SCOAR Update - March 2001

INAUGURAL SCOAR ASSEMBLY
The first national SCOAR meeting was held January 23-24, in Pacific Grove, CA. The conference focused on identifying the priorities for organic farming research and on giving shape to the SCOAR project. We are in the process of transcribing tapes from the meeting and hope to have a proceedings available in late spring/early summer. Please see the SCOAR website for more information about the meeting at http://www.ofrf.org/scoar/index.html.

UMOFC SESSION
There will be a SCOAR session at the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, 9:30 am Friday March 16th. Due to health concerns, Mark Lipson will be unable to attend, but SCOAR steering committee members Deborah Stinner of Ohio State University and Kathleen Delate of Iowa State University will be leading a discussion of the SCOAR project in general as well as soil and crop-livestock systems research.

TREE FRUIT RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
May 31 and June 1, 2001 SCOAR is co-sponsoring (along with the Colorado Organic Crop Managment Association, Colorado State University, and the American Society for Horticultural Science) the First National Organic Tree Fruit Symposium in Grand Junction, CO. There is a description of the meeting and a registration form on OFRF's website at http://www.ofrf.org/scoar/fruit.html for those who are interested in attending. This will be a research oriented meeting, rather than a grower-education style conference. SCOAR has financial support available for farmers who would like to attend. For more information contact Steve Ela at sela@co.tds.net.

STATE OF THE STATES
OFRF announces the release of our report State of the States: Organic Farming Systems Research at Land Grant Institutions 2000-2001. This new report, compiled by OFRF Technical Program Coordinator Jane Sooby, catalogues organic systems research, education and extension projects currently in place at the nation's 67 public land grant agriculture schools. At present, Jane could find only 151 certified organic acres among the 886,000 research acres within the land grant system, a mere 0.02%. If you would like to receive a copy of the report, you can download a pdf version from http://www.ofrf.org/publications/SoS/SoS.overview.page.html or get a hardcopy by sending $5 to OFRF at P.O. Box 400, Santa Cruz, CA 95061.

RFPs FOR USDA COMPETITIVE GRANTS WHICH MAY SUPPORT ORGANICS
The RFP for the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems is on the web at: http://www.reeusda.gov/1700/programs/IFAFS/IFAFS.htm
The Initiative for future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS), legislated by Congress, authorized the secretary of Agriculture to establish a research, extension and education competitive grants program to address a number of critical emerging agricultural issues. These issues related to future food production, food safety, environmental quality, natural resource management, and farm income. Priority program areas were established to address these emerging issues: 1) Agricultural Genome; 2) Food safety, food technology, and human nutrition; 3) New and alternative uses and production of agricultural commodities and products; 4) Agricultural Biotechnology; 5) Natural resource Management, including precision agriculture; and 6) farm efficiency and profitability, including the viability and competitiveness of small- and medium-sized dairy, livestock, crop and other commodity operations. Priority for funding is for those proposals that are multi-State, multi-institutional, or multi-disciplinary, or that integrate agricultural research, extension, and/or education.

Keep an eye out for the RFP for the Integrated Research, Education and Extension grants to be posted at http://www.reeusda.gov sometime soon. The grant program provides funding for integrated, multifunctional agricultural research, extension and eduation activities to colleges and universities. The program has three components: Food Safety, Pest Managment and Water Quality. Included in Pest Management is a new program Organic Transistion.

For more information about USDA organic funding opportunities, contact Anne Bertinuson, abertinuson@reeusda.gov or 202-401-6825.

RFP FOR CALIFORNIA SUSTAINABLE AG RESEARCH
University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program (SAREP) recently released requests for proposals (RFPs) for targeted research and education proposals focusing on:

Total funding available is expected to be approximately $125,000. SAREP expects to offer grants for projects with typical awards of $5,000 - $20,000, but larger budgets will be considered if well justified. All proposals are due April 3, 2001; grant awards will be allocated in July 2001. Please consult the full RFP for criteria and format requirements. RFP is posted on SAREP's Web site at www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/grants/rfp/2001/RFP2001.htm.

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