The goal of the Agriculture Risk Management Education Partnerships Program (ARME) is to manage and mitigate various risks associated with farm businesses and agricultural operations. Through educational projects, resources, and outreach activities, ARME leverages four regional centers and one electronic support center to strengthen direct connections with farmers, ranchers, and producers to manage and mitigate risks and to promote rural economic development in all 50 states and the U.S. territories.
ARME Overview
Through the Agriculture Risk Management Education Partnerships (ARME) program, NIFA supports agricultural risk management education for farmers, ranchers, and producers in all 50 states and the U.S. territories.
The primary goals of the ARME program are to provide U.S. agricultural producers and their families, as appropriate, with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to make informed risk management decisions that enhance profitability of their operations, and to deliver risk management education to farmers, ranchers, producers, and their families who underutilize crop insurance programs.
The ARME program funds four regional centers (Northeast Region, North Central Region, Southern Region, and Western Region) and one electronic support center (Digital Center).
Eligibility
Applications to the ARME Program may only be submitted by qualified public and private entities (including Land-grant Universities, Cooperative Extension Service organizations, and colleges or universities). This includes all colleges and universities, Federal, State, and local agencies, nonprofit and for-profit private organization or corporations, and other entities. Award recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project. Failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the application deadline may result in the application being excluded from consideration or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude NIFA from making an award.
About the Centers
Extension Risk Management Education Centers
The ARME program operates through four regional Extension Risk Management Education (ERME) Centers (Northeast, North Central, Southern and Western), with support from the Digital ERME Center.
The Centers annually conduct the ERME Competitive Grants Program, which provides funding to educators who have the expertise to develop and deliver risk mitigation programming that addresses one or more of the five primary areas of agriculture risk: production, marketing, financial, legal and human. Project proposals must clearly identify what risk management outcomes will be for producers, and how they will improve the producers' economic visibility.
Featured Grant
Agriculture Risk Management Education Partnerships Competitive Grants Program
ARME Funding Opportunity
The Award Process
The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the ARME Program is published once every two to three years. Five awards – four regional center awards and one electronic support center award – are made through a competitive grants process administered by USDA NIFA. All applications for funding are submitted electronically through Grants.gov. The process requires pre-registration, which may take up to one month. NIFA encourages all prospective applicants to begin the registration process as soon as possible.
Reviewers from universities, government, community-based organizations, for-profit and non-profit organizations, and the agricultural risk community provide peer assessment of the applications received and make funding recommendations.
Post-Award Monitoring
The award recipients are required to acknowledge USDA NIFA funding in all presentations, publications, news releases, etc. The award recipients are also required to collect and submit outcome-based data to USDA NIFA through annual progress reports and final technical reports.
Program Contacts
National Program Leader: Ashley Mueller
Program Specialist: Jessica Turner
Legislative Authority
The ARME Program was established under Section 133 of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000. It authorized the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through NIFA, to establish a competitive ARME Partnerships Program. Section 11125 of the 2018 Farm Bill, Public Law 115-334, reauthorized ARME and merged it with the Risk Management Agency’s (RMA) Crop Insurance Education.