BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:iCalendar-Ruby BEGIN:VEVENT CATEGORIES:Press Releases DESCRIPTION:INDIANAPOLIS (Dec. 5\, 2022) — The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) announced four Indiana specialty crop projects received a total sum of $414\,051.89 through funding provided by the United States D epartment of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP ).\n\n“Agriculture is big business in Indiana and encompasses more than tra ditional row crops and livestock\,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch\, who also serves as the state’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Ind iana is home to a robust specialty crop industry that is a critical piece o f our agricultural economy. I look forward to seeing the good work these pr ojects accomplish.”\n\nSpecialty crops include fruits\, vegetables\, tree n uts\, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops. For a full list of s pecialty crops please visit ams.usda.gov.\n\nAnnually\, Specialty Crop Bloc k Grants are available to non-profit and for-profit organizations\, governm ents\, public or private colleges and universities for up to a three-year p roject term and will fund specialty crop research\, education and market de velopment. To qualify\, projects must aim to benefit the industry as a whol e\, rather than one product\, individual or organization. Applications unde rgo a competitive scoring process\, including review by an external scoring committee.\n\nSome of the projects awarded this grant cycle include City o f Indianapolis Seed to Store\, which is a farm-to-retail program that foste rs connections between local minority-led urban farms and small businesses in Indianapolis and Marion County. A honey education trailer for youth educ ation and a new method for growing and protecting strawberries in Indiana a lso received grants. \n\n“This funding from USDA is critical to advancing o ur specialty crop sector\, and each year many different research areas are supported\,” said Bruce Kettler\, Director\, Indiana State Department of Ag riculture. “Everything from sourcing local food and aquaponics research and from youth development to increasing farmer involvement\, these awards wil l go far in enhancing our Hoosier specialty crop industry.”\n\nIndiana’s fu nding is part of a total $72.9 million in non-competitive fiscal year 2022 SCBGP funding awarded to 55 states\, territories and the District of Columb ia. The SCBGP funding supports farmers growing specialty crops\, including fruits\, vegetables\, tree nuts\, and nursery crops. USDA’s support strengt hens U.S. specialty crop production and markets\, ensuring an abundant\, af fordable supply of highly nutritious fruits\, vegetables\, and other specia lty crops\, which are vital to the health and well-being of all Americans.\ n\n“USDA applauds Indiana’s continued commitment to supporting our nation’s producers of fruits\, vegetables\, tree nuts\, and nursery crops through t he Specialty Crop Block Grant Program\,” said USDA Under Secretary for Mark eting and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The projects funded wi ll foster innovative research and new market opportunities within the speci alty crop sector\, while furthering USDA’s goals of creating a more fair an d equitable food system and supporting local and regional producers.”\n\nTh e following list includes the organizations that received funding for the 2 022-2025 grant cycle:\n\nLocal Food Ecosystem Project + Seed to Store\n\nAw ard: $129\,846\n\nProject: The City of Indianapolis requested funding for i ts Local Food Ecosystem project\, Seed to Store\, which is a farm to retail program that fosters connections between local minority-led urban farms an d small businesses in Indianapolis and Marion County. Indianapolis’ Divisio n of Community Nutrition and Food Policy will act as the lead agency in adm inistering this project in partnership with farmers\, grocers and other bus iness owners. Seed to Store aims to boost specialty crops sales\, build cap acity for the local food economy and improve access to and awareness of hea lthy specialty crops through direct-to-consumer marketing. Seed to Store pa rtner farms grow specialty crops such as collards\, watermelon\, tomatoes\, lettuce\, peppers and eggplant. Now in its second year\, Seed to Store wil l implement infrastructure improvements through cold storage\, farm labor s upport and software for inventory management and ecommerce. Targeted market ing and promotions initiatives will also help develop connections between c onsumers and the specialty crop industry and provide education for increase d accessibility.\n\nHoney Education Trailer\n\nAward: $69\,335.32\n\nProjec t: At Ease Orchard will develop an education plan across the State of India na utilizing a Bee Demonstration Trailer and experience beekeepers. The dem onstration trailer will consist of live bees in an enclosed demo box\, harv esting equipment\, hive equipment and the ability to demonstrate harvesting honey from the hives as well as multiple other beekeeping techniques such as sanitizing a hive and queen rearing. The trailer will be manned and atte nd events at 4H clubs\, Farm Shows\, Bee Club events and schools. The goal is to attend a minimum of one event per month. Similarly\, the Bee Trailer will meet Indiana Health Department standards for honey harvesting and be a vailable to support on-site training at residences to teach beekeepers how to properly harvest and bottle honey. The intended outcome of this grant is to increase education on honey food safety\, to support beginning farmers and beekeepers and to increase the popularity and knowledge of honey as a s pecialty crop.\n\nLeveraging Farm to ECE Partnerships to Increase Demand an d Access for Specialty Crops\n\nAward: $87\,413.90\n\nProject: Green Bridge Growers will increase demand for locally grown produce through a Farm to E arly Care and Education (ECE) initiative that incorporates local food sourc ing\, food and agricultural education and family engagement to promote heal thy eating practices right from the start for young children and their care givers. ECEs are an important market for small farmers because of relativel y low barriers to entry and have the added benefit of promoting household n utrition knowledge and the consumption of specialty crops. By partnering wi th ECEs to better understand and influence the role farmers can play in thi s market\, our project will develop replicable models\, outreach on best pr actices for other farmers entering the ECE market and expand food access fo r under-resourced families throughout the state.\n\nPurdue University - Dev eloping a Novel Multi-Year Production System for Strawberries Grown on Plas tic Mulch in Indiana\n\nAward: $127\,456.67\n\nProject: Purdue University w ill address two of the greatest barriers to the profitability and sustainab ility of multi-year plasticulture strawberry production in Indiana by impro ving runner management through cultivar selection and chemical runner suppr ession and establishing safe and effective weed management strategies. Ther e is increased demand for local pick-your-own strawberries and decreased ac cess to the timely and abundant labor required to grow the crop. This proje ct represents the first meaningful research effort into a multi-year plasti c mulch production system for strawberries in Indiana and directly addresse s the most pressing concerns identified by stakeholders. Recommendations ge nerated from this project will be used to ensure that growers adopting mult i-year plasticulture production have the greatest likelihood of sustainable success through cultivar selection and chemical control of runners and eff ective weed management strategies.\n\nVisit www.isda.in.gov for more inform ation about the Specialty Crop Block Grant program. To view the full announ cement from USDA click here.\n\n### DTEND:20221205T150000Z DTSTAMP:20260308T140859Z DTSTART:20221205T140000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:ISDA announces specialty crop projects received funding UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_41773568339368 URL:https://events.in.gov/event/isda_announces_specialty_crop_projects_rece ived_funding END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR