College of Engineering Sciences, Technology and Agriculture

What it Takes to Keep Independent Grocery Stores Open in Rural Communities When rural grocery stores shutter, communities lose more than their only source of food. We visited two small groceries in North Dakota that have found innovative ways to keep the lights on.

Important Agriculture News.

Florida's citrus industry facing worst crop in more than 75 years It's a business that's been farmed commercially in the sunshine state since Florida became a state in 1845.

FAMU MARCHING 100 2019 " Mighty Rattler " directed by Coach Willie Simmons

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USDA to Invest $150 Million in Conservation Stewardship Program

USDA
8 February 2016

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that $150 million in funding is available for agricultural producers through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), USDA's largest conservation program, by acres impacted, that helps producers voluntarily improve the health and productivity of private and Tribal working lands. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plans to add an estimated 10 million acres to the rolls of CSP during fiscal 2016.

"The Conservation Stewardship Program is one of our most popular programs with producers because it results in real change on the ground by boosting soil and air quality, conserving clean water and enhancing wildlife habitat," Vilsack said. "With this investment, we'll be able to build on the already record number of acres enrolled in USDA's conservation programs, enabling producers to achieve higher levels of conservation and adopt new and emerging conservation technologies on farms, ranches and forests."

NRCS accepts applications for CSP throughout the year, but producers should submit applications by March 31 to a USDA service centers to ensure they are considered for enrollment in 2016.

Participants with existing CSP contracts that will expire on Dec.31, 2016 have the option to renew their contracts for an additional five years if they agree to adopt additional activities to achieve higher levels of conservation on their lands. Applications to renew are also due by March 31.

NRCS also makes CSP available to producers as an additional opportunity to participate in regional landscape-level conservation efforts including the Sage Grouse Initiative, Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative, Longleaf Pine Initiative and Ogallala Aquifer Initiative.

Funding is available for more than 100 kinds of enhancements nationwide to help participants:

• Improve soil quality through use of cover crops, conservation crop rotations and other activities that increase soil productivity.

• Use water wisely and improve water quality through enhancements such as more efficient irrigation systems and weather monitoring.

• Restore habitat for wildlife and pollinators such as the greater sage-grouse, lesser prairie-chicken and monarch butterfly through the use of better grazing systems and improved plant management.

A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help producers determine if the program is compatible with their operation. As part of the application process, applicants will work with NRCS field personnel to complete a resource inventory of their land to determine the conservation performance for existing and new conservation activities. The applicant's conservation performance will be used to determine eligibility, ranking and payments.

Through CSP, USDA has provided more than $4 billion since 2009 in assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest managers to enhance conservation on more than 70 million acres. For more on technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted.

Since 2009, USDA has invested more than $29 billion to help producers make conservation improvements, working with as many as 500,000 farmers, ranchers and landowners to protect over 400 million acres nationwide, boosting soil and air quality, cleaning and conserving water and enhancing wildlife habitat. For an interactive look at USDA's work in conservation and forestry over the course of this Administration, visit
http://medium.com/usda-results.

Get Started with NRCS | NRCS Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease? NRCS offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest managers. Here’s how you can get started with NRCS:

CESTA alum news.

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Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the Morrill Act of 1890 - Higher Education The Morrill Act of 1890 helped establish universities to provide higher education opportunities for African-Americans and others based on the idea that access to education was important for all.

The BASE student club will be hosting a speaker from the Florida Board of Professional Engineers (see attached flyer). The seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. in Benjamin Banneker Tech C.
For more information please contact Dr. Ivanka Anguelova at [email protected].

Jasmine A. Hall, 2nd Place Winner in the poster competition in the category of Ecology, Environmental, and Earth Sciences, sub category Plant Sciences at the Emerging National Researchers Conference(ERN) sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), located in Washington D.C., February 21-23, 2014.

The award was for her research at the Center of Viticulture and Small Fruit Research on the, "cDNA Cloning and Characterization of Flavanone 3' Hydroxylase (F3'H) gene of the Muscadine Grape".

Forum on Cover Crops and Soil Health / Events / SARE Nationwide - SARE You are invited to attend a free, live broadcast of the February 18 th SARE-sponsored �National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health.�

Dr. Lawrence Carter highlights the activities planned in observance of the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 sponsored by the FAMU Cooperative Extension Program.
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Rattler Report: Landmark year for cooperative extension In this week's Rattler Report, Reporter Doug Blackburn talks with Lawrence Carter about FAMU's cooperative extension.

Congratulations Professor Dion Paul on your accomplishment.

Google Selects FAMU CS Grad For IT Residency Program Florida A&M University (FAMU) alumnus Dion Paul has been selected to participate in Google’s Information Technology Residency Program.

This event will officially launch our year-long observance of the legislation that created the Cooperative Extension Program at Florida A&M University, an 1890 land-grant institution.
Mark your calendars and join the celebration!

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