Weekly Harvest Newsletter
Sustainable Agriculture News Briefs - August 15, 2018
Weekly sustainable agriculture news and resources gleaned from the Internet by NCAT staff for the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture website. The Weekly Harvest Newsletter is also available online.
News & Resources
- Agroforestry Guidebook Offers Ways to Integrate Tree Crops
- Survey Informs Efforts for Regional Brand Development in St. Louis
- Risk Management Agency Introduces Dairy Revenue Protection Insurance
- USDA's Farmers.gov Website Adds Disaster Assistance Tool
- USDA Announces Fall NOSB Meeting
- Solar-Energy Facilities Could Provide Pollinator Habitat
Funding Opportunities
- Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Program
- Food Well Alliance Local Food Grant
- Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Grant Program
Coming Events
- National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit
- Grazing for Better Soil Health
- Organic Hemp Production and Research
News & Resources
Agroforestry Guidebook Offers Ways to Integrate Tree Crops
A new publication from the Savanna Institute, Perennial Pathways: Planting Tree Crops, describes ways to integrate perennial crops on your farm. The 110-page guidebook to designing and installing farm-scale edible agroforestry is available free online in PDF, or for sale in print. It guides new agroforestry farmers through the process of envisioning a plan to planting and managing crops.
Related ATTRA Publication: Soils and Sites for Organic Orchards and Vineyards
Survey Informs Efforts for Regional Brand Development in St. Louis
Missouri Coalition for the Environment, as part of its work convening the St. Louis Food Policy Coalition, is looking to help farmers within 150 miles of St. Louis reach new markets and grow their businesses. All farmers in the region are invited to participate in a 10-minute online survey to inform development of a regional brand and an improved delivery and distribution service.
Related ATTRA Publication: Food Hubs: A Producer Guide
Risk Management Agency Introduces Dairy Revenue Protection Insurance
USDA Risk Management Agency has announced a new insurance plan for dairy producers that insures against unexpected declines in quarterly milk sales and is available in all counties in all 50 states. Coverage levels are available from 70 to 95% of revenue. Sign-up for Dairy Revenue Protection begins October 9, 2018, with the first available coverage starting the first quarter of 2019.
Related ATTRA Publication: Primer on Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Crop Insurance: Updates for 2018
USDA's Farmers.gov Website Adds Disaster Assistance Tool
USDA's new website, Farmers.gov, has updated tools and information to help agricultural producers identify the right programs and make decisions for their operations. One of these is a disaster assistance discovery tool that walks producers through five questions to help them identify personalized results of what USDA disaster assistance programs meet their needs.
Related ATTRA Publication: Drought and Disaster Resources for Texas Producers
USDA Announces Fall NOSB Meeting
The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) will meet October 24-26, 2018, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to discuss substances petitioned for addition to or deletion from the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, substances due to sunset from the National List in 2020, and guidance on organic policies. The meetings are open to the public. The Board will hear three-minute oral comments during webinars on October 16 and 18, 2018, and in person on October 24, 2018.
Solar-Energy Facilities Could Provide Pollinator Habitat
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory say that utility-scale solar energy (USSE) facilities could provide important habitat for pollinators that help with the production of food. The researchers say that land at 2,800 existing and planned USSE facilities in the contiguous United States could be planted with native plant species that provide pollinator habitat and could encourage pollinator population growth.
>>More Breaking News
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Funding Opportunities
Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Program
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is accepting applications for $20 million in POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) funding. This program supports efforts that create a more vibrant economic future for coal-impacted communities in the ARC region by cultivating economic diversity, enhancing job training and re-employment opportunities, creating jobs in existing or new industries, and attracting new sources of investment. Applicants must propose to serve and benefit a portion of the Appalachian Region.
Applications for Cycle 2 are due August 29, 2018.
Food Well Alliance Local Food Grant
Food Well Alliance is inviting urban farmers in the five-county metro Atlanta region to apply for grants up to $25,000 each to support their farms and growing operations. The 2019 Local Food Grants will directly invest in farmers and their community farms by supporting items like farm infrastructure, supplies, materials, labor, and professional services to scale the viability of their enterprise.
Applications are due by September 16, 2018.
Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Grant Program
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is accepting applications for the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin grant program. These grants can help farms and businesses more efficiently process, market, and distribute food in local markets. A total of $200,000 is available in matching grant funding; the maximum award is $50,000. Qualified applicants include individuals, groups, or businesses involved in Wisconsin production agriculture, food processing, food distribution, food warehousing, retail food establishments, or agricultural tourism operations.
Proposals must be received by September 14, 2018.
>>More Funding Opportunities
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Coming Events
National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit
September 15-18, 2018
Arlington, Virginia
Farmers Market Coalition, USDA, Food Distribution Research Society, National Value-Added Agriculture Conference, and Farm Credit Council are presenting a summit specifically designed for farmers market managers and direct-marketing farmers.
Grazing for Better Soil Health
September 17, 18, 19, 20, or 21, 2018
Emporia, Eureka, Blaine, Jewell, or Salina, Kansas
Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams presents a one-day workshop in five locations that will focus on the delivery of grazing management strategies designed to improve both soil health and water quality. These workshops will be delivered by Jim Gerrish.
Organic Hemp Production and Research
September 17, 2018
Frankfort, Kentucky
This Organic Association of Kentucky Field Day at Kentucky State University's demonstration farm focuses on KSU's current organic hemp research, including use of hemp in a grain rotation and organic soil fertility via integrated livestock production.
>>More Events
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ATTRA was developed and is managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT). The program is funded through a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
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