The following priorities have been adopted by MDA specific to the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. These priorities are used to guide the MDA Director in making decisions on funding recommendations.
Program Priorities
Providing Farmer Education on Specialty Crop(s)
- Farm to institution practices
- Value-added production
- Farm and food safety
- Organic production
- Soil health and conservation
- Industry promotion and marketing development
- Tribal sharing of traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous specialty crops
Planning and Supporting Infrastructures that Create or Support Specialty Crop(s)
- Cost-sharing and cooperative models for storage
- Distribution system efficiency, cost-savings and resiliency
- Regional and state processing infrastructure planning
- Farm to Institute
Supporting Research in the Areas of Specialty Crop(s)
- Drought tolerant, Cold tolerant, and disease resistant varieties
- Low external-input growing methods
- Genetic resources for cultivar development
- Low-cost technology development for the producer
- Use of beneficial organisms
- Specialty crop training in production methods
Building Consumer and Buyer Relationships
- Regional and statewide education and marketing efforts around specialty crop products
- Marketing opportunities to connect producers and buyers
Strengthening Producer Networks and Associations
- Producer networking events
- Capacity building
- Use of available forums for producer connections
- Encourage consumer education
Representing a Geographic Diversity of Projects across the State, with Rural Consideration