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agInnovation Northeast Call – July 17, 2025, 8:00 am ET (via Zoom)

In attendance:  Brian Farkas (Delaware), Lisa Townson (URI), Vagner Benedito (UMDES), Beth Gugino (PSU), Jake Bowman (Delaware), Troy Ott (PSU), Anton Bekkerman (UNH), Jorge Atiles (WVU), Josh Kohut (Rutgers), Lynne McLandsborough (UMASS), Margaret Smith (Cornell), Tsakani Ngomane (UDC), Tyler Messerschmidt (Maine), Chris Smart (Cornell), Eric Bishop Von Wettberg (UVM), Rick Rhodes, David Leibovitz

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  • BAA Summer Leadership meeting recap

    • agInnovation Northeast will convene the Northeast Administrative Heads (Deans) to discuss interest in organizing and meeting regularly as a group, like other regions.

    • Research Facilities Act has been funded at $1.125B over nine years

    • Specialty Crops Research Initiative increased by $175M

    • NIFA Requests for Applications expected to be released “soon” per institute leadership.There will be a tight turnaround time for these applications – anticipated 14 to 30 days at most.Review process is intended to be expedited and handled differently, more in line with manuscript review – no panel discussion

    • NIFA Director Jaye Hamby encourages all institutions to invite him to their campuses – he is filling his schedule with visits.Contact agInnovation NE or Faith Peppers (NIFA Communications) directly to request a visit from the Director.

 

  • NIFA Reporting System Deferrals/Rejections

    • NIFA staff have called institutions with guidance for Directors on Plan of Work submissions

    • Previous years’ Plans of Work have been flagged for some institutions.“Underserved populations” was flagged as non-compliant language for one institution

    • Two institutions have had their annual reports approved earlier than it has been in recent years

    • One institution had its plan of work deferred due to some flagged noncompliant language

    • NIFA has a backlog of awards - ~80 awards are likely to be cancelled due to noncompliance issues

  • Some institutions have heard they will be held accountable for compliance with future Executive Orders.

  • Some institutions have shared some problematic language as identified by NIFA, verbally, on a case-by-case basis.A written list will not be provided, and the words will also vary and grow in numbers.Here are examples of problematic language provided by a director

    • Underrepresented

    • Underserved producers

    • Disadvantaged

    • Climate change (use decadal weather)

    • Low income population (use with caution)

    • Vulnerable population/communities

    • Socially disadvantaged

    • Overburdened communities

    • Social justice

    • Academically disadvantaged

  • A similar list from another institution is listed below:

    • Diversity

    • Equity

    • Inclusion

    • DEI

    • DEIA

    • Environmental Justice

    • Underrepresented producers

    • Underserved communities

    • Socially disadvantaged producers

    • Socially vulnerable (and related terms)

    • Justice40 / J40

    • Overburdened communities

  • This is the reasoning we received via email from NIFA as the potential reasons:

    • Official Comments:
      This Plan of Work has been deferred for revision and resubmission.  Common reasons for deferral are incomplete coverage of both research and Extension, being out of alignment with department priorities and Executive Orders, or inadequate methodology or details.   Continue to review page 44 in the NIFA Reporting System User Guide | NIFA (usda.gov) on the “Plan of Work.”  

 

  • Multistate Activities Committee

  • Lee Hecker has been nominated as Administrative Adviser of NE2101 (Eastern White Pine)

  • Beth Gugino has been nominated to serve on the Northeast Multistate Activities Committee

  • Beth Gugino has been nominated to serve on the National Research Support Project Review Committee

    • All of the above nominations were approved unanimously.

  • Four new Multistate Projects are up for renewal in 2026:

    • NEERA2104 Northeast Region Technical Committee on Integrated Pest Management (Beth K Gugino)

    • NECC2103 High tunnel specialty crop production (Anton Bekkerman)

    • NE2140 Sustainable Management of Nematodes in Plant and Soil Health Systems (Anton Bekkerman)

    • NE2101 Eastern White Pine Health and Responses to Environmental Changes (Lee Hecker)

 

  • Other Business / Chat messages

 

  • Infrastructure – it will be critical for the region to set up a coordinated regional effort to ensure funding is made available using a process that is fair to all institutions

 

  • AI and Ag Technology Event – there is still interest in holding a meeting, virtual or physical, in the fall

 

  • Question:Is the match requirement set in stone? I thought it’s still under question…

 

  • Comment:I did hear that it is likely they will entertain smaller (planning) proposals in the first year.

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