April 11, 2014
Congress has just left town to return home for a two-week recess; the House and Senate will not be back in session until the week of April 28. What will this mean for budget action?
April 7, 2014
On Friday, April 4, 26 Senators delivered a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees urging them to oppose cuts to conservation programs in fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations legislation. Senator Chris Coon (D-DE) led the letter. Among the many other signers were Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) […]
April 4, 2014
This week, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee held hearings on the Obama Administration’s FY 2015 funding requests for three USDA mission areas – Food Safety, Rural Development, and Marketing and Regulatory Programs, which includes the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee also held […]
April 4, 2014
On Thursday, April 3, NSAC and 28 other national organizations delivered a letter to members of the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees urging them to oppose cuts to conservation programs in fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations legislation. The letter was delivered as the Subcommittees are considering the President’s FY 2015 Budget Request, funding requests from […]
April 4, 2014
As part of the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released proposed regulations for facilities that process animal food last fall. The draft regulations propose to establish Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Hazard Analysis and Risk-based Preventive Controls (HARPC) requirements for animal food facilities. The public comment […]
April 3, 2014
Budget Resolution Overview On Tuesday, Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the House GOP’s Fiscal Year 2015 House budget Resolution as a symbolic representation of party priorities and fiscal austerity. It is likely to squeak through passage on the House floor, but that is as far as it will go. The Senate is not planning to […]
March 28, 2014
The House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees held a total of four hearings this week to examine the Obama Administration’s FY 2015 Budget Request. The House Subcommittee heard testimony from the heads of two USDA mission areas—Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNS), and Research, Education and Economics (REE)—as well as the Food and Drug Administration […]
March 28, 2014
This week, a dozen family farmers and sustainable agriculture advocates from eight states traveled to Washington, DC to share their stories with the members of Congress who will decide on the coming year’s agricultural budget. In meetings Wednesday and Thursday, farmers called upon their legislators to invest in a more sustainable food and farm future […]
March 20, 2014
Following up on its award winning report published for 2011 and 2012, USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has released its latest biennial report highlighting a variety of research projects that have been funded over the last two years that are helping to advance sustainable farming. The SARE program is administered through four […]
March 14, 2014
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies today to discuss the Department’s FY 2015 Budget Request, which he delivered to Congress earlier this month. The Subcommittee will consider USDA’s requests as it writes its agriculture funding bill for the year. In […]
