USDA Invests in Specialty Crop Block Grants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing in 55 specialty crop block grants that will fund 740 initiatives across the United States and its territories. Through state and territory departments of agriculture, the USDA will invest in the following initiatives related to the water garden industry:

• Partner with the Arizona Nursery Association to continue promoting and encouraging the production, sale and use of Arizona-grown, regionally adapted landscape plants and trees with a broad marketing campaign;
• Partner with the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association to determine what motivates Connecticut consumers to purchase landscape plants, and then encourage local growers to meet those expectations in the plants they choose to produce, in efforts to increase demand and purchase of ornamental plants grown by Connecticut nurseries and greenhouses;
• In Connecticut, partner with CitySeed Inc. to deliver a creative, buy-local marketing campaign via free space on buyCTgrown; to give access to print media, such as recipe cards and point-of-sale materials that target maple syrup, nursery products, summer berries, pick-your-own apples, tree fruit, pumpkins and Christmas trees to provide an increase of resources to specialty crops producers and their consumers;
• Partner with the Florida Nursery, Growers, and Landscape Association to deliver training in production, marketing and financial risk to specialty crop commodities in Florida and provide general financial information as well as address commodity-specific issues through the Florida Agriculture Financial Management Conference; matching funds will be used to cover any costs of the conference that do not solely enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops;
• Partner with University of Florida to evaluate several new nematode management tools for control of root-knot nematodes on cut foliage and ornamental crops;
• Partner with University of Florida to develop production guidelines and cost savings for the use of reclaimed wastewater to grow containerized ornamentals;
• In Georgia, partner with the Center for Applied Nursery Research to digitally link the information to growers, retailers, landscape contractors and consumers and broaden the scope of research programs into new plant development and plant evaluation programs, both of which can be fed into a digital stream to one or more growers, retailers, landscape contractors and consumers;
• Partner with the Hawaii Export Nursery Association to propagate five new cultivars of Dracaenas through tissue culture methods that then will be promoted at trade shows in target markets across the mainland United States to garner interest and sales throughout the floriculture and nursery industry;
• Partner with the Idaho Nursery and Landscape Association to promote and encourage the production, sale and use of Idaho-grown regionally adapted landscape plant material;
• Partner with the Indiana Flower Growers Association to provide education opportunities to Indiana garden centers, greenhouses and nursery growers through a series of modules designed to target growers at appropriate times in the production cycle, raise their awareness of issues such as temperature and light management, energy efficiency and water quality; the team also will offer energy audits to 10 Indiana greenhouses and garden centers that produce qualifying specialty crops;
• Partner with the Iowa Nursery and Landscape Association to develop a series of five webinars on advanced training topics including sustainable landscape management practices, trends in developing outdoor living spaces, marketing and business management;
• Partner with the Kentucky Nursery and Landscape Association to enhance its website’s online membership directory, which will strengthen the marketing opportunities for Kentucky’s growers, retailers and landscape companies;
• Partner with the Massachusetts Nursery Landscape Association and the Massachusetts Flower Growers’ Association to reframe how the public thinks about horticulture by creating an environmental movement to provide the Massachusetts specialty crop industry with additional revenue;
• Partner with the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association to maximize preemergence herbicide efficacy by evaluating specific herbicide-weed interactions in two major nursery growing regions of Michigan, identifying preemergence herbicides safe for a broad range of cultivars of Viburnum sp., Hydrangea sp. and Buxus sp., identifying specific weed-control approaches for highly specific weed issues in Michigan nurseries, such as mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris L), creeping yellow field cress (Rorippa sylvestris), Red Stem Filaree (Erodium cicutarium), Wild Garlic (Allium vineale) and marestail (Conyza Canadensis), and by continuing evaluations of the propagule banks at four sites;
• Partner with the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association to promote and increase sales of Minnesota-grown regionally adapted landscape plants and trees;
• In New York, partner with Cornell University to test budwood for latent blight bacteria, which threatens nursery trees and new plantings;
• Partner with the North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association to improve growers’ ability to regain markets and provide growth opportunities for the North Carolina nursery industry through targeted marketing to wholesale buyers and consumers and the introduction of new plant varieties;
• Partner with the Oregon Association of Nurseries to implement and promote a robust online buyers guide to create awareness of the Oregon and northwest nursery industry and help streamline purchasing from regional growers for buyers in an increasingly competitive environment;
• In Oregon, partner with Ascent Agricultural Services and the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service to increase the adoption and accreditation of the United States Nursery Certification Program by four small and mid-sized nurseries through training, manual documentation and the development of a systems approach to control pests and pathogens;
• Partner with the South Carolina Nursery and Landscape Organization to provide a combination of marketing, promotional and educational activities designed to enhance nursery growers and other specialty crop stakeholders through a field day, trade shows, seminars, grower marketing and an online directory;
• Partner with the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association to promote TNLA membership by attending other trade shows and distributing membership directories, Tennessee buyers guides, Mid-States Horticultural Expo show information, updating both the MSHE and TNLA websites and allowing TNLA growers an opportunity to market their products to one or both of a national and international marketplace at MSHE;
• Partner with Utah State University to develop sustainable propagation techniques for native plants as a step in the ultimate goal of fostering additional nursery crop production in Utah;
• Partner with Virginia Tech to develop sustainable mulch practices to control broadleaf and grassy weeds in nursery production, which will enhance weed control and decrease herbicide use and irrigation volume while improving nutrient management and grower profitability.

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USDA Invests in Specialty Crop Block Grants

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