Primary affected groups are maple industry stakeholders (producers, processors, and trade organizations), researchers and extension educators who apply for specialty crop research grants, and USDA program staff who will add a formal solicitation and review of industry input. Maple stakeholders gain a formal mechanism to communicate research and education needs before grant topics are finalized, which can lead to grants that better reflect on-the-ground priorities (improved relevance and adoption). Researchers and institutions may see grant solicitations and funded topics shift toward priorities identified by the maple sector. USDA will need to schedule and run outreach efforts (solicitations at least six months before RFAs) and document consideration of input; this is an administrative change rather than a funding obligation. The amendment does not change eligibility, evaluation criteria beyond requiring consideration of input, or appropriations, so direct financial impact is limited. Risk: if outreach is not broad or inclusive, smaller or geographically dispersed maple producers could be underrepresented in submitted input, potentially biasing research agendas. Overall, effects are targeted, modest, and intended to improve alignment between federal research funding and industry needs.