Results
Impact
Horticulture Champion
May 19, 2022
Sue Barton’s role at the University of Delaware (UD) is the perfect embodiment of the University’s Land-grant mission. She teaches. She conducts research. And she takes UD’s knowledge to the public. Barton is both a professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and Cooperative Extension specialist of ornamental horticulture.
Blog
Planting for the Future
May 18, 2022
A name like Junior Master Gardeners evokes images of planting seeds with a hope for a bountiful harvest. But the bountiful harvest that Cooperative Extension educators want to achieve isn’t vegetables or fruits. Rather, the Junior Master Gardener® (JMG ®) program works to grow an even more important resource.
Blog
University of Hawaiʻi Maui College Expands Aquaponics Training
May 18, 2022
At the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, educators have launched the Adapting Precision Farming Technologies for Sustainable Aquaponics Systems
Announcement
The General Services Administration (GSA)/System for Award Management (SAM) is Experiencing Delays
May 17, 2022
The General Services Administration (GSA)/System for Award Management (SAM) is experiencing delays processing certain private entity registration information for new registrants, updates to existing entity registrations and annual renewals.
Blog
AgMIP Co-Founder Cynthia Rosenzweig Receives 2022 World Food Prize
May 17, 2022
Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist and head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), has received the 2022 World Food Prize from the World Food Prize Foundation. According to the World Food Prize Foundation, the World Food Prize is a prestigious international award conceived as the "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture" with a mission to elevate innovations and inspire action to sustainably increase the quality, quantity and availability of food for all.
Blog
You Say Tomato, I Say Okay!
May 16, 2022
May is National Salad Month! Created by the Association for Dressing and Sauces in 1992, National Salad Month encourages people to incorporate more salads into their daily food regimen. 
Blog
May: Mental Health Awareness Month
May 16, 2022
Mental health is an often-overlooked challenge farmers face nationwide. Farmland loss and land access issues, rising production costs, plummeting farm incomes, climate change and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic are contributing to a mental health crisis within the farming community. Suicide rates among farmers and ranchers are well above the national average, while mental health services are less available and accessible in rural areas, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Blog
May 13 - National Apple Pie Day: Getting to the Core of NIFA-funded Apple Research
May 13, 2022
Apples are the most consumed fruit in the U.S., followed closely by oranges. In 2019, the average U.S. per person consumption of all forms of apples had increased to about 26.3 pounds. The per person consumption of apple juice and cider decreased to 12.6 pounds. The consumption of fresh market apples in 2019 accounted for 10 pounds, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service.
Impact
Hope to Dream: Mobile County SNAP-Ed Educator Facilitates Bed Donation
May 12, 2022
The suspense grew and grew one recent Saturday afternoon at Craighead Elementary School in Mobile, Alabama. Suspicions were eventually met with screams of joy as 75 third-grade students learned they were getting their own twin Sealy mattress, frame and bedding ensemble to be delivered to their home. The beds were donated to the students through a partnership with the Alabama Extension Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education department (SNAP-Ed), 1915 South, and Ashley Furniture’s Hope to Dream program.
Impact
Building Legacy Together: Our Communities’ Journey of Strength and Resilience
May 12, 2022
With support from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Land-grant Universities in the Pacific Islands carry out innovative education, applied research and related community development programs that create stronger, more resilient Pacific Islander communities. Learn about the innovative research being conducted at the University of Guam.
Press Release
NIFA Invests Nearly $4M in Two New Centers of Excellence at 1890 Land-grant Institutions
May 11, 2022
NIFA announced today an investment of nearly $4 million for two new 1890 Centers of Excellence grants.
Blog
Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab Wins NPDN’s Rotten Tuber Award for ‘Hazmat Team Called for Bee Excrement!’
May 11, 2022
The Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab at Utah State University recently was awarded first place in the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN)’s Rotten Tuber Awards for its submission, “Hazmat Team Called for Bee Excrement!” The Rotten Tuber Awards recognize unique samples that leave plant diagnosticians asking themselves, “What was this person thinking when they sent this sample?” 
Blog
National Plant Diagnostic Network Recognizes Outstanding Service, Lifetime Achievement
May 10, 2022
The National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN) recently recognized several members for outstanding service and lifetime achievement. The NPDN is an internationally respected consortium of plant diagnostic laboratories. It was established in 2002 by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Office of Homeland Security to enhance agricultural biosecurity by detecting instances of biological attacks. 
Blog
Lettuce Celebrate National Salad Month
May 6, 2022
May is National Salad Month. Created by the Association for Dressing and Sauces in 1992, National Salad Month encourages people to incorporate more salads into their daily food regimen.
Impact
Illinois Program Turns Cowgirl Dreams into Livestock Research Reality
May 5, 2022
The moment 4-year-old Sarah Graham sat in a saddle for the first time, she announced she wanted to be a cowgirl. For the suburban Chicago preschooler, it was an unlikely dream. But it stuck.
Impact
From Pests to Protein: Edible Insects Emerge as a Sustainable Food Source
May 5, 2022
Bugs. They get a bad rap. Some bite. Some sting. Some stink. But what if they could be considered beyond their pesky traits? What if certain insects could actually benefit the health of humans, of animals, of the entire planet?
Blog
Research Tackling Lyme Disease and Other Tick-borne Diseases
May 5, 2022
Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases pose very real threats to human health. A 2021 estimate suggested that more than 470,000 people in the United States are diagnosed annually for Lyme disease alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides critical funding to Land-grant Institutions as they work to understand expanding ranges of ticks, to better manage tick populations, to minimize human exposure to ticks, and to reduce tick-borne infections.
Blog
May the 4th Be With You
May 4, 2022
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) may not fund light saber or droid research but, with support from NIFA, scientists are developing advanced technologies to meet the complex agricultural challenges faced by the United States and throughout the world. On this May the 4th, learn how scientists at the Land-grant Universities are conducting cutting-edge research to help farmers produce higher quantities of safer and better-quality food, fiber and fuel to meet the needs of a growing population with support from NIFA.
Blog
Beefing Up the Cattle Industry
May 3, 2022
May is National Beef Month. As of January 1, there were 91.9 million head of cattle and calves on farms in the United States. In 2021, cattle production was forecasted to represent about 17% of the $391 billion in total cash receipts for agricultural commodities, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service.
Blog
NIFA’s Evergreen Commitment to Protecting Trees, Forests
May 2, 2022
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day, which began in Nebraska after the newly arrived settlers sorely felt the absence of trees — as windbreaks and shade, or as building material and fuel — in their new lives on the plains.
Blog
National Wildflower Week
May 2, 2022
Hundreds of wildflower species bring immense beauty to the United States throughout the year from Maine’s red trilliums and Texas bluebonnets to Alaska’s fireweed and Nevada’s desert sand verbena. Whether growing in their native habitats or being actively cultivated in public and private spaces, wildflowers are important elements in healthy ecosystems, providing food and shelter to pollinators.
Blog
NIFA-Funded Research Works to Strengthen Veterinarian Career Field
April 29, 2022
April 30 is recognized as World Veterinary Day, created by the World Veterinary Association in 2000 to celebrate the veterinary profession and promote the amazing work that veterinarians do. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) and the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) support the needs of the veterinarian career field.
Impact
Texas A&M AgriLife Tick Research Gets $1M Boost
April 28, 2022
Two NIFA-funded projects by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists aim to protect the U.S. cattle industry from the emerging and significant threat of pesticide-resistant cattle fever ticks.
Blog
NIFA-Funded Research and Outreach Helping Producers Meet High Demand for Blueberries
April 28, 2022
Blueberries are the second-most produced berries in the United States, after strawberries, according to USDA’s Economic Research Services. Over the past 10 years, the supply of fresh blueberries available for American consumption has increased fivefold. As a result, U.S. production of blueberries has increased rapidly to meet year-round consumer demand. Land-grant Universities across the nation are working to support blueberry producers working to meet this increase in demand by conducting blueberry research and outreach with funding from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
Blog
Squashing the Spread of the Spotted Lantern Fly
April 27, 2022
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with states to detect, contain, control and suppress spotted lanternfly, a deadly nonnative invasive pest that threatens American agriculture and natural resources.