Specialty Crop Block Grant Recipients for Fiscal Year 2009

  1. $20,079 - Leveraging Social Media as Farmers’ Market Promotional Tools Partner with University of Missouri – Columbia to identify and communicate easy-to-understand, easy-to-use social media strategies and best practices for marketing specialty crops that farmers’ market organizers and vendors can adopt to begin or enhance a social media presence.
  2. $35,000 - Educating from Seed to Market: Sustainable Heirloom Tomato & Lettuce Partner with EarthDance to enhance the competiveness of sustainably-grown heirloom vegetables by increasing the number of producers through an innovative apprenticeship program based in St. Louis, Missouri.
  3. $50,000 - Assessing the Impact of Canopy Architecture, Microclimate & Cluster Exposure on Norton Grape – Partner with the University of Missouri to assess the impacts of row orientation and canopy-management practices on Norton grapes in three regionally district Norton vineyards in Missouri through canopy architecture assessment and point quadrant analysis.
  4. $6,305 - Introducing High Tunnel Tech. & Enhancing Food Safety Practices Partner with Webb City Farmers’ Market to improve the success of immigrant farmers through workshops that demonstrate high tunnel technology and food safety practices.
  5. $3,500 - Dent County Garden’n Grow Program - Partner with the University of Missouri Cooperative Extension to educate and train youth in gardening skills and food entrepreneurship techniques, introduction to healthy cooking, nutrition, and volunteer service.
  6. $9,185 - Economic Analysis of a Paddock Vacuum for Mechanical Harvest of Chestnut Trees – Partner with the University of Missouri to evaluate a commercially available paddock vacuum and elucidate the costs of this harvester with estimates on payback periods, labor reduction savings, operational costs, and returns to investment in order to help growers make informed decisions regarding the expansion or establishment of chestnut production operations.
  7. $12,669 - Local Foods Systems: General Fruit and Vegetable Production - Partner with the University of Missouri Extension to educate current and potential farmers about transitioning into specialty crop production for local consumption.
  8. $6,210 - Optimizing an inexpensive Trap & Lure for Monitoring Green June Beetle Partner with the University of Missouri to develop and optimize a prototype of a Green June Beetle monitoring trap for specialty crop producers.
  9. $10,000 - South Central Ozarks Produce Express - Floating Farms - Partner with South Central Ozarks Produce Express to address the needs of small, independent specialty crop producers in Texas, Ripley, Howell, and Oregon Counties in Missouri through retail-readiness training and transportation.
  10. $3,619 - High Tunnel Production of Green Beans & Sweet Pea Cut Flowers - Partner with the University of Missouri to demonstrate that out of season green beans can be grown in Missouri using high tunnels, to assess consumer demand for out-of-season locally grown green beans; and to evaluate the economic viability of inter-cropping sweet peas with green beans to produce out of season sweet pea cut flowers for local floral shops.
  11. $31,500 - River Hills Elderberry Producers Growers Recruitment Project - Missouri River Hills Elderberry Producers - Partner with the River Hills Elderberry Producers to introduce farmers and agricultural landowners to the benefits of raising elderberries and attract them to educational meetings about the benefits of cooperative membership and elderberry culture.
  12. $15,750 - Developing a Strategy for Chestnut Weevil Monitoring - Partner with the University of Missouri to determine whether plant volatiles from chestnuts can be utilized as an effective attractant for the chestnut weevil.
  13. $38,180.89 - Positioning Missouri Vegetable Growers Association (MVGA) to lead the Industry in Growth and Competitiveness - Partner with the Missouri Vegetable growers Association to continue education and outreach through increased technological capabilities, promotion of workshops and scholarship, increased emphasis on food safety, and further collaboration activities with academic and extension organizations.
  14. $27,733.69 - Missouri Department of Agriculture performs pre-award and post-award activities in order to administrate the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program funding and ensure the state agency and sub-awardees abide by Federal and State requirements and regulations.