Applicants will be required to obtain a DUNS Number from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) prior to applying for this program. D&B has created a custom landing page to streamline this process. 

Visit the application website (https://usda-prs.grantsolutions.gov/) for more information.

Important Dates:
Application Period Opens: October 6, 2021
Application Period Closes: 11:59 PM Eastern Time on November 22, 2021

Links: 

https://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/covid-relief-funding-soon-available-for-farmers-markets-processors-and-underserved-farmers/

https://www.ams.usda.gov/content/usda-pandemic-response-and-safety-grant-program-will-accept-applications-starting-october

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=335320

Portal link: https://usda-prs.grantsolutions.gov/usda

You might find helpful, the USDA AMS YouTube videos with step-by-step instructions explaining the application process: https://www.youtube.com/user/USDAAMS. Please do share the link and information previously sent with your members, networks, and others who would benefit.

Dave K. Chun
Senior Policy Advisor
Congressman Kaialiʻi Kahele (HI-02)
1205 Longworth House Office Building | 202-225-4906

Coffee Plant Health Initiative Amendments Act
Sending Office: Honorable Kaiali'i Kahele
Sent By: Dave.Chun@mail.house.gov

Dear Colleagues:

Please join us in cosponsoring the Coffee Plant Health Initiative Amendments Act (CPHIAA), a bill to address emerging threats to the U.S. domestic coffee industry. The legislation broadens the Coffee Plant Health Initiative (CPHI) to manage all coffee tree pests such as the coffee leaf rust, coffee leaf miner, and coffee wilt. The CPHI, included in the 2014 farm bill, unfortunately was specific only to the coffee berry borer and thus excluded other plant pest research under the CPHI’s narrow scope.

The CPHIAA would permit research and extension grants for purposes of:

• Developing and disseminating science-based tools and treatments to combat plant pests and noxious weeds that impact coffee plants
  
• 
  
• Establishing an areawide integrated pest management program in areas affected by invasive plant pests or noxious weeds
  
• Surveying and collecting data on coffee plant production and health
  
• Investigating coffee plant biology, immunology, ecology, genomics, and bioinformatics
  
• Researching factors that may contribute to or be associated with coffee plant immune systems, including
  
• Sublethal effects of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides on beneficial insects and plants
  
• Development of mitigative and preventative measures to improve habitat conservation and best management practices
  

For additional information or to cosponsor the CPHIAA, please contact Dave (Kahele) at Dave.Chun@mail.house.gov or Mitch (Case) at Mitch.Heidenreich@mail.house.gov.

Kaiali’i Kahele                            Ed Case
Member of Congress              Member of Congress

HAWAII COFFEE ASSOCIATION PRESENTS DRU KANUHA WITH LEGISLATOR AWARD

HAWAII—The Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA) presented Senator Dru Mamo Kanuha (D-Kona, Kaʻu) with its first ever Legislator of the Year Award amid coffee trees laden with ripening fruit. The Hawaii Senate Majority Leader received an appreciation plaque crafted from a century-old fallen Koa tree that once flourished at Konaʻs Greenwell Farms.

Senator Kanuha introduced and shepherded the passage of recent legislation (SB855 SB1 HD1 CD1)  to extend the Hawaii Department of Agricultureʻs Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) Pesticide Subsidy Program and expand it to include control of the industryʻs latest disease challenge: Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR). The legislation extends the sunset date of the program to June 2023 and stipulates annual subsidy caps per acre of treated coffee.  

“While our coffee industry has been challenged by CBB, CLR and impacts relating to COVID, the state legislature has faced unprecedented COVID-induced budgetary constraints,” noted HCA President Chris Manfredi during the awards ceremony. “Nonetheless, Senator Kanuha listened to and understood our challenges, and championed this subsidy extension and expansion to include CLR management. This will make life a good deal easier for Hawaii’s coffee farmers and help ensure their viability. We thank him for his leadership.”

Endemic to Central Africa, CBB was discovered in Hawaii first in Kona in 2010 and it can be difficult to control. Female beetles lay eggs inside the coveted coffee bean to feed its brood. Farmers fight CBB with an integrated pest management (IPM) program that includes farm sanitation and a biological control material bought commercially.  

CLR was first discovered in Sri Lanka in 1869 and can cause plant defoliation resulting in reduced photosynthetic capacity and tree dieback. First detected on Maui and Hawaii Island last October, the devastating pathogen can be controlled with an EPA-approved fungicide as part of an IPM plan.

The Hawaii Coffee Association’s mission is to represent all sectors of the Hawaii coffee industry, including growers, millers, wholesalers, roasters and retailers. The HCA’s primary objective is to increase awareness and consumption of Hawaiian coffees.  A major component of HCA’s work is the continuing education of members and consumers. Its annual conference has continued to grow, gaining international attention.

The Hawaii Coffee Associationʻs first ever Legislator of the Year Award is crafted from a century-old fallen Koa tree that once flourished at Konaʻs Greenwell Farms. 

Did you know that a farm worker who enters a field (within 30 days of last pesticide application), who handles, and/or applies pesticides, must be WPS trained annually? Many, if not all farms regardless of organic or non-organic farming methods, use pesticides if applying a product to kill a beetle, bug, fungus, mite, rat, or weed. 

Learn how to keep yourself, your workers, customers, and the environment safe with the proper use, storage, handling, application, and disposal of pesticides.

To learn more or to register, please follow this link.

Learn More and Register Here!

Learn:

• How/when to calibrate your sprayer
• Why sprayer calibration is important
• How to get better spray coverage
• How to calculate water use per acre
• How to calculate pesticide rates per gallon of water and per tankful​​

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2021 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) today announced that fiscal year 2020 payments for the Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program (RTCP) will begin on May 28, 2020. The RTCP will help eligible farmers and ranchers outside the contiguous U.S., including those in Alaska, offset a portion of the cost of transporting agricultural products over long distances.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019 reauthorized RTCP and allows farmers and ranchers in Alaska, Hawaii and insular areas including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands of the United States, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Republic of Palau, to recover any costs to transport agricultural commodities or inputs used to produce an agricultural commodity. 

Signup for the 2020 program year increased by 28 applicants compared to the 2019 program year. Signup for the 2021 program will be announced in early summer.

RTCP payments are calculated based on the costs incurred for transportation of the agricultural commodity or inputs during a fiscal year, subject to an $8,000 per producer cap per fiscal year. Total 2020 claims exceeded available funding; therefore, payments to recipients will be reduced by a National payment factor of 0.8 percent.  

Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools. Because of the pandemic, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors. Contact your Service Center to set up an in-person or phone appointment. Additionally, more information related to USDA’s response and relief for producers can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus. 

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

Enrollment Period Begins for USDA’s Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program

Program Helps Offset Transporting Costs for Farmers and Ranchers Outside the Contiguous U.S.

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 9, 2021 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Hawaii opened enrollment today for the Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program (RTCP) for fiscal year 2021. The enrollment period begins July 12 and will run through Sept. 3. “RTCP helps U.S. farmers and ranchers offset a portion of the cost of transporting agricultural products over long distances,” said Shirley Nakamura, Farm Service Agency (FSA) Acting State Executive Director. “This program helps U.S. farmers and ranchers outside the 48 contiguous states who are at a competitive disadvantage when transporting agriculture products to market.”

The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 reauthorized RTCP and allows farmers and ranchers in Alaska, Hawaii and insular areas including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands of the United States, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Republic of Palau, to recover any costs to transport agricultural commodities or inputs used to produce an agricultural commodity.

RTCP payments are calculated based on the costs incurred for transportation of the agricultural commodity or inputs during a 12-month period, subject to an $8,000 per producer cap per fiscal year. If claims for payments exceed the funds available from the program for a fiscal year, payments will be reduced on a pro-rata basis.

Farmers and ranchers interested in participating in RTCP can obtain applications and other documents by calling toll-free 1-866-794-1079.

Dave K. Chun
Senior Policy Advisor
Congressman Kaialiʻi Kahele (HI-02)
1205 Longworth House Office Building | 202-225-4906

PDF of this News Release

In this study, consuming more coffee, vegetables, and being breast fed as well as consuming less processed meat intake were independently associated with lower odds of COVID-19 positivity.