Projects Selected to Receive Specialty Crop Funds. Specialty crop projects across Idaho soon will receive funding via the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.  Here’s ISDA’s Lacey Menasco concerning the amount of money given out. “The State of Idaho allocated $844,305.86 to projects that will enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.” 

Twenty-four grant applications were submitted seeking a total of nearly $1.8 million.  A panel of industry representatives reviewed and scored all applications and provided input to ISDA for final selection.  Twelve projects were selected for funding, including research, promotional, and educational activities for such commodities as potatoes, beans, onions, hops, wine, nursery, and peas and lentils.

“We are now in the fourth year of this program and are starting to see great results as some of the projects from 2009 and 2010 are wrapping up,” ISDA Director Celia Gould said. “We’ve funded a total of 48 projects and have been able to invest over $3.5 million of federal funding into Idaho’s specialty crop industry. These projects also leverage nearly $2 million of matching funds.  This is a great opportunity to put federal grant dollars to work in Idaho to enhance the competitiveness of our specialty crop industry.”