Course 5 Additional Resources

Course 5: Innovative Production, Course Materials

Course 5: Innovative Production course slides

Course 5: Innovative Production course transcript

Course 5: Innovative Production course vocabulary

Course 5: Innovative Production course action plan

Course 5: Innovative Production, Additional Resources

1. Resources from the USDA's Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production:
   • The Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production’s webpage has more information about the office and its programs
   • The USDA's Innovative Production at a Glance brochure includes more information about innovative production and USDA support for this kind of agriculture
   • The USDA's Urban Agriculture at a Glance brochure describes urban agriculture and USDA support available for urban growers
     
2. Examples and more information about innovative production techniques:
   • Read more about the Three Sisters Indigenous planting technique from the USDA's National Agriculture Library
     
   • The SPIN Farming homepage
   • A blog post about getting started with SPIN Farming from Cornell's Small Farms Program
   • Instructions on getting started with the Square Foot Gardening Method
     
   • An overview of CEA and indoor, vertical farming from UC Davis
   • A 2019 USDA report covering Research and Development Potentials in Indoor Agriculture and Sustainable Urban Ecosystems
   • An in-depth overview of hydroponics, including specific hydroponic practices and techniques, from Agritecture Consulting
   • For a deep dive, check out this Best Practices Guide: Water Circularity for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Operations from the Resources Innovation Institute
     
   • Watch urban farmer Yemi Amu’s journey starting an aquaponics operation in New York City
   • Learn more about insect farming by checking out the Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming’s homepage
   • Check out a case study of US-based insect agriculture by reaching Chef Joseph Yoon’s webpage. Chef Yoon is an edible insect ambassador based in New York City.

   • Read more about the agrihood projects mentioned in this course as reported by Modern Farmer and Morning Ag Clips

3. USDA programs mentioned in this course which support innovative production:
   • An overview of the NRCS’s Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
   • An overview of RMA’s controlled environment insurance program
   • An overview of the FSA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
   • An overview of the FSA’s Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP)
   • Learn more about the USDA funded Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education’s (SARE) national grants and education program
   • In general, the USDA has provided both financial and technical assistance for innovative production.
     • Financial assistance: the USDA provided $11.3 million through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Urban, Indoor, and Other Emerging Agricultural Production Research, Education, and Extension Initiative. The USDA provides financial assistance to innovative production through several of its programs such as the FNS Farm to School Grant Program, the OUAIP Urban and Innovative Production and Compost and Food Waste Reduction Grant Program, the Rural Development Healthy Food Financing Initiative, the NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant Programs, the NIFA Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program, the FS Urban and Community Forestry Program and the Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement 2501 Program. The USDA Risk Management Agency also created a pilot program for Controlled Environment risk, an inventory-based program that offers insurance for destruction orders for plant diseases and contamination introduced from the environment even though all biosecurity protocols were followed.
     • Technical assistance: The Agriculture Research Service has created technical assistance and research through its Grand Challenge for Controlled Environment Agriculture which includes a workgroup and yearly joint CEA conference with DOE, NASA, USDA, and university and commercial stakeholders.  USDA also produces and funds the production of technical Reports and Resources on innovative production such as “Research and Development Potentials in Indoor Agriculture and Sustainable Urban Ecosystems Workshop Report,” “Trends, Insights, and Future Prospects for Production in Controlled Environment Agriculture and Agrivoltaics Systems,” and the “Unified Website for Biotechnology Regulation."
       
4. Searching for more examples of innovative production from around the world? Check out this blog post from Food Tank for more.