Congress Extends Automatic Spending Cuts
February 19th, 2014
Last week, the Senate voted 95-3 to pass a House-passed bill that reverses a $6 billion cut to cost-of-living increases (COLA) in military pensions. The cut was included in last year’s bipartisan budget deal. To pay for the restoration of funds, Congress chose to extend automatic, across-the-board cuts to direct spending (also known as mandatory Read the Rest…
2014 Farm Bill Drill Down: Recap and Wrap Up
February 14th, 2014
This post wraps up our series on what is in the new 2014 Farm Bill for sustainable food and farming systems. We started the series with an overview of what was in the bill for sustainable agriculture, and then dove into a series of posts with the nitty-gritty details of the new bill: The Bill Read the Rest…
2014 Farm Bill Drilldown: Subsidy Reform and Fair Competition
February 14th, 2014
With the 2014 Farm Bill recently signed into law, NSAC is doing a blog series that delves into the details of the bill for sustainable food and farming systems. This post discusses the highlights and the missed opportunities for commodity and crop insurance reform and agricultural market competition. Previous “drill down” posts on a wide Read the Rest…
2014 Farm Bill Drilldown: Sustainable and Organic Research
February 12th, 2014
With the 2014 Farm Bill recently signed into law, NSAC is doing a blog series that delves into the details of the bill for sustainable food and farming systems. Previous posts in this farm bill series dove into the overall farm bill by the numbers, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmer issues, working lands conservation programs, Read the Rest…
2014 Farm Bill Drilldown: Local and Regional Food Systems, Healthy Food Access, and Rural Development
February 11th, 2014
With the 2014 Farm Bill recently signed into law, NSAC is doing a blog series that delves into the details of the bill for sustainable food and farming systems. Previous posts in this farm bill series dove into the overall farm bill by the numbers, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmer issues, working lands conservation programs, Read the Rest…
2014 Farm Bill Drill Down: Conservation – Easements, CRP, and Energy
February 10th, 2014
With the 2014 Farm Bill recently signed into law, NSAC is doing a blog series that delves into the details of the bill for sustainable food and farming systems. Our coverage of the conservation title is divided into three parts: working lands conservation programs; the linkage between conservation and crop insurance; and this one on Read the Rest…
2014 Farm Bill Drill Down: Conservation – Crop Insurance Linkages
February 10th, 2014
With the 2014 Farm Bill recently signed into law, NSAC is doing a blog series that delves into the details of the bill for sustainable food and farming systems. Our coverage of the conservation title is divided into three parts: working lands conservation programs; this one on the linkage between conservation and crop insurance; and Read the Rest…
2014 Farm Bill Drill Down: Conservation – Working Lands Programs
February 10th, 2014
With the 2014 Farm Bill recently signed into law, NSAC is doing a blog series that delves into the details of the bill for sustainable food and farming systems. Our coverage of the conservation title is divided into three parts: this one on working lands conservation programs; the linkage between conservation and crop insurance; and Read the Rest…
President Signs New 5-Year Farm Bill
February 7th, 2014
Today on the campus of Michigan State University, President Obama signed the new five-year farm bill into law. He was joined at the signing ceremony by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman (and MSU alumnus) Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. In a speech before signing the bill, the President mentioned that the farm Read the Rest…
FDA Talks to Congress about FSMA Implementation
February 7th, 2014
This week, two events took place on the Hill focused on the ongoing implementation process of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Mike Taylor, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, who is leading the implementation of FSMA, served as the primary FDA representative at both events. Briefing on Read the Rest…
