The USDA said it awarded $82.3 million to 65 recipients to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops and consumers’ access to specialty crops — including fruits, vegetables and tree nuts. The funding stems from the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the Specialty Crop Multi-State Grant Program.
Funded projects include:
- A partnership between the Nevada Department of Agriculture, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and Union Kitchen to develop the Farm2Food Accelerator, a 15-week program that helps the state’s female specialty crop producers and food entrepreneurs grow their value-added businesses into new statewide and regional markets.
- The Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board to promote the consumption of Michigan-grown asparagus through in-store promotion programs, educational opportunities and digital marketing to target consumers’ grocery shopping both in-store and online.
The Specialty Crop Block Grant and Specialty Crop Multi-State programs are funded by the 2018 farm bill and administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
“This funding will strengthen U.S. specialty crop production and markets and ensure Americans have sustained access to fresh, locally grown fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and more,” Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs said in a news release. “These programs are furthering USDA’s and the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to build a more resilient food system, one where producers and consumers have more, new and better market opportunities, which helps farmers and their communities prosper.”
USDA awards $72.9 million to 54 states and territories to support specialty crop growers through marketing, education, and research. The USDA said the states and territories use the funding to provide sub-awards to projects that focus on areas such as investing in food safety, research on conservation and environmental outcomes, developing new and improved seed varieties, and pest and disease management. To date, USDA said it invested over $1 billion in more than 12,400 projects through this program.
The USDA also awarded $9.4 million to 11 projects through the Specialty Crop Multi-State Program, which funds collaborative multi-state partnerships to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Specialty Crop Multi-State grants address regional or national-level specialty crop issues through research, crop-specific projects addressing common issues and marketing and promotion. Since 2015, the USDA said this program awarded more than $29 million to 40 projects across the country.
