Outreach & Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements
FSA Establishes New Partnerships Through Cooperative Agreements
In September 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that $2.5 million would be made available from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for projects to educate new and underserved farmers about the more than 20 FSA programs that can provide financial, disaster or technical assistance. The grants were to be awarded to nonprofits and public higher education institutions that develop proposals on topics such as financial training, value-added production, recordkeeping, property inheritance and crop production practices. FSA conducted the first of two evaluation periods last winter and announced 55 awardees in 28 States. Awards between $20,000 and $75,000 per applicant were made available.
For this second evaluation period that ended July 11, 2016, FSA reviewed 123 proposals that requested $9.8 million in funding. FSA announced 46 awardees in 25 States. Awards between $25,000 and $99,999 per proposal were approved. The proposals approved were:
Renewing the Countryside | North Carolina Economic and Development Center |
Athens Land Trust | A&L Afterschool Literacy+ Institute |
Hmong National Development, Inc. | Pheasants Forever |
Farm Scape Solutions | Building Youth Tomorrow Today |
North South Institute | Center for Southwest Culture, Inc. |
Food Works | East Arkansas Enterprise Community |
Central State University | University of Vermont & State Agricultural College |
Recirculating Farms Coalition Inc. | Cochise Community College |
Kitchen Food Ventures | Michigan Integrated Food & Farming Systems |
Wealth Watchers | Virginia State University |
The Kohala Center | University of Maine System |
Northern Maine Development Commission | Cottage House Inc. |
University of Missouri System | Vivian B. Adams School Board |
Montana State University | Dubois Institute for Entrepreneurship |
Cultivating Community | University of Tennessee |
Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project Inc. | University of Wisconsin |
Farmers Legal Action Group | Sunrise County Economic Council |
Asian Economic Development Association | Organic Farming Research Foundation |
California Polytechnic State University | Mississippi State University |
Winston County Self Help Cooperative | Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts Inc. |
New Mexico State University | Fort Valley State University |
Holistic Management International | Washington State University |
Kansas State University | Siskiyou Joint Community College |
Approved proposals from the first evaluation period were submitted by:
University of California | Oklahoma State University |
Land Connection Foundation | National Center for Appropriate Technology |
Utah State University | Valley Small Business Development Corporation |
Angelic Organics Learning Center | Columbia Land Conservancy, Inc. |
Legal Aid of Nebraska | Purdue University |
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture | University of Arkansas |
California FarmLink | Rural Advancement Foundation International - USA |
Farmers Legal Action Group | Georgia Pecan Growers Association |
University of Maryland | Community Food and Agriculture Coalition |
Practical Farmers of Iowa | South Dakota State University |
Pennsylvania State University | West Virginia State University |
Stag Vets, Inc. | Indian Nations Conservation Alliance |
Sustainable Agriculture Education | Oregon Tilth |
Whitaker Small Farm Group | Sequoyah-Adair-Cherokee County Empowerment Zone |
Third Sector New England | Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York |
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | NACDC Financial Services |
National Young Farmers Coalition | Michigan State University |
Iowa State University | Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project, Inc. |
Land Stewardship Project | Mitchell School District |
Sustainable Agriculture Education | State Center Community College District |
Rural Community Development Resources | Alabama A&M University |
Rutgers University | Center for Rural Affairs |
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers |
World Farmers | Rural Coalition |
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service | Arcadian Food, Inc. |
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition | Federation of Southern Cooperatives |
Mississippi Association of Cooperatives |