Dear Colleagues,

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced $27 million in funding to support innovative projects designed to strengthen market opportunities for local and regional food producers and businesses. The grants available include the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) and Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) grants, and the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP).

“These grants will continue USDA's support for the local food sector as an important strategy for keeping wealth in rural communities,” said AMS Administrator Elanor Starmer. “Entrepreneurs around the country are creating jobs and new economic opportunities in response to growing consumer demand for local food. AMS is excited to partner with local food stakeholders to strengthen local economies and improve access to fresh, healthy food for their communities.”

FMPP supports direct farmer-to-consumer marketing projects. LFPP supports projects focused on intermediary supply chain activities for local food businesses. The FMPP and LFPP initiatives seek to:

• Increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products
• Develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets by developing, improving, expanding
• Provide outreach, training, and technical assistance to, or assisting in the development, improvement, and expansion of, domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities.

FSMIP supports applied research to explore new market opportunities and efficiency for U.S. food and agricultural producers. The program provides funding to state departments of agriculture, state colleges and universities, and other appropriate state agencies. Funds will support research projects to address challenges and opportunities in marketing, transporting, and distributing U.S. agricultural products domestically and internationally. Eligible agricultural categories include poultry, livestock, dairy, food, feed and fiber crops, fish and shellfish, horticulture, viticulture, apiary, and forest products, and processed or manufactured products derived from such commodities. Reflecting the growing diversity of U.S. agriculture, FSMIP accepts proposals dealing with nutraceuticals, bioenergy, compost, agroforestry products, and products made from agricultural residue.

UC ANR is eligible as a nonprofit corporation, any organization or institution, including accredited institutions of higher education, where no part of the net earnings of which inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. For FSMIP funding, UC ANR is eligible as a State agricultural experiment station.

The application deadline for all three programs (FMPP, LFPP, FSMIP) is March 27, 2017. See the OCG Calendar for an overview or the AMS request for proposals for complete details. If you are interested in applying to these opportunities, please contact the Office of Contracts and Grants to request proposal development assistance.

For those not applying for FY2017 FMLFPP or FSMIP grant funding, please consider serving as a grant reviewer for the program. Serving as a grant reviewer allows prospective applicants the opportunity to become better familiar with the agency's culture, program's objectives, review process, and build relationships with reviewers and program officers alike. This is also one of the best ways to improve your own grant writing, providing key insight into how to craft a successful proposal to the program as well as lessons learned for what makes a proposal unsuccessful. All interested agricultural professionals are invited to apply to become a grant reviewer.

FMPP and LFPP reviewers are expected to have operational knowledge of local food direct-to-consumer marketing and background in agriculture, retail, or farm-to-table marketing. Reviewers serve in 3-member teams and follow a pre-set scoring system, with each person reviewing 15 to 20 proposals. The review period is approximately six weeks from late April to mid-June, 2017.

FSMIP reviewers can include individuals from the federal government, state universities and colleges, state departments of agriculture and other appropriate state agencies. Reviewers are expected to have general knowledge of agricultural marketing, applied economics or marketing experience for farmers and ranchers. FSMIP reviewers should have specialized knowledge on topics such as food safety, consumer economics, foreign market development, labeling, post-harvest handling and/or transportation. FSMIP reviewers will have 4 to 5 weeks beginning in early May to review up to 10 applications, each consisting of a 10-page narrative plus supporting materials. Reviewers serve in 3-member teams to evaluate proposals grouped together by a common topic or theme.

Non-federal reviewers for both programs will be compensated for their service.  The deadline to apply to become a reviewer is March 20, 2017.

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross is holding several public forums across the state seeking input from farmers, ranchers and other stakeholders on priorities for the 2018 Farm Bill. The current farm bill, the Agricultural Act of 2014 will expire next year necessitating action by Congress. The farm bill provides an estimated $489 billion in federal funding nationwide to support a variety of food and agricultural programs including crop insurance, conservation, nutrition and trade.

“The farm bill is as important to San Francisco and Los Angeles as it is to the Central Valley,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “This legislation ensures a robust farm safety net, promotes farming and ranching practices that are environmentally sound and provides important nutritional funding for our citizens. How our California Congressional delegation helps to shape the federal farm bill will result in positive investments to our communities, our health and agricultural economy.”

The listening sessions are a public forum soliciting individuals input on California's priorities for the upcoming farm bill. Comments will help develop recommendations on the farm bill that will be shared with California's Congressional delegation and the leadership of the Senate and House agricultural committees.

The first listening session was held in Modesto on Feb. 7^th with former CDFA secretary Bill Lyons in attendance. Lyons stated that the key to the historical success of California agriculture has been the research and extension work provided by the University of California and California State University. “Farm Bill ag research programs are an important contributor to the effort and need to be increased," said Lyons. "I'm looking forward to what the deans of UC and the state universities identify as their priorities in this area."

This is your opportunity to contribute to the conversation. Three more listening sessions are planned for this month. CDFA officials will also hold public forums in Chico, Tulare, Salinas and Los Angeles.

Details for each upcoming session are as follows:

Tulare (World Ag Expo) – Thursday, February 16th (Noon – 3:00 p.m.)                           .

International Agri-Center Heritage Complex (Theater)              

4500 S. Laspina Street

Tulare, CA 93274                                                              

Salinas – Wednesday, February 22nd (4:30 – 6:30 p.m.)

Monterey County Farm Bureau

1140 Abbott Street, Suite C.

Salinas, CA 93901

Los Angeles – Thursday, February 23rd (1:00 – 3:00 p.m.)

Los Angeles Trade Technical College (Meeting Room: TBD)

400 West Washington Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90015

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

The California Natural Resources Agency Urban Greening Program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities. The cap-and-trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution.

Eight technical assistance workshops for the Urban Greening Grant Program have been scheduled to provide guidance in preparing grant applications to the program. Each workshop will include a formal presentation and breakout sessions. To take advantage of the interactive format of the workshops, participants are encouraged to attend the workshop in-person, and engage in networking opportunities in addition to obtaining application technical assistance.

The event will also be available via webcast. Please note the webcast platform is limited to 100 attendees. If joining by webcast, please limit the number of online participants to one per organization. The webcast can be found here: http://resources.ca.gov/grants/urban-greening/

Please RSVP via email to urban.greening@resources.ca.gov if you plan to attend a workshop.

The workshop training schedule is as follows:

SACRAMENTO
March 13, 2017  from 9 am - 12 pm
Resources Building Auditorium 1416 9th Street, 1st Floor Sacramento, CA 95814

FRESNO
March 14, 2017 from 10 am -1 pm
Caltrans Manchester Office Yosemite Room 145 2015 East Shields Avenue, Suite 100 Fresno, CA 93726

COACHELLA
March 16, 2017 from 1 pm – 4 pm
Coachella Corporate Yard 53462 Enterprise Way Coachella, CA 92236

RIVERSIDE
March 17, 2017 from 9 am – 12 pm
Calfire Southern Operations Center 2524 Mulberry Street, Media Center Riverside, CA 92501

TRACY
March 20, 2017 from 10 am – 1 pm
City of Tracy Public Works BSC Training Room 520 Tracy Boulevard, Boyd Center – Gate 3 Tracy, CA 95376

SAN DIEGO
March 24, 2017 from 11 am – 2 pm
San Diego Training Center 5500 Overland Avenue, Building 5500 1st Floor Conference Room San Diego, CA 92123

OAKLAND
March 27, 2017 from 10 am – 1 pm
Temescal Beach House 6500 Broadway Oakland, CA 94618

LYNWOOD
March 28, 2017 from 11 am – 2 pm
Lynwood Civic Center Complex Bateman Hall 11331 Ernestine Avenue Lynwood, CA 90262

The final guidelines and application are expected to be released March 1, 2017 at the following website: http://www.sgc.ca.gov/Grant-Programs/UGG-Program.html

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

Dear Colleagues,

UC ANR academics and staff are invited to serve as peer reviewers for the NIFA Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Program.

CYFAR integrates resources of the Land-Grant University System to develop and deliver educational programs that equip limited-resource families and youth who are at risk for not meeting basic human needs to lead positive, productive, and contributing lives. To assure that critical needs of children and families are met, the program supports comprehensive, intensive, community-based programs developed with active citizen participation in all phases. CYFAR promotes building resiliency and protective factors in youth, families, and communities.

The CYFAR program is committed to the vision that:

1. Babies will be born healthy, and young children will have their basic physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs met.
2. School-age youth and teens will demonstrate knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary for fulfilling, contributing lives.
3. Parents will take primary responsibility for meeting their children's physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs and provide moral guidance and direction.
4. Families will promote positive, productive, and contributing lives for all family members.
5. Communities will provide safe, secure environments for families with children.

Potential CYFAR panelists must have the necessary expertise and sufficient time to commit to the review process. Panelists cannot submit a grant application to the program.

If you are interested in participating in this NIFA peer review panel opportunity, please email cyfar@nifa.usda.gov with the subject line “CYFAR 2017 Peer Review Panel.”

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)