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The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) is inviting groups or individuals with ideas for improving the competitiveness of the state’s specialty crops industries to submit grant applications. The additional funding is through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program Farm Bill funding which differs from the 33 statewide awards made last month by the WVDA. Deadline for submission is June 22.
“We have provided 85 projects with approximately $270,000 in the past three years,” said West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. ”The number of projects and areas of interest for specialty crops in the state is exciting. Agricultural growers in West Virginia are capitalizing on the interest in locally-grown specialty crops. This grant program allows growers the ability to work cooperatively to increase technology integration, marketing and promotion, research and production efficiency.
Previously approved projects include the development of a farmers’ market in Wood County, youth garden projects, the creation of a curriculum exploring local foods and their source, and developing a source of queen bees for one of the state’s fastest growing agribusiness enterprises.
Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, tree nuts, nursery crops, floriculture, herbs, honey, maple syrup, mushrooms and Christmas trees. Both fresh and processed specialty crops are included.
The types of eligible projects have been intentionally left open-ended to encourage creative projects, but applications should focus on one or more of the following categories: Promotion/marketing, research, education/training, innovation/efficiency of facilities and equipment.
USDA rules prohibit grants for projects that directly benefit or provide profit to a single company or individual. Research projects must make results public, or provide for some type of public education component to the project.
Examples of eligible expenses include: promotional materials, developing associations to promote specialty crops, creating a cooperative to increase purchasing power, consumer education and increased consumption marketing campaigns (i.e. buy local initiative), product development of specialty crops, improved planting techniques to increase yield, and innovative fencing used to protect crops.
Grant money cannot be used for construction projects, establishing secondary grant pools, land acquisitions, taxes, vehicle registration, overhead expenses or indirect costs, legal costs, contingency funds, proposal preparation, insurance, contractual project administration, costs that have or will be paid by another entity, salaries, any expenses incurred prior to the award date of this grant, or political or lobbying activities. Submission of a proposal does not guarantee funding.
Proposal packets with program information and application instructions can be downloaded at www.wvagriculture.org. For more information, contact Marketing Specialists Melissa Hudson at 304-558-2210 or Cindy Martel at 304-541-9756.
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The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.
“The Basis of All Wealth is Agriculture.”
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