The massachusetts department of agriculture will enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops through leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops; assisting producers with research…

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources will receive $607,789.89 under a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in Massachusetts from September 2021 through September 2025. The Department will leverage efforts to market and promote specialty crops, assist producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops, and expand availability and access to specialty crops. The Department will also address local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers through various activities and projects with grant recipients. The funding will encourage prioritizing projects responding to COVID-19 impacts and benefit residents across the United States, five territories, and Washington, D.C. The Department must provide measurable outcomes as performance evidence of work completed under the grant.

The massachusetts department of agriculture will enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops through leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops; assisting producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops; expanding availability and access to specialty crops; and addressing local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers through a variety of activities/projects with their grant recipients. The H.R. 133 stimulus funding encourages states to prioritize projects that respond to covid-19 impacts. Beneficiaries include the residents of all 50 states, 5 territories, and the district of columbia. Performance evidence in the form of measurable outcomes is required.