NSAC Archives for the '2012 Farm Bill' Category
Budget Debate Takes New Turns, with Unclear Impact on Agriculture
Thursday, January 24th, 2013
Sometimes Washington spends a lot of time talking about how and when to proceed to looming big issues. And sometimes those process and timing decisions are very important. And sometimes the situation surrounding those process issues is very fluid. This is one of those times. Very quickly after the House GOP decided on a brand Read the Rest…
34 States Shut out of Organic Farm Program by Congress and White House
Thursday, January 24th, 2013
On Thursday, USDA published a notice in the Federal Register reminding the 16 states eligible for the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) program to submit their application by February 7 for federal assistance in order to be able to provide cost-share assistance to their certified organic farmers. Those 16 states – the 12 Northeast states plus Read the Rest…
New House GOP Debt Ceiling Plan Could Affect Farm Bill
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
The House of Representatives will vote on Wednesday on a new plan, cobbled together last week, to raise the debt ceiling for several months without demanding any matching spending cuts. The sudden about face on the debt ceiling issue was reached during a House GOP caucus retreat in Williamsburg, VA last week. Instead of dealing Read the Rest…
The 2012 Farm Bill (that never was) Year in Review
Friday, January 11th, 2013
Although 2012 ended on a sour note for farmers and ranchers across the country, there were some notable moments to celebrate for the sustainable agriculture movement, amidst all the ups and downs of the 2012 Farm Bill debate. In this final blog post of our “Path to the 2012 Farm Bill” series, we include twists Read the Rest…
Congress Includes Awful 2008 Farm Bill Extension in Fiscal Cliff Deal
Thursday, January 3rd, 2013
On New Year’s Eve, the Senate passed a simple extension of the 2008 Farm Bill through September 30, 2013, as part of a much bigger legislative package to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. The House approved the Senate bill late on New Year’s Day and President Obama signed it into law on January 2. The Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: One Week to Go, What Next?
Friday, December 21st, 2012
Last night House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) pulled his so-called “Plan B” — with tax and spending cut measures — from the floor when it became clear that he didn’t have the Republican votes needed to pass it. The Speaker launched his now-failed Plan B plan at the beginning of the week, calling off any Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: The Stakes Keep On Climbing
Friday, December 21st, 2012
One of the hard parts about working on federal policy is that it can be easy to get wrapped up in policy details and forget that decisions — and indecisions — made in Washington affect people and communities throughout the nation. So when Congress decided to let the current farm bill expire on October 1, Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Is there a Farm Bill Plan B?
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
Much of the national policy news this week has focused on House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) sudden move, in the middle of negotiations with the President over the so-called fiscal cliff issues, to take time out to have the House vote (this evening) on his “Plan B.” That Plan B would combine votes on tax Read the Rest…
Stories from the Field: Show Me the Numbers – The Importance of Data
Thursday, December 13th, 2012
Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place. In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without funding. This post is the final post in our 10-week blog series that Read the Rest…
New Report Evaluates 2012 Beginning Farmer Awards
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) has recently issued a report evaluating the 2012 grant allocations through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NSAC collaborated on the evaluation and report. The evaluation included a phone survey of 36 out Read the Rest…
