April 24, 2020

“Buy Fresh” USDA Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program (CFAP) Announcement of Solicitation

Just in from the United Fresh Produce Association:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today released its solicitation for proposals for the “Buy Fresh” Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program (CFAP) to purchase and distribute $100 million a month of fresh fruit and vegetables for approximately six months. USDA will award contracts for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables, the assembly of commodity boxes, and delivery to identified food banks, food pantries, churches, schools, community groups, and other non-profit and governmental organizations that can receive and distribute food items.

  • The solicitation and supporting documents can be found at bottom of the page here.
  • Request for Proposals (RFP) will be due on May 1, 2020.
  • AMS will hold a conference call on Tuesday, April 28th at 12:00 pm EDT (dial-in instructions forthcoming) to field additional questions from the RFP. Any questions should be submitted in the meantime to: USDAFoodBoxDistributionProgram@usda.gov

  • A recording of a United Fresh/ARS information webinar conducted on April 23rd can be found here. Additional details and updates can be found on the AMS-CFAP landing page.
Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates Tagged With: ,
April 24, 2020

TODAY at Noon! E-commerce During COVID-19 Webinar

My apologies for the last minute notice as I missed forwarding this earlier in the week. Gal Hochman, Rutgers Professor of Agriculture, Food, & Resource Economics, and current President of the Northeast Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, shared the following webinar announcement to assist agricultural producers in exploring online marketing opportunities. The meeting is co-sponsored by her association and The Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics.
In my rush to get this to you, the links in the attachment below may be broken so please Register Here.

WEBINAR

E-Commerce During COVID-19: Opportunities for Food Producers

to Make Direct Market Sales Online

Friday, April 24, at 12:00 p.m. EST

The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE) along with the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA), will host a free webinar at 12 p.m. EST April 24 to discuss the value of e-commerce for farmers, food gatekeepers and retailers at a moment when customers are shifting their buying habits overnight to minimize exposure to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a situation that is rapidly changing, with guidance for safe gathering thresholds dwindling from thousands, to hundreds, to fewer than 10. The isolation and uncertainty have precipitated changes in consumers’ shopping behaviors, from bulk-buying to e-commerce and more. Limiting in-store interactions is now a chief comparative advantage.

This webinar will discuss ways farmers, food gatekeepers and retailers can benefit (or hedge their losses) by adapting to consumers’ behavioral changes. C-FARE board member and Rutgers University economist Gal Hochman will moderate the 45-minute discussion. He will be joined by three panelists.
  • Jeffrey O’Hara will discuss what USDA Agricultural Marketing Service resources are available for producers to develop e-commerce sales, the latest data and research, along with examples of ways farmers have migrated online. He is an AMS specialist.
  • Chyi Lyi “Kathleen” Liang will discuss various online platforms, the merits of using digital sales strategies, and sample innovative aggregated venues online. She is the W. K. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and the director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
  • Gary Matteson will talk about the need for business planning with clear goals for inputs such as time and money, and clear expectations for sales and profitability when approaching new markets. He is vice president for Young, Beginning, Small Farmer Programs and Outreach at the Farm Credit Council.

The webinar will conclude with questions from attendees. Those who register but cannot attend will be invited to view a recording of the webinar at a later date. Please join C-FARE and the NAREA for this special program.

The Vision of the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics

Catalyzing informed decisions through applied economics.

The Council on Food Agricultural & Resource Economics, 502 C Street NE, Washington, DC, 20002, United States
Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates Tagged With: , , ,
April 23, 2020

USDA Buy-Fresh Deadlines Still Short, But Proposals Due Next Week, Not Today

Staff from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Commodity Procurement Division just held a webinar hosted by the United Fresh Produce Association to clarify the Buy-Fresh portion of the Coronavirus Food Assistance (CFAP) Purchase and Distribution Program. With an amazingly fast turn-around since this program was announced, they will be posting a ‘solicitation’ on Friday, April 24, announcing the purchase of up to $3 billion of fresh foods ($100 million/month each of US-grown fresh produce, fresh dairy, and fresh meats) beginning in 2 weeks. Proposals for fresh produce will be accepted from PACA-licensed growers/shippers/distributors/co-ops who submit proposals by next Friday to put together ‘consumer wholesale boxes’ for local/regional non-profits (food banks, food pantries, churches, etc.) and schools (which may or may not include universities/colleges – to be determined) to distribute to consumers. Approved proposals will be announced a week later to be implemented immediately.

Details of the program are available on the AMS website. The size of the box and contents (there are some targeted products) are to be worked out between the distributor and the non-profit, and included in the submitted proposal. ‘Fresh produce’ also includes ‘fresh-cut produce’, and anticipated changes in seasonal content should be outlined. Non-profit recipients may work with multiple distributors, especially as there may be different groups supplying produce, dairy and meat. The actual ‘solicitation‘ will be posted on Friday, April 24. You can sign up for email updates.

New Jersey is serviced by 2 major food banks that distribute food to local pantries/feeding programs throughout the state. The Food Bank of South Jersey in Pennsauken services counties along the Delaware River from Mercer to Salem, while the rest of the state is under the umbrella of the Community Food Bank of NJ, headquartered in Newark with branches in Monmouth and Atlantic Counties. You could work with either of these larger organizations or directly with smaller community programs closer to your locale. You might also propose working with PhilAbundance, the major food bank servicing Philadelphia.

 

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates Tagged With: , , ,
April 22, 2020

Produce Blue Book Shares USDA CARES Buy-Fresh Has Short Deadlines

USDA provides more details about the Buy Fresh program and a link to its solicitation page here.

USDA’s Buy Fresh program has tight deadlines

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
April 21, 2020

USDA Announces Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

From usda.gov/media/press-releases on April 17, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).

“The program will provide $16 billion in direct support based on actual losses for agricultural producers where prices and market supply chains have been impacted…” including $9.5 billion in aid to cattle, dairy and hog farmers, $3.9B to row/commodity crops, $2.1B for specialty crops growers, and $500 mil for “other” crops ($500 million).

The remaining $3B will be used to increase purchases of fresh produce, dairy, and meat to be distributed through “food banks, community and faith based organizations, and other non-profits serving Americans in need.”

More details about the CFAP can be found in the press release, however, as of yesterday morning, local USDA Service Centers had not yet received directions on how/where/when farmers should apply for direct assistance. They will inform local farmers as soon as the information becomes available and we will also pass on that information as soon as we have it.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
April 21, 2020

Soil Temperatures and Seed Germination/Growth

Temperature gauge for soil This season’s warm March made it tempting to get an early start planting crops. However to give plants a jump on the season, resist the lure of warm air temperatures. Instead, pay more attention to your soils’ temperatures.

One might think the warmer March, not to mention the very mild January and February, and even this past weekend’s 70°F, would mean warmer soil temperatures by now than when retired colleague Ray Samulis originally wrote most of this post in 2014. Ray discussed recording 56-58°F temperatures from soils in various Central Jersey commercial vegetable fields on April 15 just before a multi-day cold front arrived. He had anticipated colder temperatures. Today, expecting higher temperatures, a quick sampling revealed soils nearly ten degrees cooler (48-52°F) than what Ray had measured.

What do soil temperatures have to do with your early vegetable seedlings?

  • Mean spring soil temperatures determine nutrient availability, especially phosphorus which is closely related to early root growth, as well as nitrogen, hence, overall crop development.
  • Knowing your earlier warming ‘hot’ fields can be reliable planting spots for cold tolerant vegetables, but monitoring the temperatures is the only way to know for sure. Germination temperature requirements for common vegetables are listed in the table below.
  • Many of the same techniques (raised beds, clear plastic mulch, floating row cover, windbreaks) used to protect early warm season transplanted crops can also be used to warm the soil to give a boost to early direct seeded crops.

When it is sunny or when the wind is howling, judging the suitability for planting may seem clear. However, monitoring field specific soil temperatures and paying close attention to crop varietal cold tolerance (published by most seed companies) are better guides. Besides a soil thermometer, there are now many relatively inexpensive weather monitoring systems (from dataloggers that monitor individual parameters like soil temperature, to complete systems that will measure air and soil temps, wind speed, rainfall, and more – more on those in another post) that can be observed directly or can be linked to smart phones/devices and/or office computers miles away.

webshot Syngenta GreenCast Soil Temp for NJWhile it’s best to measure soil temperatures in your own fields, there are also online soil temperature reporting  alternatives like the Rutgers NJ Weather Network. Twelve weather stations offer real time soil temperatures. Check the numbered station nearest your fields and bookmark the station. Syngenta GreenCast also offers broad regional soil temperature maps, with a 5-day soil prediction forecast feature, or you can put in your town and zip code for a local average (see figure 1). This is useful data when weather conditions are less than favorable and only narrow planting windows exist.

These temperatures represent vegetable seedling survival tolerance, not necessarily best performance:

Average Minimum Spring Soil Temperatures
 Vegetable Crop Tolerance for Reliable Germination
40°F Beet, Cabbage, Potato, Spinach, Turnip
45°F Pea, Mustard, Leek
50°F Carrot, Lettuce, Onion, Sweet Corn
60°F and above Bean, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Squash
70°F and above Eggplant, Watermelon

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Vegetable Crops