NC-FAR Presents a Webinar Series on
USDA Research Investments 

Please join us for a 3-part Lunch-n-Learn webinar series designed to help you become acquainted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's research services, understand what they do, and why they are important. Each webinar will cover a different agency--NIFA, ARS, and ERS/NASS. You may register for each webinar separately and attend one or all three.

• Economic Research Service (ERS)/National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)  - Tuesday, April 6 at 1:00 Eastern
• National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA recorded webinar)
  
• Agricultural Research Service (ARS recorded webinar)
  

Economic Research Service (ERS)/
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
Tuesday, April 6 at 1:00 Eastern

The last webinar in this series focuses on the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). ERS engages in relevant, timely, and objective research that anticipates trends and emerging issues in agriculture, food, the environment, and rural America and conducts high-quality, objective economic research to inform and enhance public and private decision making. NASS provides timely, accurate, and essential statistics in service to U.S. agriculture through the hundreds of surveys it conducts every year and the reports it prepares, covering every aspect of U.S. agriculture. Through important work using these two organizations’ outputs, we wish to show the value these organizations bring to the U.S. economy.  Join the webinar to learn more from our speakers Spiro Stefanou, ERS Administrator; Hubert Hamer, NASS Administrator; and Barb Glenn, NASDA CEO.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
ARS recorded webinar

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the government’s premier agriculture research institution. ARS scientists conduct intramural research at facilities across the country and around the world. ARS also supports research facilities important to academic and industry researchers. ARS addresses agricultural challenges in the areas of Natural Resources and Sustainable Agricultural Systems; Nutrition, Food Safety, and Quality; Crop Production and Protection; and Animal Production and Protection. Join this webinar to hear about ARS from Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, ARS Administrator, and the important work of two scientists who work closely with ARS: Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, John Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging Cardiovascular Nutrition Team, Lead Scientist, and Dr. Russell Jessup, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
NIFA recorded webinar

The first NCFAR webinar in this series focuses on the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the extramural research agency at USDA, which partners with land-grant institutions and non-land grant colleges of agriculture to administer federal funding to address agricultural and food issues impacting people’s daily lives and the nation’s future. The NIFA portfolio includes research, education, and the Cooperative Extension System (Extension). The extramural research that NIFA supports is instrumental in developing crop varieties for climate adaptation, ensuring disease resistance, assessing soil health and growing parameters, and developing new innovations. Extension which works with farmers, ranchers, and communities of all sizes, catalyzes adaption to changing technology, improvements in nutrition and food safety, preparedness for and respond to emergencies, and better the environment. 4H provides experiences for young people to learn by doing.  The mixture of capacity funding and competitive funding is essential to ensure that both local, state, rural, urban, and regional priorities are addressed along with the national priorities outlined by the Federal government via the flagship competitive grants program, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). NIFA is a cohesive institute designed to manage the needs of diverse and inclusive local communities as well as a dynamic and burgeoning globally competitive agricultural sector. There is much to learn about NIFA, come join us webinar on Tuesday, March 16th at 1 PM ET for more information. The webinar will be 45 minutes. Director Carrie Castille, Ph.D. will be one of the speakers.