[CED/CD/EAT] Fwd: [EXT] 2021 USDA-FSA Cooperative Agreement – Outreach Education and Technical Assistance for Farm Service Agency Programs, Functions and Activities

Tue Apr 6 22:54:41 MST 2021

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gonzalez Jr., Roberto - OPPE, Calexico, CA" <roberto.gonzalez at usda.gov>
Date: April 6, 2021 at 20:39:26 MST
To: "Ogden, Kimberly L - (ogden)" <ogden at arizona.edu>, "Burgess, Shane C - (shaneburgess)" <sburgess at cals.arizona.edu>, "Hunt, James E - (jeh)" <JHunt at ag.arizona.edu>, "Pawar, Sangita C - (sangita)" <sangita at arizona.edu>, "Mester, John Clark - (jmester)" <jmester at arizona.edu>, "Patten, Kim J - (kjpatten)" <kjpatten at arizona.edu>, "Coffey, Courtney - (ccoffey)" <ccoffey at arizona.edu>, "Silvertooth, Jeffrey C - (silverto)" <Silver at ag.arizona.edu>, "Mars, Matthew M - (mmars)" <mmars at arizona.edu>, "Cantwell, Elizabeth R - (ecantwell)" <ecantwell at arizona.edu>
Subject: [EXT] 2021 USDA-FSA Cooperative Agreement – Outreach Education and Technical Assistance for Farm Service Agency Programs, Functions and Activities

External Email
USDA-FSA is accepting Outreach & Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements support projects that:

  *   Increase access and participation of socially disadvantaged applicants in USDA-FSA programs and services.
  *   Improve technical assistance for socially disadvantaged applicants related to USDA-FSA programs, including loan, disaster assistance, conservation and safety-net programs.

Eligible Applicants: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits, Native American tribal organizations, Other.

Closing Date for Applications: May 5, 2021

Awards will range in amounts from $20,000 to $99,999 for a duration between six (6) months and one (1) year.  The estimated funding floor for this opportunity is $20,000 and the estimated funding ceiling is $99,999.  The funding floor means the minimum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded. The ceiling is the maximum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded.  These numbers refer to the total agreement amount, not any specific budget period.

Cost Sharing or Matching: There is no cost sharing or matching requirement for this opportunity. There is no competitive advantage to applicants who voluntarily provide a match.

View Grant Opportunity & See Related Documents:  https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=332638

This Notice of Funding Opportunity seeks proposals to support and further expand USDA-Farm Service Agency (FSA)’s existing program outreach and education efforts to socially disadvantaged applicants, specifically farmers and ranchers. The mission of the USDA-Farm Service Agency (FSA) is equitably serving all farmers and ranchers through the delivery of effective, efficient agricultural programs for all Americans. However, USDA-FSA is aware that all farmers and ranchers may not be optimally aware of USDA-FSA programs. Therefore, this opportunity is intended to provide additional outreach to socially disadvantaged applicants, farmers and ranchers in areas and communities where additional outreach would be beneficial. With the complex nature of some of USDA-FSA’s programs, USDA-FSA intends this Notice of Funding Opportunity to focus additional outreach and education to producers in areas who could benefit from additional outreach in order to (1) increase access and participation of socially disadvantaged applicants in USDA-FSA programs and services and (2) improve technical assistance related to USDA-FSA farm and farm loan programs.

USDA-FSA county and state offices provide outreach and education for producers which typically involve public meetings and workshops with individual producers seeking additional information or to enroll in a program. However, additional targeted outreach efforts are needed for educating socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers on USDA-FSA programs and services. Socially disadvantaged groups are defined as a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities. These groups include: Hispanics, American Indians or Alaskan Natives, Blacks or African Americans, Asians, Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders, and in the case of USDA-FSA loan farm programs, women. This Notice of Funding Opportunity is intended to provide targeted, focused, specific outreach to socially disadvantaged producers in areas and communities where outreach efforts have not been effective in the past and where participation in USDA-FSA programs is historically lower for socially disadvantaged producers. The goal is to increase minority participation in USDA-FSA programs through outreach education and technical assistance efforts.

Specific USDA-FSA programs and services listed in this Notice of Funding Opportunity are focused on educating socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers about one or more of the following programs and increasing the number of successful program participants: Farm Enrollment for Heirs Property Operators/Landowners; Farm Service Agency Relending Program; Highly Fractionated Indian Land Program; Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program; Emergency Conservation Program; Agriculture Risk Coverage/Price Loss Coverage; Receipt for Service; Farm Service Agency County and Urban Committees; Guaranteed Operating and Ownership Loan Programs; Direct Operating and Ownership Loan Programs; Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2); Organic Certification Cost-Share Program; Farm Storage Facility Loan; Tree Assistance Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Emergency Conservation Program; Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program Plus; Commodity Loans & Loan Deficiency Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Urban Ag County Committees, and Quality Loss Adjustment Program.

Priority will be given to projects that include focus on the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2).  Applications focusing primarily on CFAP 2 will be expedited.  For other proposals, USDA-FSA anticipates announcing or notifying successful and unsuccessful applicants by June 21, 2021 and expects to have Federal awards in place by September 1, 2021.

What is a Cooperative Agreement?

Cooperative Agreement Definition: A cooperative agreement reflects a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient and is used when the government's purpose is to assist the intermediary in providing goods or services to the authorized recipient.
Cooperative Agreement Purpose: USDA-FSA’s cooperative agreements are designed to support or stimulate a public purpose with substantive USDA-FSA involvement.

Cooperative Agreement Authority
USDA-FSA’s authority to enter cooperative agreements includes the:

  *   Agricultural Act of 2014, Section 1614(c)(3), with qualified universities or university-based organizations to develop online tools and with State extension services to educate farmers and ranchers; and
  *   Rural Development Act of 1972, Section 607(b)(4), as amended, with non-governmental organizations or educational institutions related to outreach and technical assistance.

This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/ced/attachments/20210407/8ff97b4a/attachment.htm>