NSAC Archives for March, 2010

Rural Business Opportunity Grants Available

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Yesterday’s Federal Register announced* the availability of grants to fund projects designed to help rural communities create wealth, repopulate and become self-sustaining.  Projects can receive up to $250,000 across a period of up to two years and there is a total of $2.48 million available in 2010. These Regional Business Opportunity Grants (RBOG)  give preference Read the Rest…

Grants and Programs, Local Food and Marketing, Rural Development | 7 Comments

USDA Releases Request for Applications for AFRI Competitive Grants

Friday, March 26th, 2010

This week, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (formerly, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service) released the long-anticipated 2010 Request for Applications (RFAs) for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).  Significantly overhauled and with more funding to award than ever, the AFRI RFAs define a substantive portion of USDA’s research agenda, Read the Rest…

Beginning Farmers, Conservation / Land Stewardship, Farm to School, Food Safety, Grants and Programs, Local Food and Marketing, Organic Agriculture, Renewable Energy / Climate Change, Research and Extension, Rural Development | 1 Comment

USDA Women and Working Lands Panel and Discussion

Friday, March 26th, 2010

March is National Women’s History month, making yesterday (March 25) a fitting date for the USDA “Women and Working Lands: Past, Present, Future” forum held at the USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C.  The forum celebrated the hard work and achievements of women farmers, ranchers and foresters across the nation, and was moderated by USDA Deputy Read the Rest…

Beginning Farmers, Local Food and Marketing | 1 Comment

Action Alert: Help Make Next Generation Biofuels Sustainable

Friday, March 26th, 2010

The addition of an Energy Title to the 2008 Farm Bill was an important acknowledgment of the critical and emerging role for agriculture in the production of renewable energy.  Particularly promising was the creation of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) to provide incentives to farmers and foresters for the production of energy efficient and resource Read the Rest…

Conservation / Land Stewardship, Renewable Energy / Climate Change | 3 Comments

Senators write in support of funding for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Thanks to the leadership of Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Max Baucus (D-MT), and to calls and visits by NSAC members and supporters, a group of senators has delivered a letter to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee in support of funding for beginning farmers and ranchers. Last Wednesday, Senators Klobuchar and Baucus and 12 other Read the Rest…

Beginning Farmers | No Comments

Food Safety Action Alert

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

If You Value Safe, Local, and Healthy Food Please Make a Call! Food Safety legislation headed for the Senate floor would considerably ramp up regulation on farms that even minimally process their crops and sell them to restaurants, food coops, groceries, schools and wholesalers. The new regulations could erect new barriers to these important markets Read the Rest…

Take Action Alerts | 4 Comments

Op-Ed in SF Chronicle urges investment in beginning farmers

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

We are excited to share this op-ed by beginning farmer, Rebecca King, who participated in the NSAC beginning farmer fly-in earlier this month. The article addresses the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account program, which would provide matched savings accounts and financial training to beginning farmers to help them get started. Click here for Read the Rest…

Act Now, Beginning Farmers, NSAC in the Media, Notes from the Field | 8 Comments

Senate Agriculture Committee Reports Child Nutrition Bill: Farm to School Included; Conservation Cuts Major Point of Contention

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

On Wednesday, March 24, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved the child nutrition reauthorization bill (Healthy Hunger-Free Kids’ Act of 2010) by unanimous consent. The bill increases spending on nutrition programs by $4.5 billion over the next ten years and includes several important school meal program improvements including improved access, nutritional standards, and per meal federal Read the Rest…

Conservation / Land Stewardship, Farm to School, Local Food and Marketing, Organic Agriculture, Rural Development | 3 Comments

Senate Child Nutrition Bill Includes Agreement on “Competitive Foods”

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

On Wednesday the Senate Agriculture Committee will mark up Senator Lincoln’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the proposed legislation to reauthorize child nutrition programs including school meals and the Women, Infants and Children’s (WIC) nutrition program.  The bill includes new national nutritional standards to be applied to all foods sold in school, including food Read the Rest…

Farm to School, Local Food and Marketing, Rural Development | No Comments

Clean Water Network’s “March Madness” DC Gathering

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

The Clean Water Network, a coalition of over 1,000 organizations working together to protect the nation’s waters, held a “March Madness” fly-in in Washington D.C. on March 14-16.  NSAC and many of our member organizations are Network members. Key fly-in events had an agricultural focus.  A congressional briefing on March 15, entitled “The Mississippi – Read the Rest…

Conservation / Land Stewardship, Notes from the Field | No Comments

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