Specialty Crops Program

Program awards grants to farmers and marketing organizations.

The Specialty Crops Program (SCP) at CSU came to life in 2001 when a USDA Block grant of $1.5 million was routed through the Colorado Department of Agriculture and awarded to the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. The program objective to increase opportunities for Colorado growers has been approached from a number of angles. Grower Research and Education Grants have allowed Colorado farmers and marketing organizations to receive grantsto explore new crops, improve production methods, and develop marketing strategies. To date, 53 grants have been awarded, totaling over $400,000. Grant recipients receive technical support from the SCP office and CSU affiliates who
act as project technical advisors.

The Rocky Mountain Small Organic Farm Project (RMSOFP) was initiated at CSU’s Horticulture Field Research Center last year to provide growers with examples of production systems appropriate for this region, and develop research projects reflecting the needs of this growing segment of the agricultural community. An out-growth of RMSOFP has been a CSA (community supported agriculture) which provides students with internship opportunities in intensive organic vegetable production and marketing, and provides 50 families of CSU faculty and staff with
weekly deliveries of fruit, flowers and vegetables from May through October.

The USDA recently funded a multiyear project titled“Differentiating Small Farm Produce Offerings through Nutritionally Superior Cultivars, Marketing, and Extension Programs” in which 10 cultivars each of 7 vegetables grown under organic and conventional production methods are being evaluated for nutritional differences with the premise that nutritionally superior cultivars should provide producers with a market advantage. Cecil Stushnoff (Horticulture), Dawn Thilmany (Agricultural
and Resource Economics), Pat Kendal (Food Science and Human Nutrition), and Frank Stonaker (Horticulture) are collaborating on this project.

The SCP program also provides technical assistance for the development of production
standards for the Beneficial Farm and Ranch Collaborative, a trade association made up of family farmers and ranchers, retail stores, and individuals in Colorado and New Mexico. Participating farms and ranches are small, family operations located in the Arkansas, Rio Grande and Colorado River watersheds of New Mexico and Colorado. The SCP has been
actively involved in outreach efforts including short courses, field days, and participation with regional producer and Cooperative Extension sponsored conferences.

The SCP web site (http://www.specialtycrops.colostate.edu) provides updates on SCP projects, an event calendar and other links that may be useful for specialty crops producers, marketers and
researchers.

Frank Stonaker was hired to coordinate the program, and he is assisted by Debra Guenther. Frank may be reached at 970-491-7068 or Frank.Stonaker@colostate.edu.

Frank Stonaker,
Dept. of Horticulture