The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced today that beginning Oct. 1, it will start using a form of electrophoresis protein testing known as the Isoelectric focusing (IEF) gel method to distinguish Kentucky 31 from other tall fescue varieties for complaints under the Federal Seed Act. This new method for testing was developed after many years of parallel testing and outreach to stakeholders.

The Grand Traverse Band (GTB) Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) Plus Amendment proposes to expand the existing GTB LFPA grant to fund food purchasing through 2025 and increase the direct food expenditure budget for GTB by $100,000. The current GTB LFPA grant program has $110,400 in food expenditure directly made by GTB.