USDA Blog: Extension Disaster Education Network Helps Prepare Nation for Hurricane Season

June 1 marked the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts a 60% chance of above-average hurricane activity this year. NOAA is forecasting a range of 13 to 19 total named storms with six to ten hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes.

The Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) is a collaborative multi-state effort by Cooperative Extension Services across the country to improve timely information delivery to people affected by disasters, including hurricanes. EDEN's mission is to reduce the impact of disasters through research-based education. Supported by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the conception, development, and growth of EDEN were a direct result of lessons learned by the Land-grant University System responding to the catastrophic Mississippi and Missouri river floods of 1993. Funded through USDA NIFA’s Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative, EDEN ensures that Extension can respond to local, state, regional, and national education needs during a crisis. Read the full article here.

New Online Course Available! Roots to Results: An Overview of the Cooperative Extension System

The Extension Foundation is excited to announce the launch of a new self-paced online course: “Roots to Results: Overview of the Cooperative Extension System.” This course is open to anyone who wants to better understand Cooperative Extension, whether you’re new to the system, need a refresher, or are working with Extension in a partnership role. It’s a flexible resource designed to support onboarding, professional development, and increased awareness of Extension’s unique role and impact, and takes around 30 minutes to complete. To access the course on Campus, login with your existing credentials, or create a new account and search for “Roots to Results,” or browse the Professional Performance category and locate the course there. Feel free to share or adapt this announcement for your own networks! Find the full course announcement here.

NOTICE: Gain of Function Research Reporting

NIFA has posted on its website important information for universities and other grant recipients to report Gain of Function Research in a timely and effective manner. As part of USDA’s response to Executive Order (E.O.) 14292 on Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research, USDA is asking grant recipients to self-identify any USDA-funded projects, inclusive of all source(s) or type(s) of funding, including in-kind support, that is believed to meet or has the potential to meet the gain-of-function definition.  Read more about how, what and when to report this information.

#SaveSNAPEd: SNAP-Ed Advocacy Webinar

On June 18, a SNAP-Ed Advocacy webinar was hosted by Southern California based Leah’s Pantry, the Association of SNAP Nutrition Education Administrators (ASNNA – which includes many Cooperative Extension Educators), and a Philadelphia based organization, The Food Trust. The goal of the webinar was to coordinate efforts to communicate with United States Senators to delay the elimination of the SNAP-Ed program.

The Senate reconvenes today and aims to finalize their reconciliation spending bill soon, no later than the 4^th of July. The group’s strategic ask is a two-year delay in implementation/elimination, to secure Republican support, and to share language that would provide such a delay. The call to action includes scheduling a meeting with Republican Senators or staff as soon as possible, making the ask outlined in the group’s talking points and advocacy toolkit, secure a clear commitment from Senator(s) to support the delay, and report back using the following form.

Lewis-Burke and other members of the advocacy team at the national office have been coordinating with ASNNA. This includes, but is not limited to, the national office co-signing a letter to Senators Thune and Boozman in support of the above strategy.

Coming Soon: Artificial Intelligence Survey

Be on the lookout for an Artificial Intelligence activity survey, which will be directed to Cooperative Extension Directors and Agricultural Experiment Station Directors. The Extension Foundation is a key cooperating entity within this effort.

SARE Seeks Outreach Products to Advance Sustainable Agriculture

Do you have an idea for an outreach product or project that could help farmers or ranchers improve their profitability, environmental stewardship and/or quality of life?  Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Outreach is seeking recommendations for information products or outreach initiatives that extend research-based innovations to improve the sustainability of American agriculture. Submit your ideas by June 30. 

Congressional Update: Senate Agriculture Committee Releases Reconciliation Proposal

Following the passage of the House of Representatives' comprehensive reconciliation bill, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), Senate committees have begun to release pieces of their own reconciliation package, including the Senate Agriculture Committee. The Senate Agriculture proposal functions like the House version in that it achieves cost savings by reducing funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and includes mandatory funding for numerous Farm Bill programs. While the two bills are similar, the Senate version would have net savings of $144 billion in comparison to the Congressional Budget Office estimate of $238 billion for the House Agriculture proposal. The difference in cost savings is one of the numerous deviations Senate committees are making from H.R. 1 and may prove challenging in brokering a final agreement between the House and Senate.

By making steep cuts to mandatory nutrition programs and addressing certain pressing commodity payment and reference price issues, both usually considered in the Farm Bill, this package, like the House version, puts at risk the delicate balance of Republican and Democratic priorities required to build momentum for a Farm Bill every five years. The current Farm Bill is in its second one-year extension. 

Similarly, SNAP changes which propose to shift a portion of benefit costs to states could have a major impact on state budgets.

One key provision in the bill includes SNAP and SNAP Education:

• SNAP-Education would lose mandatory funding for the program in FY 2025, in alignment with the House proposal.
• In addition to policies that would shrink the pool of eligible recipients, the bill requires future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, which sets benefit rates, to be cost-neutral and matches the House proposal to limit benefit indexing.
• Differing from the House, the Senate removes the 5 percent baseline cost care for states and caps cost-share at 15% based on states’ error rates rather than the House plan which has a 25% cap. This would be the first time SNAP benefit costs have been delegated to states and would have a very large impact on state budgets.

 

Extension Foundation's AgriProspects Workforce Development Network Launches 2nd Round of Grants to Boost CES Workforce Capacity in Digital Credentials & AI

Supported by USDA-NIFA through the AFRI-National Extension Clearinghouse for Industry and the Workforce (NECIW) (2023-67037-40533), AgriProspects will award up to five two-year grants of $200,000 each to support regional or national-scale projects that build Cooperative Extension’s capacity and readiness in two focus areas: 1. Digital credentialing initiatives for adult agricultural workforce development in rural and urban areas; or 2. Artificial Intelligence tools and resources to support the agricultural sector and supply chain and the adult agricultural workforce in rural and urban areas. Learn more here. 

Bipartisan 4-H Caucus Launches in 119th Congress to Equip Youth for Work and Life

On June 10, U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), along with Representatives Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA-15), Angie Craig (D-MN-02), Andy Harris (R-MD-01), and Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-02), have formed the bipartisan 4-H Congressional Caucus in the 119th Congress.

The Caucus will serve as a platform to advance federal policy and investment in Cooperative Extension’s 4-H programs, which reach nearly 6 million youth around the country through hands-on learning in agriculture, STEM, health, and civic engagement. With strong bipartisan leadership, the Caucus will elevate the importance of positive youth development and build a workforce and society that’s prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.

Caucus leaders are united in their support of 4-H’s Beyond Ready initiative—a bold effort to equip 10 million young people with the skills, confidence, and support they need to thrive in work, life, and community. From career readiness to civic leadership, 4-H youth are gaining real-world experience through locally rooted programs led by Land-grant Universities and their Cooperative Extension partners.

 

(Fairly) Good FY 2026 News from Agriculture Appropriations Committee

During the week ending June 6, 2025, the House Agriculture Appropriations Committee released their initial markup of the FY 2026 Budget. The markup summary proposes $1.654 billion for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which is $24.6 million below the FY25 enacted level. By contrast, the President’s Budget proposed over $600 million in cuts to NIFA, including a cut to Smith-Lever 3 (b&c) of $150 million. The proposed House markup cuts break down as approximately $18 million from the Research and Education account, roughly $6 million from the Extension account, and approximately $1 million from the Integrated Account. At this time, it is unclear which line items from the Extension account will see cuts.

Ag Council on Government Affairs Called to Action on SNAP-Ed and RFA Regarding FY2025 Reconciliation, CARET Soon to Receive the Call

During the week ending June 6, 2025, the APLU Agriculture Council on Government Affairs received a call to action that stated plainly:

Please consider engaging with your Senate offices and educating agriculture staff, particularly those on the Senate Agriculture Committee, on the important (the SNAP-Ed and Research Facilities Act) programs (as appropriate and based on your institution’s participation/needs).

The distributed SNAP-Ed background and talking points, as distributed by APLU’s Marcus Glassman, were as follows:

• For Chairman Boozman to pull the SNAP-Ed elimination in the Senate reconciliation package he must hear from other Republican senators that they want it saved.
• While we wait to see if the proposed elimination of SNAP-Ed would comply with Senate rules (Byrd), we ask you to weigh in with your Senate offices to educate them about SNAP-Ed and the impact the program has in your state, including:
• How does SNAP-Ed operate in your state—are there state-specific goals, priorities, and programming?
• How many constituents does the program reach?
• How many counties/parishes?
• How many programs/services does the program provide?
• How much money per year comes to your state for SNAP-Ed?
• How many jobs does the program support?
• Signature outcomes/impacts/statistics/partners from your state’s program.

NOTE: Your SNAP-Ed Administrators should have compiled most, if not all, of this information.

SNAP-Ed Ask/Talking points for Senate staff:

• We understand the difficult choices being made right now. However, consideration of the Farm Bill is the best time to weigh the future of nutrition education and how to amplify impact.
• Changes can be made, but it should be a thoughtful conversation and not something that will halt progress just when we need it most.
• In a time when SNAP recipients are going to be asked to do more with less—stretching every dollar is critical and SNAP-ED ensures recipients have access and understanding of how to do that.
• SNAP-ED is not perfect, changes can be made, but SNAP-ED is also successful given it receives only one half of one percent of SNAP funds going to states. 

NOTE: While LGUs receive a significant portion of SNAP-Ed funding, numerous other organizations also receive funding. Currently, APLU is working with the Association of SNAP Nutrition Education Administrators (ASNNA) on joint messaging and will share additional talking points when finalized.

CARET members should receive similar communications in the coming days.  

Extension Foundation Announces Appointment of Adam Hughes to Lead National Health and Well-Being Coordination Efforts. 

The Extension Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Hughes, MPH, to provide national-level managerial support for Cooperative Extension’s health and well-being initiatives. In this role, Hughes will support the implementation of the five high-level recommendations from Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health and Well-Being, approved by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) in 2021. Learn more here.