Specialty Crop Funds

Specialty Crop Funds. I'm Greg Martin along with Lacy Gray for Colorado Ag Today.

GRAY: Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, and nursery crops including floriculture and sod and they make up about 9% of Colorado's overall agriculture production which translates to about $658 million dollars according to 2012 cash receipts.

MARTIN: To help keep the specialty crop category growing the Colorado Department of Agriculture is seeking proposals for the Specialty Crops Block Grant Program. The grant program is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture which partners with state departments of agriculture to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop producers in areas such as marketing, promotion, education, research, trade and nutrition.

GRAY: It's anticipated that approximately $800,000 will be available for this year's grant program, with approved projects starting early in 2016. Proposals must be received electronically by close of business, 5:00 p.m. on May 1, 2015.Proposals submitted by individual producers must demonstrate that the potential impact of the project will accrue to a broader group of similar producers, region or industry segment.

MARTIN: In the past Specialty Crop Block Grant dollars have been used for various projects in the state including the development of a model program at Fort Lewis College that helped increase locally produced vegetables by nearly 23-hundred pounds.

And that's Colorado Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.