Registration for Joint NEDA/agInnovation Annual Conference Now Open

Registration for the joint NEDA/agInnovation conference is now open! The conference will take place in St. Louis, MO from late afternoon September 15 and will conclude on September 18 with Northeastern and Western regional meetings. Please see the general agenda and room reservation information at the registration site.

We are looking forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

NIFA Publishes RFA for Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program (AFRI) 

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Foundational and Applied Science Program Request for Application (RFA) is now available on the NIFA website.

The AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. The priority areas are Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Each program area priority has its own deadline. Find the deadlines for specific priority program areas here.

Research-only, Extension-only, and integrated research, education and/or Extension projects are solicited in this RFA. See Foundational and Applied Science RFA for specific details.

USDA Opens Public Comment Period on Department Reorganization Plan

A 30-day public comment period has opened so stakeholders may provide feedback on USDA’s reorganization plan, as outlined in Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins’ memorandum issued July 24. All stakeholders, including USDA employees, members of Congress and agricultural and nutrition partners, are encouraged to provide feedback by emailing reorganization@usda.gov. The comment period closes Aug. 26.

Lawmakers ‘in the very early stage’ of Skinny Farm Bill Discussions

In a Ryan Hanrahan article, published by the University of Illinois’ Farm Policy News: “House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-Pa.) hopes to release some legislative text in September — though it depends on staff work this month, according to a committee aide,” Handler reported. “…It’s an aggressive timeline to get a farm bill together so quickly in the fall. While these leftover provisions aren’t as challenging as a full-scale farm bill, Congress still has so much more on its plate. Government funding will take up all the oxygen on Capitol Hill when lawmakers return in September.” The article goes on to say that some legislators are less optimistic about a farm bill getting passed before 2026. This article is based partially on a Punchbowl News article by Samantha Handler.

Hanrahan’s article also appears in Successful Farming.

Students and educators can participate in a unique opportunity to advance AI education for American youth!

The Trump Administration is launching a year-long challenge for K-12 students across the country to spark interest in Artificial Intelligence, promote creative thinking using AI tools, and demonstrate how AI technology can be used in beneficial ways. Early training and experience in responsible AI use can demystify the technology and support America’s youths in cultivating skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in an AI-driven workforce.

Students who join the Presidential Challenge can access training and resources to help them complete a project that can either be a study or development of an AI method or tool to solve a local community problem. Educators are also invited to participate and focus on creative approaches to teaching or using AI technologies in K-12 learning. Participants can choose to enter their projects into a competition for the chance to showcase their work at a White House event next summer.

Registration for the Presidential AI Challenge will open to students and educators in late August 2025. Organizations may also pledge their support for advancing AI education for American youths.

Find the fact sheet and flyers here:

• AI Challenge Fact Sheet
• Flyer for Students
• Flyer for Educators

More information to follow. Visit AI.gov to learn more.

Deadline August 31: AgriProspects Mini-grants Applications

AgriProspects, an Extension Foundation program, has announced their second round of grants aimed at advancing Extension-led adult agricultural workforce development.

Supported by NIFA, AgriProspects will award grants to support regional or national-scale projects that build Cooperative Extension’s capacity and readiness in digital credentialing and artificial intelligence tools and resources.

Applications are due Aug. 31. Learn more about the program and how to apply.

Positioned for Impact: Aligning Institutional Strengths to Advance Food, Nutrition, and Human Health

The webinar, hosted by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, explored strategies to address challenges in food, nutrition, and human health, with discussions centered on the Trump administration's impact on public and land-grant institutions. Dr. Dominique Carter provided an overview of the current policy landscape and its implications for universities, highlighting significant structural realignments in Washington and the need for universities to align their proposals with administration priorities. The panelists discussed the potential long-term consequences of proposed budget cuts and policy changes on research capacity, innovation, and workforce development, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning and nimbleness in response to the changing political and funding landscape. 

PASSCODE: &$0mq?p7 

Secretary Rollins Announces USDA Reorganization

On July 25, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), refocusing its core operations to better align with its founding mission of supporting American farming, ranching, and forestry.

The reorganization consists of four pillars:

• Ensure the size of USDA’s workforce aligns with available financial resources and agricultural priorities
• Bring USDA closer to its customers
• Eliminate management layers and bureaucracy
• Consolidate redundant support functions

USDA will vacate and return to the General Services Administration the South Building, Braddock Place, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, and revisit utilization and functions in the USDA Whitten Building, Yates Building, and the National Agricultural Library. The George Washington Carver Center will also be utilized until space optimization activities are completed. These buildings have a backlog of costly deferred maintenance and currently are occupied below the minimum set by law. For example, the South Building has approximately $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance and has an average daily occupancy of less than 1,900 individuals for a building that can house over 6,000 employees.

According to the Secretary’s memorandum issued July 24, the Department currently employs approximately 4,600 individuals in the National Capital Region (NCR). To ensure USDA is located closer to the people it serves while achieving savings to the American taxpayer, USDA will relocate much of its Agency headquarters and NCR staff from the Washington, D.C. area to five hub locations. At the conclusion of implementation, it is USDA's goal to retain no more than 2,000 employees within the NCR.

USDA’s five hub locations and current Federal locality rates are:

1. Raleigh, North Carolina
2. Kansas City, Missouri
3. Indianapolis, Indiana 
4. Fort Collins, Colorado
5. Salt Lake City, Utah

In addition to these five hubs, USDA will maintain two additional core administrative support locations: Albuquerque, New Mexico and Minneapolis, Minnesota. These two locations have substantial concentrations of human resources staff that support the delivery of critical public safety functions. USDA will continue to maintain critical service centers and laboratories including agency service centers in St. Louis, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Missoula, Montana.

The memo goes on to say that many agency and mission area functions will be consolidated at the department level. Further, the reorganization will eliminate some area offices of many agencies, including the five Agricultural Research Service Area Offices. Finally, USDA Deputy Secretary Steven Vaden will implement the reorganization. Vaden was the USDA Chief Counsel when NIFA and ERS were relocated to Kansas City.  

Are your clients raising backyard flocks? This survey is for them!

Since March 2024, 70 cases of avian influenza A(H5) (H5 bird flu) have occurred in humans in the United States, mostly among workers exposed to infected dairy cows and commercial poultry farms. However, cases have also occurred among people exposed to birds kept in non-commercial, backyard flocks.

CDC is interested in learning more about backyard flock owners and their flocks. The anonymous survey asks about:

•  Characteristics of backyard flock owners, their families, and their flocks.
•  Knowledge of H5 bird flu and signs and symptoms of H5 bird flu in birds and humans.
•  Perceived risk of and concern about H5 bird flu to their backyard flock and themselves/families.
• Attitudes towards reporting sick or dead birds and protective measures like vaccination of their flock.
•  Practices they use to protect their flock and themselves from H5 bird flu.

CDC will use the survey results to improve H5 bird flu prevention activities. Questions can be sent to h5flustudy@cdc.gov.

QR code to the survey: 

URL link to the survey:

https://redcap.link/backyardflock

Save the Date! 

The joint NEDA and agInnovation fall meeting will take place in St. Louis from September 15 to September 18 at the Sheraton Westport Hotel. Please keep an eye out for the registration link later this week. 

NIFA Leaders Discuss FY 2025 Funding Strategy

At last week’s BAA Summer Leadership Meeting in Washington, DC, NIFA Director Jaye Hamby and other leaders discussed the agency’s strategy for distributing funds that must be obligated by September 30th. For programs where enough fundable applications were submitted for the previous funding cycle, those prior year applicants may be contacted and offered awards. For programs where the current year funding can be completely utilized in this manner, those programs will not publish an FY 2025 request for applications (RFA). For programs where this is not a viable strategy, RFAs will be published. However, deadlines will be 30 days or fewer after the date of the RFA publication. The NIFA leaders noted that while awards for these programs will be made by September 30, the availability of funds may be delayed. Not all FY 2025 competitive programs must obligate their funding by September 30. For example, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) can carry over into successive fiscal years. For the latest information from NIFA, follow the agency on X, Facebook, or sign up to receive updates via email.

Empowering Innovation, Transforming USDA's Future: Register Now for the 2025 USDA Innovation Symposium

Scheduled for Wednesday, August 6th, 2025, this Symposium is a unique opportunity for technologists, business program leaders, researchers, and innovators to come together and discuss the latest advancements in technology and digital transformation within the USDA.

To ensure you don't miss out on this exciting event, USDA encourages you to visit the Innovation Symposium website and register for the USDA Innovation Symposium. By registering, you'll not only gain access to all the live sessions and panels that the symposium has to offer, but you’ll also be given access to recordings and offline content that can be accessed after the event.

Appropriations Update: Senate Appropriations Committee Advances FY 2026 Agriculture Bill

On July 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its fiscal year (FY) 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. The bill’s topline discretionary allocation is $27.1 billion, $1.577 billion more than the House bill and provides a $400 million increase above FY 2025. The full Committee approved the bill on the same day by a vote of 27 to 0. At this time, there is not a clear timeline on if or when the bill will go to the Senate floor.

Per the report accompanying the Senate Agriculture appropriations bill, NIFA would receive $1.679 billion, flat with the FY 2025 enacted level, rebuking the dramatic decreases proposed in the President’s Budget Request (PBR). As in the House version, capacity programs and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) are flat funded. The Senate version actually provides level funding for all NIFA programs—including those subject to proposed reductions or eliminations in the PBR.

As in the House bill, the Senate bill once again allows the matching requirement for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative to be waived by the Secretary of Agriculture. Like the House, report language encouraging NIFA to continue supporting the work of the Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes funded through USDA is included. Additional directions are given for Agricultural Research Enhancement Awards, agroacoustics, citrus disease research, genome to phenome, Extension Design Initiative, the Farm and Stress Assistance Network program, and numerous other programs. 

The Senate report acknowledges the delays from NIFA in issuing FY 2025 solicitations and directs NIFA, once the bill is signed into law, to report to the Committee on a regular basis the expected timelines for FY 2026 funding opportunities. Within AFRI, the Senate report encourages the Secretary to consider junior or community colleges applying via the AFRI Education and Workforce Development program. The report further directs that AFRI, “make regionally adapted, publicly held cultivar development a distinct funding priority within AFRI for fiscal year 2026.”

With respect to cooperative extension the report validates the role of extension by stating, “The Committee recognizes the essential function that extension plays in ensuring that farmers, ranchers, and communities of all sizes are empowered to meet the challenges they face, adapt to changing technology and a changing climate, improve nutrition and food safety, prepare for and respond to emergencies, and protect our environment. The Committee is concerned that the Federal investment in this critical Federal, State, and local partnership has lagged in recent years, just as extraordinary stresses have been placed on farmers, ranchers, rural businesses, and communities.”

The report also expresses the Committee’s concerns that extension services do not reach disadvantaged populations and includes the following language, “The Committee is concerned that extension service resources do not reach minority, socially disadvantaged, and Tribal communities in proportion to their participation in the agricultural sector. All institutions that receive extension funding should seek to ensure that an equitable percentage of their overall extension work reaches minority, socially disadvantaged, and Tribal communities. The Committee directs NIFA to evaluate distribution of extension resources to these three populations and report to the Committee no later than 90 days after enactment of this act.”

While not funded within NIFA, the report has a funding table that still includes funding for the SNAP Education (SNAP-Ed) program. SNAP-Ed was eliminated during reconciliation and due to the timing of reconciliation passage and consideration of this bill, the report table was not updated. Currently, there is no further funding for SNAP-Ed.

Commission on Food, Environment, and Renewable Resources (CFERR) Webinar

APLU Commission of Food, Environment, and Renewable Resources (CFERR) is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, July 22, moderated by University of Missouri President Mun Y. Choi, to explore how universities are leveraging their interdisciplinary strengths to address health challenges through research, education, and Extension. Opening federal insights from Lewis-Burke Associates will frame the conversation, followed by university leaders offering commentary on innovative strategies, emerging opportunities, and the expanding role of public research institutions in this space. Please click here for more information and registration.