NIFA gathers stakeholder input and information to identify priorities for new grant programs and/or to modify priorities for existing grant programs, as described in their Requests for Applications (RFA). A stakeholder is anyone who conducts or uses agricultural research, education, and extension. Input is used to meet the requirements of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998.

NIFA gathers input from any individual, and specifically from commodity groups, industry, inter-agency Federal work groups, the National Academy of Sciences, non-governmental organizations, scientific societies, and university partners.

Stakeholder input is obtained in several ways. Input is solicited in all NIFA RFAs. NIFA also conducts stakeholder listening sessions or workshops, some as stand-alone events, some in conjunction with national scientific meetings. NIFA staff also gathers stakeholder information from other government and private sector events and publications.

Stakeholder Input Sources: Natural Resources & Environment

Past:

• Presidential Priority for 2009: American Competitiveness Initiative

• A Science Roadmap for Agriculture, Update 2006,National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant College (NASULGC) and Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP). Discussion of the scientific feasibility to meet the needs of diverse groups of stakeholders.

• A Science Roadmap for Agriculture Survey, May 2005, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant College (NASULGC) and Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP). Survey of diverse stakeholder groups to develop the priorities for the next five years.

• A White Paper Report of the LTAR-EE Workshop. Long-Term Agricultural Research (LTAR): A Research, Education, and Extension Imperative.

• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Stakeholder Hearing Transcript - Hearing held on September 10, 2008 at the NIFA Waterfront Building.

• Agriculture Water Security Listening Session: Final Report. Issues, interventions, steps and potential partners for USDA's efforts in agricultural water security.

• BFRDP Stakeholder Input Meeting. Transcript of stakeholder hearing on the Beginning Farmer and Ranchers Development Program (BFRDP) held on October 27, 2008 in Washington, DC.

• Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources Research (CENR): Air Quality Research Subcommittee. Information on how science should enhance the effectiveness and productivity of U.S. air quality research and improve information exchange between research and policy makers.

• Evolution of Weediness and Invasiveness: Charting the Course for Weed Genomics. Report from Weed Science Society of America's Annual Meeting.

• Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds (FICMNEW). Assessment of the gap between Federal agency invasive plant management and science activities.

• Forestry Research Advisory Council. Report to the Secretary of Agriculture.

• Frontiers in Soil Science Research Workshop. Identification of emerging research opportunities and expected advances in soil science, particularly in the integration of biological, geological, chemical, and information technology sciences.

• Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences, National Research Council. Exploration of the most important areas of environmental research for the next generation.

• Invasive Pest Species: Impacts on Agricultural Production, Natural Resources, and the Environment, Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. Definition of non-native pests and identification of those most threatening to the United States.

• Invasive Plant Species and the New Bioeconomy. Report from Weed Science Society of America's Annual Meeting.

• Invasive Species Council (NISC). Coordination of complementary, cost-efficient and effective Federal activities regarding invasive species.

• National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board. Organization contributing to effective federal agricultural research, education and education programs through broad stakeholder feedback and sound science in its ongoing role as advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture.

• The First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR): The North American Carbon Budget and Implications for the Global Carbon Cycle. Synthesis and integration of North American carbon budget and its context within the global carbon cycle.

• Western Governors' Association. Water needs and strategies for a sustainable future.

• Workshop on Agricultural Air Quality: State of the Science. Compilation of papers and oral presentations on issues of importance to agricultural air quality.

 

See all stakeholder input pages