia. And this is a good time to remind landowners that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) may be able to help afterwards through their Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP). If your area suffered damage from Ida, or …
GCC, GPC Remind Growers About Upcoming Field Day at UGA Tifton
By Clint Thompson The Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) and Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC) remind producers about the upcoming University of Georgia (UGA) Cotton and Peanut Research Field Day on the UGA Tifton Campus on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Both commission groups sponsor the event. It is held every year to provide growers timely information and about research being conducted on campus, …
Florida NRCS Extends EQIP 2022 Funding Signup
We told you before that Florida farmers, ranchers and forest owners had until the first of September to apply for financial and technical assistance through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Well, that date has been extended as you now have until October 1, 2021 to apply. While applications for EQIP are accepted on a continuous basis, funding selections …
USDA Investing in Cooperative Agreements for Racial Justice and Equity
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced they will be investing up to $50 million in cooperative agreements to support historically underserved farmers and ranchers with climate-smart agriculture and forestry. The Racial Justice and Equity Conservation Cooperative Agreements are available to entities for two year projects that expand the delivery of conservation assistance to farmers who are beginning, limited …
USDA Establishes Dairy Donation Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the establishment of a $400 million Dairy Donation Program. The DDP, established by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service in accordance with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, aims to facilitate timely dairy product donations while reducing food waste. This is part of the $6 billion of pandemic assistance announced by USDA in March and …
Data Dashboards Bringing Together Pollinator Data
Efforts are ongoing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to build a data dashboard for those involved in pollinator health improvement efforts. USDA Honey Bee and Pollinator Research Coordinator, Elizabeth Hill, explains the concept of data dashboards and how one developed specifically for pollinators can aid researchers and stakeholders in pollinator health efforts. Hill discusses how a developing data …
USDA Accepts 2.8 Million Acres for the CRP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced they’ve accepted 2.8 million acres in offers from agricultural producers and private landowners for enrollment into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) this year. That brings the total accepted this year to almost 1.9 million acres through the General CRP Signup. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Zach Ducheneaux says they have also accepted over …