The Northeast Extension Risk Management Education (ERME) Center at the University of Delaware recently awarded 10 grants for educational projects. Supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture, these grants fund outreach that provides training and tools for producers to establish new risk management strategies. The goal is to strengthen the economic viability of agribusinesses.

The 2018 grant recipients are: Tim Biello of American Farmland Trust in New York; Leslie Forstadt of the University of Maine and Elaine Bourne of Volunteers of Northern New England in Maine; Mariane Kiraly of Cornell University; Caroline Selle of Future Harvest, Inc. in Maryland; Seth Wilner of the University of New Hampshire; Neith Little and Paul Goeringer of University of Maryland; and Mark Cannella, Heather Darby and Vernon Grubinger of the University of Vermont.

“Our center is proud to be a steward of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture funding that ultimately helps agricultural producers and their families manage the many types of risk that affect their businesses,” said center director Laurie Wolinski. “The educators who receive these grants are innovative and passionate; they deliver timely and relevant agricultural education programs that producers want and need.”

Agricultural risk management involves selecting tools and approaches that reduce the adverse effects of the uncertainties of weather, yields, prices, credit, government policies, global markets and other factors, including human resource and legal issues, that can cause wide swings in farm income or threaten the economic viability of a farm or ranch.

The national ERME Competitive Grants Program is conducted annually by the four regional ERME Centers. Eligible entities include any public or private organization with a demonstrated capacity to develop and deliver results/outcome-based risk management education to agricultural producers and their families. The 2019 request for applications was issued Sept. 17 with applications due Nov. 15. For more information, please contact Laurie Wolinski at lgw@udel.edu.

About Northeast Extension Risk Management Education (ERME) Center

The Northeast ERME Center is funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), with the mission of educating America’s farmers and ranchers to manage the unique risks of producing food for the world’s table. The center serves the region that includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Since 2002, the center has funded more than 400 projects in this region.