Entries by Tracy Mumma

New Mexico Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

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Proposals are due February 14, 2025. Approximately $500,000 in funding is available to New Mexico producers through the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. All project proposals must prioritize either marketing, training, certification, food safety, pest control or plant health for […]

Local Meat Processors Provide Valuable Service

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Meat processors play an important role for small producers in communities across the West, reports Western Farm Press. Once-plentiful local butcher shops disappeared over time, but when the pandemic revealed supply-chain weaknesses, interest in local processing revived. Producers may face challenges in finding a local processor, but small processors, in turn, are facing challenges in […]

Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops Program

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The deadline to apply for assistance for calendar year 2024 is January 31, 2025. USDA’s Farm Service Agency’s Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops Program (FSCSC) assists specialty crop operations that incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses related to obtaining or renewing a food safety certification in calendar years 2024 and 2025. This program […]

West Virginia Specialty Crop Block Grant

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Applications are due January 31, 2025. The West Virginia Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for Specialty Crop Block Grants to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in West Virginia. This program assists applicants to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops by: (1) Leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops; (2) Assisting producers with […]

Five New Members Join National Organic Standards Board

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USDA announced the appointment of five new members to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), for a five-year term from January 2025 through January 2030. The NOSB is made up of 15 members from the organic sector. The new members include Kathryn Deschenes of Colorado and Amanda Felder of California, both appointed to Handler seats; […]

Ancient Agricultural Practices Offer Lessons for Farming with Water Scarcity

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Research into ancient low-water-use agricultural practices by Bar-Ilan University in Israel is offering insights into how modern farming could succeed in times of water scarcity. A study published in Environmental Archaeology began with an exploration of Plot-and-Berm agroecosystems located along Israel’s Mediterranean coast but expanded into investigation of how traditional sunken groundwater-harvesting agroecosystems were used […]

Research Provides Insight on Growing Organic Leafy Greens in High Tunnels

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A recent study by scientists at the University of Florida sheds light on how soil and nutrient management practices significantly influence the productivity and quality of leafy green crops grown in high tunnel organic systems, reports the American Society for Horticultural Science. This 3-year study examined a cowpea cover crop, as well as a range […]

Texas A&M Project to Improve Muscadine Grapes

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Texas A&M University will work with the University of Arkansas, the University of Georgia, and other institutions and agencies in a four-year, $7 million project designed to improve muscadine grapes for fresh market sales and wine. USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture provided funding for this project that will support grape growers in propagating […]

Ohio Project Looks Beyond Sugar Maples for Syrup Production

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Ohio State University is involved in USDA-funded research to explore viable alternatives to sugar maples for syrup production, given that scientists expect the range of sugar maples to move northward, leaving behind the southern syrup-producing states like Ohio. Ohio State’s research focused on tapping hybrid red maple and silver maple trees, which produce sap with […]

Research Shows Concentrated Sugar Solution Effective for Treating Infection in Dairy Cattle

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Researchers at Penn State published work in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, showing that a concentrated sugar solution was as effective as antibiotics in treating mild cases of a common uterine infection in dairy cattle, called clinical metritis. The discovery has the potential to reduce reliance on antibiotics and ultimately help combat the growing […]