NSAC Archives for the 'Fair Competition' Category
Department of Justice Drops Monsanto Antitrust Investigation Without Explanation
Wednesday, December 5th, 2012
In late November, U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division decided to drop its investigation of Monsanto’s control over much of the U.S. seed market. Monsanto has gained this control through the buyout of numerous seed companies and its use of the patent system to extract concessions from farmers who buy the seed. As noted by Read the Rest…
Mandatory Price Reporting Final Rule for Wholesale Pork Transactions
Friday, August 24th, 2012
This week, USDA issued a Final Rule that requires meatpackers to report information on wholesale pork transactions under the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act. The rule is set to take effect on January 7, 2013, but USDA will have an additional four months to train meatpackers in meeting the requirements of the reporting program. As enacted in Read the Rest…
House and Senate Leaders Agree to Extend FY 2012 Funding Levels
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012
On Tuesday, July 31, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced that the House and Senate had reached a deal on a six-month continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded at FY 2012 levels through March. It has been reported that the CR will be a “clean extension,” Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Agriculture Bill Includes Anti-Farmer, Anti-Environment Riders
Friday, July 13th, 2012
The House Agriculture Committee farm bill that passed out of committee early yesterday morning includes a number of anti-regulatory riders. As we previously reported, the House mark included three riders before Committee markup began. The mark includes a provision that significantly weakens USDA’s ability to regulate the use of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The provision Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: NSAC Assessment of House Committee-Passed Bill
Thursday, July 12th, 2012
In an earlier post we provided highlights and lowlights of the House Agriculture Committee one-day markup of their version of the 2102 Farm Bill, including a rundown of sustainable agriculture amendments passed and defeated. Here we turn to an assessment of the bill overall. Still to come is a piece discussing possible next steps in Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Agriculture Committee Debates and Passes Its Farm Bill
Thursday, July 12th, 2012
After a full-day marathon markup that started on Wednesday morning and went into the early hours of Thursday, the House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the 2012 Farm Bill by a vote of 35-11. Seven Democrats and four Republicans voted against the bill. The Republicans who voted against the bill did so based on Read the Rest…
House Appropriations Committee Passes FY13 Ag Funding Bill
Tuesday, June 19th, 2012
On Tuesday, June 19, the House Appropriations Committee passed its FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee passed on June 6. The full Committee bill, which we outlined in detail in an earlier post, is nearly identical to the Subcommittee bill. However, the Committee did adopt a number of amendments, including: An Read the Rest…
House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Passes FY2013 Funding Bill
Thursday, June 7th, 2012
UPDATED: June 18, 2012 On Wednesday, June 6, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee approved its FY 2013 agriculture appropriations bill. The spending bill covers the majority of the functions of USDA as well as the Food and Drug Administration. In late April, we happily reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2013 agriculture appropriations bill Read the Rest…
Over 100 Groups Urge Senators to Support Packer Ban Amendment to Senate Farm Bill
Friday, June 1st, 2012
On Thursday, May 31, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition joined a total of 108 organizations on a letter delivered to U.S. Senators urging them to support an amendment that Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) are expected to offer during floor debate on the Senate farm bill. The amendment would ban meatpackers from owning, Read the Rest…
Farm Service Agency Continues Close Scrutiny of Loans to Contract Poultry and Hog Producers
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides guaranteed loans and direct loans to farmers for the purchase or operation of their farms. FSA can provide lenders with a guarantee of up to 95 percent of the loss of principal and interest on a guaranteed loan. FSA has a duty, both to the public and to farmers Read the Rest…
