Federal capacity funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provide vital support for a broad base of critically important research and extension programs that address local, state, and national issues.

Funds appropriated under the Hatch Act are to be used to conduct original research contributing to the agricultural industry in the United States. Projects are usually 5-year research plans with significant and attainable impacts that contribute to the overall mission of NMSU ACES and USDA-NIFA.

Prior to developing a Hatch project, project directors should work with their department head in the research planning process.

Project directors of both capacity and competitive projects are required to enter and submit project data to NIFA.

A NIFA capacity-funded project is any agricultural research project which is supported by dollars from one of the following five programs:

• Hatch (1862 LGUs only)
• Hatch Multistate (1862 LGUs only)
• McIntire-Stennis
• Animal Health
• Renewable Resources Extension

*Please keep in mind that Multistate projects need to be maintained in REEport and NIMSS. The two systems do not link together and approval and reporting need to be completed in both systems.*

Who Needs a Hatch Project?

Any AES faculty with a .25 FTE or higher is required to have an active project; unless determined otherwise by their department head and/or AES Director.

Primary Contacts

Capacity/Hatch Projects and Grants:

Claire Montoya, AES Director of Reporting and Communication

Multi-State Projects

Lara Prihodko, AES Associate Director

Project Resources

Before initiating a project in the NRS, PDs will work with their department head and the AES Associate Director for approval.

Once your project has been approved by your department and the AES Director's Office, the next step is to initiate the project in NIFA's Reporting System (NRS).

NIFA has prepared the NIFA Reporting System User Guide for assistance in accessing and navigating the system. For further assistance, please contact the NMSU Organizational Administrator, Claire Montoya.

Umbrella Projects

Beginning in Spring 2023, Hatch capacity projects will be faculty team research projects that are organized under the following umbrella areas. These Umbrella Areas are meant to encompass most current and emerging areas of ACES research. For faculty with a specific need for an individual project, please work with your department head and Dr. Lara Prihodko for initiating an individual project. For more information regarding Umbrella Projects, please contact Dr. Lara Prihodko and Claire Montoya.

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Umbrella Project Teams

Reporting

All projects must submit annual results by March 1. These results should encompass accomplishments from the year of research. Provide high-level summaries and impacts from the project using the prompts provided by NIFA.

Results are used to write the NIFA Annual Report for all of AES and should be written with quality and demonstrate the results of each project clearly and in non-technical terms.

Multi-State Projects

Multi-state projects are monitored and approved by Dr. Lara Prihodko, AES Associate Director. Each project will need to be initiated and maintained through the NIFA Reporting System (NRS) and NIMSS. The two systems do not link together and approval and reporting needs to be completed in both systems.

To become active on a multi-state project, please contact Dr. Prihodko. You will need to provide a completed Appendix E from NIMSS, the objectives you plan to address, and which knowledge Area, Subject of Investigation, and Field of Science that best describes your research. Please see the Manual of Classification provided by NIFA.