ACECharleston - Write a Grant That's Perfect for Your Communications Department

Specialty CropBlock Grant Program

Write a GrantThat’s Perfect for Your

Communications Department



What is a specialty crop?

•Fruits (cultivated, not wild)•Vegetables (not row crops)•Tree nuts•Dried fruits•Horticulture (aesthetics, food, medicine)



Purpose of USDA program:

Help farmers who raise fruits,vegetables, and nuts with improvedtraining, infrastructure, and marketing



Background:

•USDA grant since 2004•Part of Farm Bill since 2008•Each state receives $100,000 and additional funding based upon acreage and population•$118 million awarded in 2014 for 839 projects



Eligible applicants:

•Producer associations•State and local organizations•Academia



Eligible projects:

Projects must solely enhance thecompetitiveness of your state’s specialtycrops. They cannot profit single organizations, institutions, or individuals.



Grant priority areas:

•Research•Education/training•Marketing/promotion•Food safety/handling



In other words:

USDA gives millions of dollars in block grantsto each state’s department of agriculture tore-grant for projects that help sell specialty crops in your state provided you are a non-profit working to help growers.



How we defined the problem:

More than 98 percent of Mississippi farmsare locally owned.

Specialty crops represent only 2 percent of the state’s total agricultural production.



Our grant title:

Using Specialty Cropsto Develop and Promote

Farmers’ Markets in Mississippi



Three-part solution:Use specialty crops as the focal point tobuild awareness among

1. consumers2. growers and producers 3. community leaders

about participation in farmers’ markets.



1. Consumers:

Use media to promote farmers’ markets:• Freshness• Quality• Health benefits



2. Growers and Producers:

Growers’ conference to educate about markets:• Profitability of growing and selling• Advice from Extension personnel• Chance to invite government and community

personnel



3. Community and municipal leaders:

Use media to educate and promote:• Economic advantages to communities hosting

farmers’ markets



Partnership:

Asked an Extension horticulturist to co-PI:•Organize a growers’ conference•Publish new publications as needed•Lend his PhD to the grant application forits educational value •Fulfill the education priority of the grant



Budget:

Our department’s usual charge of $50 per hour was acceptable in the USDA formulafor hourly wages.

Next, we simply had to plan the services and estimate the time it would take.



Website and social media:

$5,000•http://farmersmarkets.msstate.edu•Facebook•Twitter•Extension YouTube



Television PSAs:

$10,475 Aired on FarmweekDVDs sent to state TV stations

•https://youtu.be/ie_5QR0FjnQ•https://youtu.be/AVL_syi0yiE•https://youtu.be/Y0Fn56mklLY



Growers’ conference:

$8,471

•Two-day conference•100 participants•Fit the educationpriority



Publications:

$4,933

•Growers’ conferencepromotional brochure•Tri-fold generaluse brochure•Extension pub



Total Services:

•$8,471 Television public service announcements•$5,000 Website and social media•$4,933 Publications – writing, editing, art, and printing•$1,580 Radio shows/public service announcements•$700 News releases and features•$525 Photography•$10,475 Microfarming growers’ conference



Grant Application:

•$33,285 total proposalBilled quarterly or as each service is rendered•December 2013–May 2015 timeline



Measurable Outcomes:

•10 percent increase in number of state farmers’ markets•Double website traffic with new site compared to existing Extension pages•10 percent increase in specialty crop growers of those attending growers’ conference



Find your state program:www.usda.gov --> search for “specialty crop grant”



Questions?

Rick NoffsingerOffice of Agricultural Communications

(662) [email protected]


ACECharleston - Write a Grant That's Perfect for Your Communications Department

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