Agriculture Risk Management Education Competitive Grants Program (RME)

Providing comprehensive risk management education for agricultural producers in the United States

Section 133 of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 amended the Federal Crop Insurance Act to establish a competitive grants program that would educate agricultural producers about the full range of risk management activities. This work is being conducted by four "RME Centers" in the Northeastern, Southern, North Central, and Western Regions of the United States.

The regional centers conduct projects within their region and may enter into multi-regional projects with other centers. These projects are to be solicited and selected for funding by the RME Center recipient through a competitive process.

Project Examples
Examples of the RMC grant program include:

• In Kentucky, Risk Management Education funds are supporting the efforts of 132 para-professionals trained to help limited-resource families. As a result of the training, the 132 “teachers” are expected to provide one-on-one educational services to 4,500 limited-resource families annually.
• As in many states, Georgia officials integrate risk management education into numerous outreach opportunities. The many activities for Georgia producers include training offered in:
• Farm financial record keeping using Quicken; five sessions with hands-on training for producers
• Total quality management, to prepare vegetable and fruit farmers to withstand the risks and challenges involved in the export market
• Tactical risk management education workshops; three workshops on marketing and production risk targeting Georgia row crop producers

Eligibility, Uses, and Restrictions
Applications may be submitted by qualified public and private entities. This includes all colleges and universities; federal, state, and local agencies; nonprofit and for-profit private organizations or corporations, and other entities. Applicants are encouraged to recognize the risk management education needs of all producers, including small-scale and minority producers and women, while giving special consideration to educational needs of producers who have had limited exposure to risk management concepts, tools, and strategies.

Priority will be given to projects that recognize and document the RME needs of producers as they exist at regional, state, and local levels, and propose effective educational programs that address those needs. Regionally based programs should be flexible while addressing special needs as determined by producer audiences; commodity mixes; types of risks associated with production, marketing, financial, legal and human resource conditions; and/or other factors that hold the greatest potential for assisting producers.

Three types of grants are funded by the program:

• County/Regional Level Program Grants: For projects designed to deliver risk management education at the local level to some targeted audience. These grants are intended to fund individual meetings and will require less paperwork in the application.
• Small- and Limited-Resource Producer Grants: For programs that target the specific risk management needs of small and limited-resource producers. These grants will be larger in scope, state wide or multi-state, and applications should address the marketing and financial education needs of this group of producers.
• Unrestricted Risk Management Education Grants: For general risk management education programs in the region that identify needs of producers.

Program funds may not be used to renovate or refurbish research, education, or extension space; to buy or install fixed equipment in such space; or to plan, repair, rehabilitate, acquire, or construct buildings or facilities. CSREES does not require matching support for this program, and matching resources will not be factored into the review process as evaluation criteria.

Application and Financial Information
Grants are awarded regionally through an annual competitive review process. Details of this process may vary between regions. Contact the appropriate Risk Management Education Center (see list below) for specific information about the application process, such as deadlines, types of projects sought, and application procedures.

Contact
Ken Stokes, Director Southern Region Risk Management Education Center Texas Cooperative Extension 1229 N US Hwy 281 Stephenville, TX 76401 Phone: (254) 968-4144; Fax: (254) 965-3759 http://srrme.tamu.edu

Doug Jose, Director North Central Risk Management Education Center University of Nebraska 308A Filley Hall Lincoln, NE 68583 Phone: (402) 472-2039 www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/ncrisk

Jon Newkirk, Director Western Center for Risk Management Education Washington State University Cooperative Extension 222 N Havana Spokane, WA 99202 Phone: (509) 477-2168; Fax: (509) 477-2197 http://westrme.wsu.edu

Don Tilmon, Director Northeast Center for Risk Management Education University of Delaware 226 Townsend Hall Newark, DE 19717 -1303 Phone: (302) 831-6540; Fax: (302) 831-0857 www.necrme.org

Internet
www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm