NSAC Archives for the 'Farm Credit' Category

GO-FARM Legislation Re-Introduced: New Loan Fund to Support Local Farms and Jobs

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Guest Blog — We want to thank  Bob Junk, Local Economy Manager with Fay-Penn Economic Development Council for preparing this blog post.  Fay-Penn is an NSAC member organization and Bob co-chairs our Marketing, Food Systems, and Rural Development committee. Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA) has re-introduced the Growing Opportunities for Agriculture and Responding to Read the Rest…

2013 Farm Bill, Farm Credit, Local & Regional Food Systems | Comments Off

President’s 2014 Budget: Overview and Department of Agriculture

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

On Wednesday, April 10, President Obama released his budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014.  In this year’s ongoing budget saga, the White House is billing its proposal as a step towards reaching a “grand bargain” with Republicans over taxes and spending.  (For more on the “grand bargain,” see a previous blog post.)  Over ten weeks Read the Rest…

Beginning and Minority Farmers, Budget, Budget and Appropriations, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Conservation / Land Stewardship, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Farm Credit, Farm Program Reform, Organic Agriculture, Research and Extension, Rural Development | 2 Comments

Microloans Now Available for Young and Beginning Farmers

Thursday, January 17th, 2013

Earlier this week, USDA announced the start of an exciting new loan program that will better meet the credit needs of small farms of all types, including especially young farmers and those serving local and regional food markets, including urban farmers. The final rule for the proposed microloan program was published today, and the Farm Read the Rest…

Beginning Farmers, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Farm Credit | 2 Comments

Farm Service Agency Increasing Action on Program for New Farmers and Ranchers

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is taking steps to increase participation in the Land Contract Guarantee Program.  The program facilitates the transfer of a farm or ranch to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher who may have a relatively short credit history or limited farming experience. In order to be eligible for this Read the Rest…

Beginning and Minority Farmers, Beginning Farmers, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Farm Credit, Minority Farmers | Comments Off

Revised Version: Obama Administration Details Sequestration Cuts

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

On Friday, September 14, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a preliminary outline of how it would implement automatic budget cuts (known as sequestration) across government programs, as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). In early August 2012, Congress passed the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, which  forced the Obama Read the Rest…

2012 Farm Bill, Agriculture Appropriations, Budget and Appropriations, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Conservation / Land Stewardship, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Farm Bill, Farm Credit, Farm Program Reform, Food Safety, Nutrition Programs, Research and Extension, Risk Management, Rural Development, SNAP | 1 Comment

USDA Launches Organic Literacy Initiative

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

On Tuesday, September 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a series of resources as part of its new Organic Literacy Initiative, an effort to help connect current and prospective organic farmers, ranchers, and processors with the USDA resources available to them. The purpose of the Organic Literacy Initiative is to provide USDA staff as Read the Rest…

Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Conservation / Land Stewardship, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Farm Credit, Food Safety, General Interest, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Local Food and Marketing, Nutrition Programs, Organic Agriculture, Research and Extension, Risk Management, Rural Development | Comments Off

House Farm Bill Extension Would Hurt Farmers and Economy, Undermine Conservation Efforts

Friday, July 27th, 2012

On Friday, July 27, the House Rules Committee posted the text of a one-year extension to the 2008 Farm Bill.  In our earlier post, we noted that we strongly oppose a clean extension of the Farm Bill, given that the bill would allow many critical programs expire. Unfortunately, the bill posted on the Rules Committee Read the Rest…

2012 Farm Bill, Beginning Farmers, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Conservation / Land Stewardship, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Farm Bill, Farm Credit, Local & Regional Food Systems, Local Food and Marketing, Minority Farmers, Organic Agriculture, Renewable Energy / Climate Change, Research and Extension, Rural Development, Specialty Crops | 4 Comments

“Plain Language” Guide to Farm Service Agency Loans

Friday, July 27th, 2012

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has issued a “plain language” guide to applying for FSA loans and FSA loan servicing entitled Your Guide to FSA Loans.  USDA was required to issue the guide as a part of the settlement in the case Keepseagle v. Vilsack.  This case was a class action lawsuit brought in 1999 by Read the Rest…

Beginning Farmers, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Farm Credit, Minority Farmers | Comments Off

NSAC Comments on FSA Microloan Proposal

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

On Tuesday, July 24th, the public comment period closed on the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) proposed rule to modify their Farm Operating Loans program to include microloans in order to better address the needs of very small and beginning family farmers.  FSA — a USDA agency in charge of federal credit and other agricultural programs — Read the Rest…

Beginning Farmers, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Farm Credit, Grants and Programs | Comments Off

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…

2012 Farm Bill, Beginning Farmers, CAFOs, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Competition & Anti-trust, Conservation / Land Stewardship, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Fair Competition, Farm Bill, Farm Credit, Farm Program Reform, Farm to School, Local & Regional Food Systems, Local Food and Marketing, Minority Farmers, Nutrition Programs, Organic Agriculture, Risk Management, Rural Development, SNAP, Specialty Crops | Comments Off

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