WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., is reminding producers that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has made more than $160 million available through six competitive programs of the Agriculture and Food Re-search Initiative, which supports research, education and extension projects that address key challenges affecting U.S. agriculture producers.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Agriculture Committee and conference committee that crafted the final version of the farm bill, Hoeven worked to reauthorize and secure support for such programs at USDA in the 2014 farm bill and annual appropriations bills.
The senator encouraged interested applicants to review NIFA's request for applications for information about specific program requirements and deadlines.
The fiscal year 2015 USDA funding bill provides $1.13 billion for the Agriculture Research Service and $1.3 billion for NIFA, increases of $10 million and $12.4 million over FY2014, respectively. The NIFA funding includes a $9 million increase
