Agro-Envronmental Technology Grant Program

Awardees for 1996 Projects

1. Massachusetts Specialty Foods Association, Inc. - The Pride of Massachusetts. Will unify the marketing strategies of 200 specialty product producers into one wholesale distribution system. $35,000

2. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. and UMass Cranberry Experiment Station
Nitrogen Fertilizer Use and Management In Cranberry Systems. A fact sheet on soil monitoring for seasonal nitrogen, needs and a Best Management Practices Guide regarding nitrogen management in cranberry production will be produced and distributed. $10,000

3. Barnstable County Cooperative Extension - Cultivation of Beach Plums for Commercial Fruit Production.  Goal is to develop cultivation practices and a more productive variety of beach plum. $15,080

4 UMass, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Reeser C. Manley - Assessing the Need to Pre-Adapt Woody Plant Roots for Successful Establishment in Wetland Landscapes. This study will provide producers of wetland plants with new information on best production practices and how to modify conventional production practices to produce wetland plants. $5,581

5. Berkshire Conservation District - Investigating the Feasibility of a Growers' Cooperative in Berkshire County, MA. Will establish needed investigation and analysis of the financial potential for a wholesale producer coop. $24,000

6. Franklin County Community Development Corporation - UPCOUNTRY Retail Outlet for Farm and Specialty Food Products. A program to evaluate the effectiveness of various advertising approaches to determine what best motivates consumers to seek out value added farm/natural resource products. $8,000

7. Massachusetts Cider Guild - An Educational Project for Cider Mill Certification. A project to educate cider producers and town Board of Health inspectors on up to date processing methods and to create a certified label. $3,000

8. The Resource, Inc. - Commercial Development of Surf Clam Aquaculture for Exposed Massachusetts Waters. Will demonstrate a successful method for cultivating an entirely new product, a two inch surf clam, that can be grown in
one season. $35,000 Printable File Report

9. Burt & Sons, Inc. - Installation of Vegetative Filter Strips and Artificial Wetlands for Silage and Manure Effluent Filtration. A demonstration and education project to analyze the effectiveness vegetative filter strips to treat silage leachate and
barnyard runoff. $18,935

10. UMass, Plant and Soil Sciences, Douglas Cox - Subirrigation for Watering, Fertilizing and Reducing Runoff in Massachusetts Greenhouses.  This project will evaluate and promote the adoption of subirrigation as a method of irrigating greenhouse crops. $5050

11. Bruce A. Peters - ATACOSPA Aquaculture Project. Demonstrating new subtidal production methods, this project intends to produce hard shell clams at accelerated grow-out rates while eliminating the negative visual impacts of conventional operations. $16,000

12. UMass, Department of Entomology, Roy Van Driesche. Training Poinsettia Growers in Use of Biological Controls. Establishes a cost share and training program to use biological controls in greenhouses. $13,495