The AgriCluster Resilience and Expansion Project

Beginning in 2020, NERCRD invested in this project with the approval of its Board of Directors. The AgriCluster Retention and Expansion (ACRE) Program is a strategic planning program for farmer-led marketing and environmental projects by the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, which is affiliated with Cornell University. ACRE provides training […]

Inaugural Maryland Agritourism Conference reflects increasing interest in agritourism

December 15, 2023

The first Maryland Agritourism Conference drew strong attendance from across the state and beyond, and included producers, non-profits, Extension professionals, students, and government officials including Maryland’s Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks, who delivered a keynote.

National Extension Agritourism Working Group Meeting

January 10, 2024 at 2pm ET: Join the Agritourism Working Group of the National Extension Tourism Network (NET) for a facilitated discussion about sharing resources and building partnerships. This virtual gathering is an important step for developing a national network of agritourism service providers and a central location for housing the latest research and best resources.

Enhancing the Viability of Underserved Small Farms and Rural Communities Using Insights from Emerging Network Science

The NERCRD brought together partners including Delaware State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Tennessee State University for a competitive USDA capacity building grant. This project will provide the opportunity to expand networks for small farmers in Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. This project team has produced a substantial training manual for Extension Educators […]

National Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Center (NARDeP)

The National Agricultural & Rural Development Policy Center was organized by the Regional Rural Development Centers to provide information about the increasingly contentious and complex agricultural and rural development U.S. policy issues, primarily in the form of briefs authored by national experts. Signature areas included energy and the environment, food systems development, and self-employment and […]

Linking Health Care Reform and Economic Development in the Agriculture Sector

Researchers and Extension professionals engaged with this project explored how health insurance decisions affect farm and ranch families. Activities included interviewing farmers, hosting webinars, analyzing policy impacts, and developing tools for professionals who work with farm families.

AMS Grant Writing Workshops and Technical Assistance (AMSTA)

Launched in 2014, this project funded by USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and National Institutes of Food and Agriculture shared knowledge through in-person grant writing workshops and additional tools and materials provided through the AMSTA website. In Phase I, 137 state trainings focusing on effective grant-writing practices, with an emphasis on USDA’s Farmers Market and Local […]

Industry Clusters and the Location of Agriculture: Establishing a Theoretical Base for Economic Development Practice

Production agriculture has largely been considered to be beyond the scope of cluster theory. As a result, key insights from the theory have not been fully leveraged for agricultural and rural development practice. This study, led by NERCRD TAC Chair Paul Gottlieb, Rutgers University, examined clustering behavior in production agriculture. Using case study literature and […]

USDA AMS Local and Regional Food Systems COVID-19 Rapid Response

NERCRD partnered with the University of Kentucky and Colorado State University on a one-year Cooperative Agreement with the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service to research the impacts, adaptations and innovations of COVID-19 on U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems nationally. This highly engaged, real-time project focuses on capturing rapid responses of initial and ongoing COVID-19-related changes […]

Enhancing Food Security in the Northeast through Regional Food Systems (EFSNE)

After seven years of analyzing a number of consumption, distribution, production, and other aspects of the Northeast US food system, EFSNE researchers made significant gains in understanding the extent to which the region can increase production of certain foods, and potentially better meet the food needs of low-income populations in the locations they studied. Findings […]