National Association Of State Departments Of Agriculture

Regional food business center: through the regional food business center program, usda established a total of 12 regional food business centers that will serve all areas of the country with a focus towards historically underinvested communities and will provide coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building for farmers, ranchers, and other food businesses.the national association of state departments of agriculture foundation was selected by the u.s. Department of agriculture to establish the usda northeast regional food business center. The northeast regional food business center will develop and amplify local and regional supply chains, with a strong emphasis on building equity and community resilience into these systems in 11 states- connecticut, delaware, maine, maryland, massachusetts, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont - and the district of columbia. Nasda member collaborators include the northeast state departments of agriculture and the maryland department of agriculture.

Food safety feed agreement:through this cooperative agreement with fda, nasda foundation is working to compare state authorities regarding the production of animal food, determine the resources needed to successfully implement a state animal food safety rule and drafting a strategic plan to assist states in aligning their animal food safety requirements with fda's current good manufacturing practice, hazard analysis, and risk-based preventive controls for animal food rule. We are moving to develop and distribute tools to assist states in the implementation of the animal food rule at the state level.

Epa water quality agreement:the nasda foundation has been awarded $3 million in cooperative agreement funding to help underserved farmers improve water quality, habitat resilience and information exchange to benefit the ecosystems within the gulf of mexico watershed. Working farms, ranches, and forests provide food, fuel, and fiber for the world, but activities can affect water quality locally and across multi-state watersheds. Implementation of soil and water conservation practices can help reduce runoff and nonpoint source pollution. This grant was awarded by the u.s. Environmental protection agency's gulf of mexico division.

Farm2food accelerator:farm2food accelerator is a 15-week training program built to empower and educate small-scale farmers and food entrepreneurs to become more resilient through food production. The program focuses on helping small-scale farmers and food entrepreneurs use their current agricultural production or local sourced production to develop a packaged, value-added food or beverage product. The farm2food accelerator provides topic-based modular training in product formulation, licensing, food safety, packaging, labeling, marketing, consumer sensory testing, pricing and pitching.

Cdfa socially disadvantaged farmers & ranchers access to capital program:the council of development finance agencies and nasda foundation's socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers access to capital project, which is funded through a 3-year sub-award cdfa's usda 2501 grant, assists socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers build successful operations by accessing sustainable business capital. The program, now in its third year, will develop a culturally significant educational curriculum that teaches agricultural finance in relatable and meaningful terms.

Student programming:nasda's next generation is a comprehensive student program designed to cultivate the next wave of leaders in agriculture policy and public service. In bringing together the agriculture policy summit with the nasda's next generation, this unified program offers undergraduate and graduate students an unparalleled opportunity to engage directly with state and federal agricultural leaders, expand their understanding of the agricultural policy-making process and explore career pathways within the industry.