NSAC Archives for the 'Farm Program Reform' Category
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Examines Commodity Programs
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
On March 15, the Senate Agriculture Committee held its final hearing in preparation for writing the 2012 Farm Bill. The hearing addressed risk management and commodity programs, and included testimony from farmers, crop insurance agents, commodity and farm groups, including: Michael Scuse, USDA Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (Washington DC) Hope Hills, blueberry grower (Michigan) Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: New Budget Baseline
Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
An important step in the process of reauthorizing legislation that will include changes in mandatory spending, such as the farm bill, is establishing what the legislation would cost in the future if no changes were made and existing law were simply extended indefinitely. This is known as the budget “baseline” and becomes the yardstick that Read the Rest…
USDA Solicits Stakeholder Input on Agricultural Research
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Last week, over 150 people attended a stakeholder listening session to provide feedback on ways to improve the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) – USDA’s largest competitive grants program that funds agricultural research, education, and extension projects. The session was hosted in Washington, D.C. at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) – Read the Rest…
It’s Time: Help us Speak up for Sustainable Agriculture
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Check out our Path to the 2012 Farm Bill blog series for updates on the 2012 Farm Bill process – and be sure to sign up for NSAC Action Alerts to stay in the loop on speaking out and taking action! The summer’s bounty may feel far away, but even in January, farmers and ranchers Read the Rest…
Generations Bookend Rural Great Plains and Midwest
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
by Jon Bailey, Director, Rural Research and Analysis Program, Center for Rural Affairs A new Center for Rural Affairs report released finds that rural areas in the Great Plains and Midwest continue to lose population and are caught between “bookend generations” – the youngest and the oldest – with a demographic valley in between. The Read the Rest…
New Report on Overlap in Farm Safety Net Programs
Friday, December 9th, 2011
A new report from USDA’s Economic Research Service analyzes potential overlap and duplication in federal farm safety net programs. The report, Identifying Overlap in the Farm Safety Net, clarifies competing definitions of what is meant by the terms “farm safety net,” provides an overview of where overlap can occur in these programs, and presents an Read the Rest…
More Farm Bill News from the Farm Journal Forum
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
At the annual Farm Journal Forum in Washington, DC today, Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said the farm bill prepared for consideration by the congressional Super Committee will serve as the “foundation” for efforts to write and enact a farm bill next year, starting in February. Noting that the process this year was unusual Read the Rest…
If you eat and live in America
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
If you eat and live in America, you should be concerned about the future of farming in this country. The average age of our nation’s farmers is 57 years old, with more than a quarter of all farmers 65 or older. There are many people inspired to farm, but as recent studies show, our nation’s Read the Rest…
Food and Farm Bill Alive in 2012!
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Dear Supporters, We previously reported to you that a 2011 Food and Farm Bill appeared imminent. Days before Thanksgiving the Congressional “Super Committee” failed to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. With that, the 2011 Farm Bill proposal intended for inclusion in the Super Committee’s deficit reduction bill is thus no more. The Read the Rest…
Farm Bill Prospects
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
With the demise of the Super Committee and its deficit reduction bill that never happened, attention has now turned to crafting a new farm bill as a stand alone measure in 2012. This week Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said farm bill action will begin again with some hearings in late January or Read the Rest…
