USDA and Education Host White House Rural Council Meeting, Sign Interagency Agreement to Promote Career Pathways and Postsecondary Education

[from the US DEPT OF EDUCATION] APRIL 18, 2012

Contact:  

 U.S. Education Department Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov 

USDA Office of Communications, 202-720-4623

The U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture have teamed up to enhance agricultural education and related programs that promote postsecondary and career pathways, including teaching, according to an interagency agreement to advance agricultural education. U.S. Education and Agriculture Secretaries Arne Duncan and Tom Vilsack announced the agreement today during a White House Rural Council meeting with local educators at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

“Agricultural education is central to the future of American prosperity,” Secretary Duncan said. “Many Americans may not realize that agriculture supports 1 in 12 jobs across the nation. For the U.S. economy to continue to rebound and grow, agriculture has to help lead the way.”

Duncan added: “Agricultural educators face unique challenges—but they also can tap into unique strengths within their tight-knit communities. Agricultural education is very much about the jobs of the future—and not a backwards-looking curriculum to preserve the past.”

“American agriculture makes incredible contributions to the health of our economy and the strength of our nation as a whole. That’s why it’s so important to recruit the best and brightest of the next generation to pursue careers in agriculture,” said Vilsack. “USDA works each day to help educate, train and support the scientists, farmers and ranchers we’ll need to provide America’s families with the food and energy they need. This partnership with the Department of Education will help us offer even greater opportunities for young people who want to dedicate their lives to agriculture, food and natural resources.”

The agreement calls for the Departments to exchange a variety of information and participate in joint activities, including webinars, conferences, outreach materials, and helping each other identify industry-validated standards, assessments, best practices, accreditations, and certifications. The Departments also will work jointly to find and use pathways and career programs of study that can prepare students for rewarding careers related to agriculture, food and natural resources.

Risk Management Education and Outreach Partnership Program

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Synopsis

Full Announcement

Application

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The synopsis for this grant opportunity is detailed below, following this paragraph. This synopsis contains all of the updates to this document that have been posted as of 04/12/2012 . If updates have been made to the opportunity synopsis, update information is provided below the synopsis.If you would like to receive notifications of changes to the grant opportunity click send me change notification emails . The only thing you need to provide for this service is your email address. No other information is requested.

Any inconsistency between the original printed document and the disk or electronic document shall be resolved by giving precedence to the printed document.

Document Type:	Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number:	RMA-RME-OR-2012
Opportunity Category:	Discretionary
Posted Date:	Apr 12, 2012
Creation Date:	Apr 12, 2012
Original Closing Date for Applications:	May 24, 2012
Current Closing Date for Applications:	May 24, 2012
Archive Date:	Jun 23, 2012
Funding Instrument Type:	Cooperative Agreement
Category of Funding Activity:	Education
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards:	120
Estimated Total Program Funding:	$3,000,000
Award Ceiling:	$99,999
Award Floor:	$20,000
CFDA Number(s):	10.459  --  Commodity Partnerships for Small Agricultural Risk Management Education Sessions
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement:	No

Eligible Applicants

Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"
 

Additional Information on Eligibility:

Agency Name

Risk Management Education

Description

The purpose of this competitive cooperative partnership agreement program is to deliver crop insurance education and risk management training to U.S. agricultural producers to assist them in identifying and managing production, marketing, legal, financial and human risk. 

Link to Full Announcement

RME and Outreach 2012 RFA