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Agricultural and Food Law Consortium

 

Collaborative Funding Opportunity:  Call for Letters of Interest

 

The Agricultural & Food Law Consortium (Consortium) is seeking formal collaboration with individuals, organizations, and institutions to conduct research and outreach activities that support the delivery of objective agricultural and food law research and information to the nation’s agricultural community.  The announcement below sets out information pertaining to funding availability, the application process and timelines and other related information.  Questions and inquiries about this opportunity can be directed to Harrison Pittman, Director, National Agricultural Law Center, at hmpittm@uark.edu.

 

Key dates:

 

February 12, 2016 (by 5:00 PM EST):  Letters of Interest Due

February 29, 2016:  Notification of applicant selection for full proposal

April 8, 2016 (by 5:00 PM EST): Full proposals due

May 1, 2016:  Notification of selected proposals

June 1, 2016:  Project work period begins

 

Consortium Background:

 

The Agricultural & Food Law Consortium is a national, multi-institutional collaboration designed to enhance and expand the development and delivery of authoritative, timely, and objective agricultural and food law research and information.  Consortium members are the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, the National Sea Grant Law Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, the Center for Agricultural and Shale Law (CASL) at Penn State Law, and the Agricultural & Resource Law Program at The Ohio State University.  Agricultural law and food law is broadly defined to include law related to land-based food, fiber, and energy production systems, as well as seafood and marine-based aquaculture.

Information produced by the Consortium is available free of charge to the nation’s vast agricultural community of producers, attorneys, state and federal policymakers, Cooperative Extension Service professionals, and others at the local, state, regional, and national levels.   As part of its mission, the Agricultural & Food Law Consortium hosts monthly webinars on timely and important agricultural and food law topics, provides outreach to stakeholder groups throughout the United States, and supports and organizes conferences such as the annual Mid-South Agriculture and Environmental Law Conference. The Consortium also serves as the management team for the eXtension Ag & Food Law Community of Practice.  For more information, visit the Consortium’s website at: http://nationalaglawcenter.org/consortium/.

 

2016 Funding Priorities:

 

Through this initiative, the Consortium seeks formal collaboration with individuals, organizations, and institutions on a range of agricultural and food law topics.  To be considered, applicants must submit Letters of Interest for each proposed project by 5:00 EST on February 12, 2016.  Letters of Interest may pertain to any topic related to agricultural and food law.  However, priority consideration will be given to Letters of Interest that focus on the following topical areas:

  • Agricultural finance, including creditors rights and agricultural bankruptcy;
  • Agricultural employment, including foreign workers;
  • Big data/drone issues;
  • Food safety; and
  • Environmental law

Priority consideration will be given to Letters of Interest that incorporate the development of content for the eXtension Ag & Food Law Community of Practice, including collaboration of the Ag & Food Law CoP with other eXtension Communities of Practice.

The Consortium disseminates information through a variety of outreach activities, including web-based resources, webinars, written work product, and/or in-person conferences.  Examples of the type of projects that will receive priority consideration for the 2016 initiative include:

  • Preparing PowerPoint slides and appropriate reference materials for a one-hour webinar to be included in the Consortium webinar series;
  • Drafting white papers, fact sheets, and guidance documents on discrete legal topics, including practical information and suggestions useful to producers and attorneys;
  • Drafting handbooks, manuals, or guides on relevant topics, including practical information and suggestions useful to producers and attorneys; and
  • Organizing and hosting legal education programs for attorneys and non-attorneys.

The estimated range for individual project funding awards is $500 – $10,000. Funding levels will vary based on the needs of selected projects. The funding mechanism (i.e., honorarium, grant, cost reimbursement, or other appropriate method) that is implemented will be determined following selection of proposals based on all applicable university policies and the proposal design.

 

Letter of Interest Requirements and Submission Deadline:

 

Letters of Interest are limited to two pages.  Letters of Interest must set forth the specific interests and relevant expertise of the applicant(s), a narrative description of proposed project, anticipated month-by-month timelines for deliverables, and proposed funding needs. In addition, Letters of Interest must clearly indicate the agricultural and food law topic that will be addressed and the specific type of deliverable(s) that will be undertaken during the course of the project.  Letters of Interest should assume that a project selected for funding will begin June 1, 2016.  It is preferred that proposed projects conclude by December 15, 2016, but can be proposed to conclude up through March 31, 2017.

Letters of Interest must be submitted via email in letter format (PDF) to Harrison Pittman at hmpittm@uark.edu by 5:00 PM eastern on February 12, 2016.

 

Additional Information:

 

Each Letter of Interest will be evaluated for the purpose of selecting the applicants that will be invited to submit full proposals. Invitations for full proposals will be sent via email to the applicant on or before February 29, 2016.

Requirements for the full proposals will be included with the invitation to submit full proposals.  Full proposals are due by 5:00 PM eastern on April 8, 2016. 

 

A pdf version of this request is located here.