New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball last month announced that more than $1.36 million in government funding will support 12 advanced research, education, and marketing projects to help specialty crop farms across New York State “grow and remain competitive.” The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets secured the grant through the […]
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New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball last month announced that more than $1.36 million in government funding will support 12 advanced research, education, and marketing projects to help specialty crop farms across New York State “grow and remain competitive.”
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets secured the grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant program.
New York’s specialty crops include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, maple syrup, and honey, and are among the state’s most valuable agricultural products. Since the USDA began the program in 2006, New York State has been awarded $12.5 million for 129 specialty crop projects across the state.
“This grant will help our growers ensure that some of our most valuable agricultural crops are more resilient, and that our farmers can remain competitive in today’s marketplace,” Ball said in a news release.
The research grants will be used to find ways to improve soil health and pest management in beets, onions, corn, and cider apples. Research supported by the grants will also help improve apple-storage practices and investigate kelp aquaculture techniques, Ball’s office said. The remaining funds will go to five projects led by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to help growers with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification and to market and promote specialty crops, including New York’s Concord grape industry.
The funding provides $600,000 for seven grower research/education projects. These projects were identified through a competitive program supported by the New York Farm Viability Institute.
Research projects were awarded in several areas, including production, disease resistance, and harvesting. They include:
• Monitoring pathogenicity of fire blight strains
• Management of wireworms in organic and conventional production systems
• Sustainable foliar disease control within the New York table beet industry
• Management of disease and fungicide resistance in New York–grown onions
• Defining tillage systems for vine crops and sweet corn on muck soils
• Proper harvesting and storage techniques for New York apples
• Aquaculture production of kelp
Cornell University will lead six of the seven research projects, with the SUNY Research Foundation leading kelp research, the release stated.
An additional $761,000 will fund five Department of Agriculture and Markets-led marketing projects to further promote the Empire State’s specialty crops, including:
• Promotion of the Concord grape industry
• Support for the state’s specialty crops at trade shows
• Advertising and promotion of New York’s specialty crop producers
• Expansion of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) reimbursements to specialty crop growers
• Improving marketing services, such as business-to-business websites, for specialty crop producers
Grant funds are awarded to applicants whose projects have statewide significance to the specialty crop industry and build knowledge to help all growers.
Several leaders of associations of specialty crop producers in New York were quoted in the news release applauding the funding. Among them, Helen Thomas, executive director of the New York State Maple Producers’ Association, said, “The specialty crop funding has been important to New York Maple for several years. The maple crop production in New York State has nearly tripled in the last 15 years due in part to projects funded by this program. Going forward, the funds will be used for marketing the crop so that New York State becomes known as a maple-producing state.”
The specialty crop block grant program is administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and its Specialty Crop Advisory Committee. The New York Farm Viability Institute evaluates the research proposals, reviews applications, submits recommendations to the department, and then tracks the progress of the projects, the release explained.
