USDA Specialty Crop Block Grants Create New Economic Opportunities and Grow Markets for Local Producers

October 9, 2014

For more information contact: Jessica Nixon at: 207-287-3494

Augusta ? Commissioner Walter Whitcomb announced that Maine is partnering with USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to invest $602,678.57 to support Maine Specialty Crop Producers. Maine will conduct 10 initiatives to increase the competitiveness of Maine specialty crops by: enhancing and strengthening markets for specialty crops such as potatoes, wild blueberries, maple syrup, and other fruits and vegetables; investigating the health of honey bees; increasing the nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops by Maine children and adults; and furthering the development of a hops industry to complement Maine?s craft beer industry.

?The last Census of Agriculture found that the market value of Maine agricultural products has increased 24 %,? said Governor Paul R. LePage. ?This includes a significant increase in value for Maine specialty crops like blueberries and potatoes. The investments we are making will help strengthen markets for Maine grown crops and support continued growth of our natural resource economy.?

"These investments will benefit Maine farmers and consumers by funding research and marketing that is critical to the growth of Maine specialty crops,? said Commissioner Whitcomb. ?Selected projects will help growers make food safety enhancements, solve research needs for better pest management, make better informed decisions to increase profitability and sustainability and encourage the next generation to enter into commercial agriculture enterprises.

Maine?s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program for 2014 supports projects that:

1. Support Maine Specialty Crop Producers with Food Safety Audit Preparation
2. Increase the Nutrition Knowledge and Consumption of Specialty Crops by Maine Children and Adults
3. Enhance Consumer and Producer Awareness of Maine Maple Syrup
4. Improve Maine Potato Yields through Increased Rotation Lengths and Improved Rotation Crop Profitability
5. Support Maine Potato Integrated Pest Management
6. Enhance the Competitiveness of New England Specialty Crops through Regional Collaboration
7. Investigate Honeybee Exposure to Pesticides in Maine ? The question about Neonicotinoids
8. Increase the Food Safety Margin of Wild Blueberries through Improved Intervention Measures
9. Improve Integrated Pest Management Practices for Maine Wild Blueberry Growers
10. Build a Hops Industry in Maine

Since 2006, the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which is administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), has awarded close to $3 million dollars to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to support the growing number of Maine specialty crop producers who are selling into local and regional markets.

Visit http://www.ams.usda.gov/scbgp to read the 2014 project summaries and view a list of awards by location.

PROJECT ABSTRACTS: Supporting Maine Specialty Crop Producers with Food Safety Audit Preparation

To maintain and/or grow their markets, many Maine Specialty Crop Producers need to successfully be annually audited for Food Safety with GAP/GHP; Produce GAP?s Harmonized; or other third party audits. rowers need and want assistance preparing for these audits.

AgMatters LLC will hold group meetings and one-on-one meetings with growers in order to assist with this transition of audit expectations. They have many years of experience working with The Maine Vegetable and Small Fruit Growers Association and the Maine Pomological Society promoting food safety with specialty crop growers and markets in Maine. Some Maine food hubs are beginning to ask for this certification as well. It takes a great deal of time, effort and investment for growers to meet these expectations. This grant will enable AgMatters LLC to assist a minimum of 30 specialty crop growers as they tackle the Food Safety Audits that their markets demand. Success will be measured by the number of growers who are assisted with audit preparation and their feedback.

Project Partner Organization: AgMatters LLC will establish an agreement or contractual agreement with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to lead and execute this project.

Increasing the Nutrition Knowledge and Consumption of Specialty Crops by Maine Children and Adults

Nutritious and delicious specialty crops are being produced in every county of our state, but without nutrition education in the classroom and awareness building provided through school gardens many citizens will never purchase them. Maine Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC), Maine School Garden Network (MSGN), and FoodCorps will partner to educate Maine schoolchildren, teachers, parents and volunteers about specialty crops. The project will provide ready to use classroom lessons for teachers, hands-on experiential learning in the garden and direct links to Maine?s specialty crop producers. The effect will be increased consumption of specialty crops in the school cafeterias and purchase from local farmers? markets, farm stands and grocery stores.

Schools across Maine are initiating school garden programs (112 participate in the MSGN registry). Less than 5% of these schools currently have any staff that is compensated for work in these gardens. The FoodCorp program has assisted schools across the state since 2011 in garden education and local food procurement. MSGN provides monthly newsletters, easy to access information on the website, and school garden visits by the coordinator to answer questions and establish links to specialty crop farmers in the area. MAITC provides lessons, fieldtrips and professional development for classroom teachers. This project will help prepare the next generation to purchase more of Maine?s specialty crops, cook and preserve them in their kitchens and integrate them into everyday healthy meals.

Enhancing Consumer and Producer Awareness of Maine Maple Syrup

In 2013, Maine produced 450,000 gallons of syrup making it the third largest producing state in the United States. The value of this syrup is $23.9 million and is calculated with the understanding that Maine sells about 90% of its crop as bulk syrup rather than retail. Maine increased its numbers of licensed maple syrup producers from 349 in 2011 to 452 in 2014. Maple syrup production is expanding rapidly as both a commodity crop for some producers, and an integral economic addition for diversified Maine farm businesses. To capture the full retail value of the syrup, producers must address three components of retail excellence: the quality, safety and desirability of consuming maple syrup. Posters, rack cards, flyers, recipe booklets, media posts and marketing directed to the public will enable this. In addition to events aimed at the public, producers will receive educational assistance about proper food safety and certification processes to ensure that the highest quality products can be promoted to the public.

Improving Maine Potato Yields through Increased Rotation Lengths and Improved Rotation Crop Profitability.

Potato producers in Maine are in need of mechanisms in which to improve potato yields in order to sustain market viability. One such mechanism, as identified by the Maine potato industry?s ?Yield Initiative Taskforce,? is through the lengthening of rotations (increasing the time between potato croppings on a piece of land). Economic challenges arise under this scenario in Maine due to increasing times between potatoes (typically the main cash crop), lack of crop diversity in current potato-cropping portfolios, and, lastly, a lack of identified potential alternative crops, alternative markets for existing crops, and value-added processing potentials for new and existing rotation crops.

The goal of this project is to identify potential crops that could be grown in conjunction with potatoes that would allow producers improved economic returns, allowing growers to expand current rotation lengths while directly and indirectly improving potato yields. Through the iterative process of identifying climate suitable alternative crops, their market potential, value-added potential, and effects upon potatoes, we seek to improve the overall sustainability of the Maine potato industry for the coming years.

Maine Potato Integrated Pest Management

The management of insects, diseases, and other pests is integral in sustaining the $500 million Maine potato industry. Without reliable and sustainable pest management strategies, potato growers face the potential for severe crop losses resulting in significant reductions in profits and threats to long-term viability. To ensure an adequate response to the pest-related hazards confronting potato growers, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Potato Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program will provide support through field monitoring, disease forecasting, and distribution of educational materials. The program will employ 10 seasonal aides, maintain 200 specialized insect traps, coordinate a statewide network of electronic weather stations, and survey 75 potato fields on a weekly basis. Applied research regarding late blight spore morality and fungicide residual will aid in the development of a late blight decision support system and information delivery will be enhanced through the development of a late blight smartphone app. The economic impact of the Potato IPM Program on the Maine potato industry has averaged nearly $14 million for the past five years. With continued funding this program will provide growers with current information on specific and timely pest management strategies in order to minimize pesticide applications and maximize potato yield.

Enhancing the Competitiveness of New England Specialty Crops through Regional Collaboration

The Harvest New England Association, Inc., (HNE), established in 1992, is the only regional marketing association comprised of the New England State Departments of Agriculture. This wholesale-driven project, completed over three years, has three components which work towards the overall goal of increasing purchases and sales of regional specialty crops by New England wholesalers and increased awareness of regional specialty crops by consumers.

The projects are responding to needs expressed by the industry and the continued need for consumer education on the availability of New England grown specialty crops. The importance of regional wholesale buying for the purposes of sales to school, institutions, and restaurants is ever present and an increasing priority for each of the New England states. Producers, consumers, and wholesalers now need the education and the knowledge to advance to the next level. This will be accomplished by increasing the marketing skills, networking, public awareness, and buying opportunities of New England specialty crops.

Project Partner Organization: Harvest New England through the Connecticut Department of Agriculture

Honeybee Exposure to Pesticides in Maine ? The question about Neonicotinoids

Neonicotinoid insecticides are commonly used for control of many insect pests in several important Specialty Crops grown in Maine. These insecticides are relatively inexpensive, highly effective in controlling pests, provide persistent control, and have low human toxicity, as far as known. However, neonicotinoid insecticides are banned in many countries in the European Union (Stafford 2013), some landscapes in Canada, and are considered in some US states for a ban. In fact, in the fall of 2013 a bill was introduced into the Maine legislature to ban neonicotinoids temporarily in Maine. This bill was withdrawn before debate. This class of insecticides has been implicated in honeybee colony collapse and other deleterious effects on honeybees and some native bee declines. Bee pollinators are extremely important to the production of many Specialty Crops grown in Maine, specifically the small fruit, tree fruit and the cucurbit crops. However, the data is far from conclusive that these insecticides are the cause of honeybee declines. This is NOT to say that these insecticides are not harming bees. However, in Maine there is almost NO DATA on the exposure that honeybees experience with neonicotinoid insecticides, or for that matter any pesticides. The intent of this proposal is to collect data on honeybee exposure so that informed decisions can be made regarding bee exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides AND other pesticides in different regions and landscapes in Maine. An informed decision on risk due to pesticides cannot be made without information on potential exposure. Quantifiable exposure rate is the FUNDAMENTAL basis for all toxicological risk assessment.

Increasing the Food Safety Margin of Wild Blueberries through Improved Intervention Measures

The Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine proposes using $56,875 in Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) funding for the project ?Increasing the Food Safety Margin of Wild Blueberries through Improved Intervention Measures?. Dr. Vivian Wu, University of Maine Professor of Microbiology and Food Safety, will conduct research to develop effective intervention technologies using chemical washing (chlorine, chlorine dioxide (ClO2), lactic acid, and ozone) to reduce microbial loading on frozen processed wild blueberries. This proposal is expected to develop outcomes that increase the margin of food safety for Maine wild blueberries that will protect the consumer and the economic wellbeing of Maine?s 510 growers and the $250 million economic contribution of wild blueberries to the Maine economy. We propose to evaluate efficacy of sanitizers at short contact times in inactivating inoculated foodborne pathogens from the surface of wild blueberries. Blueberries will be inoculated with a pathogen cocktail. Individual chemical sanitizers and/or combinations will be applied with single spray or double spray equipment on the surface of berries. Treated blueberry samples will be frozen storage at -15?C for 1 week. Bacterial enumeration will be conducted. Expected results from enumeration should show a 5 log CFU (colony forming unit) pathogenic reduction when the optimal sanitation spraying system is established and spray sanitation measure is coupled with freezing. Successful outcomes of the project will provide wild blueberry processors with effective intervention methods to increase the food safety margin of the crop.

Improving Integrated Pest Management Practices for Maine Wild Blueberry Growers

The Wild Blueberry Commission (WBC) proposes to develop and implement an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program for weeds, diseases and insects for Maine?s 510 wild blueberry growers. This project will address acute, emerging, and important crop management needs that threaten Maine wild blueberry production by developing IPM program activities. If IPM practices and enhancements are not developed to address these challenges Maine?s 84.7 million pound wild blueberry crop, $64.7 million farm gate revenue and $250 million in annual Maine economic impact are at significant risk. This IPM program will conservatively prevent $32 million in annual grower revenue losses. This integrated proposal contains three focus areas. First: Evaluate herbicides with different modes of action to effectively control resistant weeds; Develop effective weed resistance strategies and educate growers on weed resistance management. Second: Use weather station network data and applied research to provide growers with disease forecasts to reduce crop loss and fungicide use; develop new IPM disease and insect management enhancements including: conduct a fungicide evaluation studies to provide data on mummy berry, Botrytis blossom blight, and leaf spot diseases to reduce fungicide resistance; and predictions on emergence of Spotted Wing Drosophila and Blueberry Fruit Fly. Third: Develop an IPM program for blueberry tip midge and determine the impact of wild blueberry damage from sap feeding insects resulting from current fertility and disease management practice.

Building a Hops Industry in Maine

Maine is a national leader in production of craft beers, yet most of this product is brewed from imported ingredients. Brewers have expressed a strong desire to brew their products with local hops, but presently there is little growing capacity for hops in Maine on a commercial scale. Development of a successful hops industry requires that we study which varieties are best adapted to Maine?s climate, and which have the most desirable brewing characteristics. Of special concern is resistance to downy mildew, a potentially devastating disease of hops plants. We will plant twelve varieties of hops at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Monmouth, and evaluate growth characteristics, including plant survival, productivity and disease resistance, such as tolerance to downy mildew. The varieties will be evaluated for brewing and flavoring qualities at the Food Science Laboratory at the University of Maine in Orono. Interested growers and brewers will visit the trials and learn appropriate growing techniques, pest management strategies and variety characteristics. Results will be shared with growers and brewers through workshops, fact sheets and videos posted online. This project will determine which hops varieties will be best suited for Maine brewers and educate interested growers in sustainable hops production.