Science Policy Report

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17 March 2021

In This Issue:

Policy News

Science and Society News

International Corner

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

Policy News

The department has a long list of fairly general questions it wants responses to, including topics like how existing programs can be leveraged and what new strategies are needed to encourage producers to adopt climate-smart practices. The department is taking comments until April 30. More from the Federal Register here.

Preliminary evidence indicates that the COVID 19 pandemic has negatively affected the well-being of women in academic science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields in a range of areas, including productivity, work-life boundary control, networking and community building, and mental well-being, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. “Leading up to the COVID 19 pandemic, the representation of women has slowly increased in STEMM fields, but such progress is fragile and prone to setbacks, especially in times of crisis,” said Eve Higginbotham, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and inaugural vice dean for inclusion, diversity, and equity at Penn Medicine, professor of ophthalmology, and senior fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.  “Emerging evidence suggests that the disruptions caused by the pandemic endanger the engagement and retention of women in these fields — and may roll back some of the achievement gains made by women to date.” Read the full story.

Agriculture plays a significant role in some of the biggest environmental challenges that humanity is facing, including the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and the pollution of our soil, water, and air. The need to balance the growing demand for nutritious food with these environmental threats is a complex issue, and ensuring sustainable food systems will require a collaborative effort from many different communities. Read the full report.

The following details a roundup of the current carbon markets offering programs to farmers. The key role trusted advisers can play is helping farmers navigate not only what programs in which to enroll but also each program’s requirements. Carbon markets offer both economic and environmental value to farmers, according to a report published by Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC). It estimated $5.2 billion in demand for carbon credits from U.S. ag lands. Read the full story.

The following details a roundup of the current carbon markets offering programs to farmers. The key role trusted advisers can play is helping farmers navigate not only what programs in which to enroll but also each program’s requirements. Carbon markets offer both economic and environmental value to farmers, according to a report published by Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC). It estimated $5.2 billion in demand for carbon credits from U.S. ag lands. Read the full story.

There’s no question that climate change will be a major theme in the 117th Congress. Just weeks after the House Agriculture Committee held its first hearing on climate change, the Senate Agriculture Committee followed suit, with its first hearing, “Farmers and Foresters: Opportunities to Lead in Tackling Climate Change.” The hearing focused on how farmers, ranchers, and foresters can be a part of the solution to the climate crisis, emphasizing the progress American agriculture has made in reducing its environmental impact, while stressing that new programs must be flexible, voluntary and farmer-focused. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA submitted Outside Witness Testimony for the Senate here. Read the full comments here.

Cory Booker has made it abundantly clear that he is no fan of corporate agriculture. Booker is the New Jersey senator who introduced the Farm System Reform Act last year which, among other provisions, would ban large-scale concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, by 2040. Booker discussed his misgivings about big agriculture during a Jan. 30 webinar during the 31st annual winter meeting of the New Jersey chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. Read the full story.

March 24 is National Ag Day, a day to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture. Every year, producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and countless others across America join together to recognize the contributions of agriculture. Researchers, scientists and crops advisors – like ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members – are working to create solutions to make our food more sustainable, safe, and nutritious. As a part of National Ag Day, we encouraging all ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members to reach out to their members of Congress and ask them to support agricultural research funding. Email Congress here.

Science and Society News

Incorporating forage cover crops in the fallow period of a winter wheat–fallow cropping system can increase crop diversity, profitability, and efficiency in using the limited and variable precipitation in semi‐arid dryland environments. However, which cover crop type and management system provide the greatest benefit is still an open question. Read the full story.

Chickpea producers have effectively used the fungicide metalaxyl for more than 30 years in the U.S. to control many soilborne diseases. However, isolates of the plant pathogen Pythium ultimum that are resistant to metalaxyl fungicide have recently been responsible for severe losses to chickpea production in Idaho and Washington. Read the full story.

Some developers have turned acreage earmarked for farming into high-end luxury homes with high prices and restrictions on what the land can be used for. Housing developments on land set aside for agriculture are nothing new and generally legal, even if no significant farming takes place there. But Hawaii policymakers are making a concerted push to change that. Read the full story.

According to University of Massachusetts Amherst research, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has significantly underestimated the true magnitude of farmland erosion. In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, research conducted by UMass Amherst graduate student Evan Thaler, along with professors Isaac Larsen and Qian Yu in the department of geosciences, developed a method using satellite imagery to map areas in agricultural fields in the Corn Belt of the Midwestern U.S. that have no remaining A-horizon soil. Read the full story.

Liquid livestock manure is commonly stored in earthen manure storages (EMS). When no longer in operation, these facilities present a risk to groundwater quality, particularly when EMS sites are not properly decommissioned. In an article recently published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, researchers documented changes in shallow groundwater quality following closure of a dairy EMS in southern Alberta, Canada. Read the full story.

International Corner

Six months after the Trump administration dealt a crushing blow to Huawei Technologies Co.’s smartphone business, the Chinese telecommunications giant is turning to less glamorous alternatives that may eventually offset the decline of its biggest revenue contributor. Read the full story.

Claudia Stange Klein, a professor in the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Chile, is currently using CRISPR to breed tomato and kiwi varieties that can tolerate drought and soil salinity. She is also editing apples to increase their nutritional profile with a higher content of carotenoids and resist the oxidation that causes browning after they are cut. Regulation in the region is playing a central role in the development of gene-edited crops. In general, the Latin American countries that have a regulation in place addressing new breeding technologies (NBTs), such as crops developed using CRISPR, have created a flexible regulatory framework. Such a framework can boost investment in the region to create new crop varieties. Read the full story.

Brazil’s vulnerable communities embrace urban farming as food insecurity rises during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every week, Ezequiel Dias, an urban farmer, knocks on the doors of his community’s red-brick, makeshift houses with a delivery of fresh sweet potatoes, pumpkins, onions, cabbage and herbs. He checks to see if the families require additional help. Some need facemasks, others need soap. But few are hungry. Read the full story.

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) will award a total of up to $10 million in grants through the 2021 Seeding Solutions program. Individual awards will range from $300,000 to $1 million for up to ten awards. FFAR is placing priority on projects that demonstrate strong partnerships and significant agricultural advancements through innovation. To be considered, applications must address and provide solutions to an intractable problem and/or accelerate innovation within FFAR’s Challenge Areas. New deadline: TODAY - March 17. Read the full announcement.

The Curt Bergfors Food Planet Prize aims to identify, recognize and reward important initiatives to reinvent our food chain and help establish a sustainable food system that supports the resilience of the biosphere and the stability of our planet. The invitation to nominate initiatives for the Prize is worldwide – and continuous. Nominees are screened to be qualified for assessment by an international jury of leading specialists in the relevant key areas, working in cooperation with scientists at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Sweden’s Stockholm University. Drastic measures are necessary to transform our current failing food chain into a resilient system. This is why the Food Planet Prize supports initiatives with proven impact, ready to scale on a global level, as well as innovative ideas and projects that challenge or even disrupt current thinking and practices. Annually, the Food Planet Prize rewards two hero-initiatives with USD 1 million each. Nominations opened this week – ongoing submissions. Read the full announcement.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will make investments in planning, design, and restoration of natural and nature-based solutions to help protect coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural hazards and enable them to recover more quickly and enhance habitats for fish and wildlife. NFWF will award approximately $34 million in grants to create and restore natural systems in order to increase protection for communities from coastal storms, sea- and lake-level changes, inundation, and coastal erosion, while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species. NFWF will invest in projects in four priority areas: Community Capacity Building and Planning; Site Assessment and Preliminary Design; Final Design and Permitting; Restoration and Monitoring. In every priority area, NFWF is also interested in funding projects that seek to re-shape our thinking on how to protect communities in light of projected environmental stressors and use innovative approaches to address these challenges. Deadline: April 7. Read the full announcement.

To ensure that this region continues to support plants, animals, and people, OSI has launched the Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund, an $18 million effort that will provide capital grants to protect 50,000 acres in key focus areas along the Appalachian Range. To complement land protection efforts, OSI’s Catalyst Program will work in partnership with states, local communities, Tribes, and land trusts, to reduce climate risks for communities disproportionately affected by flooding and other climate-induced threats. This Fund builds on the success of OSI's Resilient Landscapes Initiative (2013 - 2020), which advanced the use of Climate Resilience Science in land protection. This climate science remains a priority in this new fund, along with a new emphasis on forests’ ability to store and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. The Fund awards capital grants for land protection in portions of (1) the Cradle of Southern Appalachia (Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama), (2) the Middle Atlantic (New Jersey and Pennsylvania), and (3) the Northern Appalachians (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont). Deadline: April 14. Read the full announcement.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is accepting applications for Walmart's Acres for America program, which will award grants totaling up to $3.5 million to conserve important large-scale habitats for fish, wildlife, and plants through land acquisitions and perpetual conservation easements. Launched in 2005, the program provides support to catalyze the conservation of lands and wildlife habitat of national significance and benefit local communities and economies. To that end, potential projects should address the program priorities including conservation of critical habitats for birds, fish, plants, and wildlife; connection of existing protected lands to unify wild places and protect migration routes; providing access for people to enjoy the outdoors; and safeguarding the future of local economies that depend on forestry, ranching and recreation. Prior to submitting a pre-proposal, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the appropriate NFWF regional office (listed in the Applicant Assistance section of the RFP). The purpose is to give the applicant an opportunity to share project concepts and ideas before fully preparing and submitting a pre-proposal. Deadline: April 15. Read the full announcement.

Ohio Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for Specialty Crop Block Grant Program projects that will advance the long-term economic viability of the state’s specialty crop industry, while increasing the marketability of specialty crops. Grants range from a minimum of $25,000 to a maximum of $150,000. In addition, all applicants must provide a minimum match of 25% of the requested grant amount. Food and agricultural non-profit organizations, associations or commodity groups, universities, and research institutions are eligible. Deadline: April 15. Read the full announcement.

Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for the Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grant Program, which provides funding in the form of a reimbursement grant to eligible applicants seeking to improve urban agriculture infrastructure in Pennsylvania. Projects must include improvements to agricultural infrastructure in urban areas and support for community development in the project service area. “Microgrants” up to $2,500 are offered for one-time projects or a single-entity applicant. “Collaboration” grants up to $50,000, not to exceed 50% of project costs, are available for projects that demonstrate cooperative or regional efforts and share resources, aggregate agricultural products or producers, promote the sharing of resources among agricultural entities, and support community development. Deadline: April 16. Read the full announcement.

New systemic solutions are needed to create and enhance green infrastructure in the right place and at the right scale and encompass pressing social, economic, ecological, and historic factors holistically. The USDA Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry (U&CF) Program restores, sustains, and manages more than 140 million acres of urban and community forest lands for the benefit of communities in the United States. Healthy urban & community forests and green infrastructure are not only critical to all our nation’s forests, but also essential to the economic, environmental, physical, and mental well-being of our population. Increasingly, our urban and community forests are facing threats such as insects, diseases, extreme weather events and other hazards. Additionally, the lack of investment in urban forest disaster mitigation is contributing to community disasters such as urban flooding and human heat deaths in our cities-- disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. Grant categories are (1) Increasing Resiliency of Urban Forests through Reforestation and Management. (2) Planning Disaster Mitigation Strategies for Urban Forests. Deadline: April 16. Read the full announcement.

The DOE invites eligible Phase I and Phase II awardees to apply for Phase II awards (grants and cooperative agreements) (both initial and second and third) under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) . The purpose of an Initial Phase II award is to perform the research and development (R&D) required to meet the DOE objectives stated in the topic and subtopic of the Phase I FOA. In addition, it is intended that the small business awardee would be in a position to pursue commercial applications of the R&D at the end of Phase II. In many cases, Phase II results in a prototype, product, or a working process that can be demonstrated to a potential investor or customer (either in the private sector or in the Federal government, including the DOE). This FOA is supplemental to the FY 2020 SBIR/STTR Phase I Release 2 FOA (DE-FOA0002146); therefore, general information already provided in the Phase I FOA also applies to this Phase II process. Deadline: April 20. Read the full announcement.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of Massachusetts. A total of up to $200,000 is available for the Massachusetts CIG competition in FY 2021. All non-federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2021 is $200,000. Deadline: April 23. Read the full announcement.

The Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program helps agricultural producers enter into value-added activities related to the processing and marketing of new products. The goals of this program are to generate new products, create and expand marketing opportunities and increase producer income. You may receive priority if you are a beginning farmer or rancher, a socially-disadvantaged farmer or rancher, a small or medium-sized farm or ranch structured as a family farm, a farmer or rancher cooperative or are proposing a mid-tier value chain. Deadline: April 29. Read the full announcement.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of Idaho A total of up to $150,000.00 is available for the Idaho CIG competition in FY 2021. All non-federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2021 is $75,000.00. Deadline: May 3. Read the full announcement.

All Phase II projects must have previously completed a successful USDA Phase I project before applying for a Phase II grant. Success rates for applicants have been 50-60% for Phase II. Projects dealing with agriculturally-related manufacturing and alternative and renewable energy technologies are encouraged across all 2018 SBIR topic areas. USDA SBIR's flexible research areas ensure innovative projects consistent with USDA's vision of a healthy and productive nation in harmony with the land, air, and water. USDA SBIR has awarded over 2000 research and development projects since 1983, allowing hundreds of small businesses to explore their technological potential and providing an incentive to profit from the commercialization of innovative ideas. Deadline: May 3. Read the full announcement.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of Oregon. A total of up to $150,000 is available for the Oregon CIG competition in FY 2021. All non-federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2021 is $100,000. Deadline: May 7. Read the full announcement.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies for projects carried out in the state of Wisconsin. A total of up to $500,000 is available for the Wisconsin CIG competition in FY 2021. All non-federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2021 is $500,000. For FY 2021, NRCS shall only accept proposals that address one or more of the State priority categories listed below, and the project is required to be located in Wisconsin. Wisconsin (WI) 2021 State CIG Priorities fall in no particular order into these 3 broad priority categories: 1) Conservation Planning, 2) Manure Management Systems, and 3) Soil Health Management Systems. Proposals will compete against other proposals in the same category. For example, Soil Health Management System project proposals will compete against other Soil Health Management System proposals and Manure Management System proposals will compete against Manure Management System proposals. See Section E.,2) for further information. $500,000 is available in sum for the entire WI 2021 State CIG program. The 3 categories are designed to help meet the goals of streamlining conservation planning, increasing agricultural innovation, improving weather resiliency, and addressing Wisconsin priority resource concerns: Concentrated Erosion, Degraded Plant Condition, Field Sediment, Nutrient and Pathogen Loss, Soil Quality Limitations, and Wind and Water Erosion. Deadline: May 7. Read the full announcement.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of Arkansas. A total of up to $300,000 is available for the Arkansas CIG competition in FY 2021. All non-federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2021 is $150,000. Deadline: May 10. Read the full announcement.

NRCS is announcing the availability of CIG funding to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of South Carolina. A total of up to $500,000.00 is available for the South Carolina CIG competition in FY 2021. All non-federal entities (NFE) and individuals are invited to apply, with the sole exception of federal agencies. Projects may be between one and three years in duration. The maximum award amount for a single award in FY 2021 is $115,000.00. Deadline: June 1 Read the full announcement.

In support of these Administration priorities, the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is focused on developing technologies that convert domestic biomass and other waste resources into low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts. These bioenergy technologies can enable a transition to a clean energy economy, create high-quality jobs, support rural economies, and spur innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production – the bioeconomy. The activities funded through this opportunity will mobilize public clean energy investment in the biofuels, chemical and agricultural industries, accelerate the deployment of bioenergy technologies, and support achieving economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050. This FOA would support high-impact technology RDD&D to accelerate the bioeconomy and, in particular, the production of low-carbon fuels for the aviation industry. BETO is focusing on applied RDD&D to improve the performance and reduce cost of biofuel production technologies, and scale-up production systems in partnership with industry in order to reduce risks and pave the way for deployment of commercial-scale integrated biorefineries. Working together on scaling up these emerging technologies will leverage the scientific strength of the agency and its partners and support the creation of construction, skilled trade and engineering jobs that grow and invigorate the bioeconomy. The Program is focused on developing and demonstrating technologies that are capable of producing low-carbon drop-in biofuels at $2.50 per gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE) by 2030, as well as associated renewable chemical co-products to achieve this target. BETO is focused on biofuel production pathways that can deliver at least 70% lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum. Deadline: TBD. Read the full announcement.

Sources: National Academies News, AgWeb Daily, Civil Beat, Lancaster Farming, SciTech Daily, Bloomberg News, Cornell Alliance for Science, Al Jazeera,

Vision: The Societies Washington, DC Science Policy Office (SPO) will advocate the importance and value of the agronomic, crop and soil sciences in developing national science policy and ensuring the necessary public-sector investment in the continued health of the environment for the well being of humanity. The SPO will assimilate, interpret, and disseminate in a timely manner to Society members information about relevant agricultural, natural resources and environmental legislation, rules and regulations under consideration by Congress and the Administration.

This page of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA web site will highlight current news items relevant to Science Policy. It is not an endorsement of any position.