Archives for the 'Grants and Programs' Category
Farmers Markets Week and New Resources
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Farmers markets improve access to the freshest possible fruits and vegetables while providing direct market farmers with an important source of income. To celebrate the bountiful services they provide, the USDA has declared August 1-7, 2010 as National Farmers Market Week.
As USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack declared, “farmers markets play a key role in developing local and regional food systems, support family farms, revitalize local communities, provide important outlets for producers and the opportunity for farmers and consumers to interact.” He continued, “The USDA strongly supports farmers markets and other direct-to-consumer marketing activities for agricultural producers.”
The USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service began tracking the number of farmers markets in 1994 and found that they have multiplied continuously in the last two decades, with the number increasing by 16 percent in the last year alone.
The Midwest has seen the greatest surge in the number of farmers markets, with Missouri and Minnesota leading the way. The number of year-round markets has also increased, improving winter-time access to local and regional foods. Of the 6,132 farmers markets nationwide, 886 of them continue through the winter.
However, amidst all the momentum for fresh fruits and vegetables and local and regional food systems, critics point to charges of elitism often associated with the prevalence of farmers markets in higher income neighborhoods.
Both the public and non-profit sectors have stepped up to the plate to improve access to the healthy, local foods offered at farmers markets. The 2008 Farm Bill authorized a stipulation to the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) requiring a minimum of 10 percent of the program funds be allocated to foster the use of SNAP (formerly food stamps) and Women’s Infants and Children (WIC) benefits at farmers markets.
Two recent publications also address this issue. The USDA and the Project for Public Spaces published the “SNAP at Farmers Markets: A How To Handbook” and the Community Food Security Coalition and The Farmers Market Coalition published the “Real Food, Real Choice; Connecting SNAP Recipients with Farmers Markets” guide, both intended to facilitate SNAP purchases at farmers markets.
NSAC has continuously spoken out for direct marketing options for farmers. NSAC developed and championed the creation and funding of the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) in the last two farm bills to help foster growth of farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSAs) and other direct marketing channels.
Know Your Farmer Blog and Agency Guides
Sunday, August 1st, 2010
USDA programs can often seem enigmatic and confusing. Many farmers, rural development and conservation groups in need of financial or technical assistance are often either unaware of what USDA programs exist, or lack access to the assistance they seek.
The USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative seeks to remedy this disconnect by strengthening local food systems and improving access to USDA programs.
On Friday, July 30, Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food published a blog, “USDA Programs at Glance,” with links to memorandum outlining programs that can be used to foster local and regional food systems in four areas of USDA: Rural Development, Farm Service Agency, Research, Education & Economics, and Agriculture Marketing Service.
We have reported on the first three as they were issued. The AMS memo is new. According to the memo from Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan (herself a former head of AMS): AMS research and technical assistance in the fields of food deserts and regional food hubs, along with their support and analysis of farmers markets and other forms of direct marketing, access to market news, and help for farmers working to enhance food safety practices, form the backbone of the Department’s effort to provide fresh, nutritious, easily accessible food to the public, with special focus on underserved areas of this country.
The memo provides basic information on ten programs and research areas, including two that were initiated and championed by NSAC – the Farmers Market Promotion Program and the Organic Certification Cost-Share Program.
The USDA blog post indicates they will be adding information on other USDA agencies’ programs related to Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food in coming months.
Summaries of programs created or significantly amended in the 2008 Farm Bill can also be found in NSAC’s Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill. Another good place to find accessible USDA program information is ATTRA’s Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities: Federal Programs for Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, Entrepreneurship, Conservation and Community Development.
Specialty Crop and Organic Producers Testify
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Specialty crop and organic producers are “classic entrepreneurs” said Subcommittee Chair, Dennis Cardoza (D-CA). Rep. Cardoza spoke on Wednesday, July 21st at the House Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture hearing to review specialty crop and organic programs in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill.
Cardoza began the hearing with praise for specialty crop producers, noting their entrepreneurial ability to produce half the value of America’s crops. Cardoza also spoke to the importance of this sector for providing the fruits and vegetables that nourish our families.
Block Grants
All seven producers on the panel testified to the crucial role that the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBG) plays for specialty crop production across the U.S. They emphasized the need to extend and expand this program in the 2012 Farm Bill and applauded the flexibility the SCBG program offers to State Agriculture Departments for awarding grants. It was clear from their testimony, however, that some states do a better job than others in including farmers in the state decision-making process. In general, most witnesses also favored moving the application and decision-making process t
o earlier in the year, centered around the off-season.
Dr. Margaret Smith Testifies
NSAC hosted Margaret Smith, from Ash Grove Farm in Iowa and Extension Agent at Iowa State University (ISU), as the sole female and organic producer voice on the panel of witnesses. Click here to view her testimony.
Margaret and her husband Doug farm 950 acres of organic corn, soy, oats, wheat barley and and pasture and run a beef cow herd. They market their crops to various food, feed and seed markets. They began their transition to organic systems in 1994 and reached 100 percent organic production in 2007.
As an extension agent at ISU, Smith works with fruit and vegetable producers in the Value-Added Agriculture Extension Program in addition to co-facilitating the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Working Group.
Smith began her testimony to the Subcommittee with data pointing to the rapid growth in the organic industry, both in terms of number of farms and value of sales. Organics offer a critical marketing niche for small and beginning farmers. In light of the important role of the organic industry, Smith made sure the Subcommittee understood that the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) is under-funded, even with the 2008 Farm Bill funding increase, citing that only about 20% of the applicants receive OREI funding.
Smith also expressed strong support for the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program’s Organic Initiative.
Smith urged the Subcommittee to improve the crop and revenue insurance policies and rules for specialty crops and for organics. As she explained, “In Iowa, there is no satisfactory crop insurance available for fruit and vegetables. When compared with crop insurance options for corn and soybean growers, this seems a gross oversight and neglect of these important crops and crop producers.”
She went on to explain the risk management struggle confronting diversified, small to mid-sized producers: “Not only is there no safety net in the event of weather, crop disease, or insect yield reductions, but lenders are wary of working with growers of non-traditional commodities if they have no guarantee of some minimum income level.”
Chairman Cordoza applauded Smith’s work and testimony and brought the hearing to a personal level, disclosing his preference grass-fed beef. He also noted the profit opportunities offered by grass-fed beef production, a strategy that raises fewer cattle in a more productive system.
The hearing also ended on a personal note, and a strong note for organics. Ranking Member, Jean Schmidt (R-OH), confessed that her daughter and husband, despite the price differential, buy and eat exclusively organically produced foods.
“The organic voice is small,” she said “Lets raise that voice!”
Other Highlights
Robert Jones, a fruit and vegetable producer from Ohio’s The Chef’s Farm, spoke about the ineffectiveness and inappropriateness of what he described as a “one size fits all” National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement proposal. In response to a question from Chairman Cardoza, Jones also applauded the USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Program for improving consumer awareness and bolstering the local food movement.
Testifying on behalf of the nursery industry, Bernie Kohl, Jr. of Angelica Nurseries on Maryland’s Eastern Shore told the Subcommittee that the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) started by the last farm bill was doing great harm to the nursery crop industry. He explained that trees and shrubs grown in containers are grown in a substance that is primarily bark. He explained that 83 percent of softwood bark and 70 percent of hardwood bark is already used for energy generation and removing more of it through BCAP subsidies to energy uses could devastate the nursery industry. Similar arguments have been made by the forest products industry. Kohl called the BCAP collection, harvest and storage incentive payments “a solution in search of a problem.”
Paul Platz, a farmer from Lafayette, Minnesota, spoke about growing vegetables for processing. He urged the Committee to ease and simplify the rules for the “farm flex” pilot program created in the last farm bill allowing certain counties in certain states to produce vegetables for the processing industry on farm program base acres. Platz noted that he was able to start growing sweet corn and green peas in 1993 because the planting restrictions against growing fruits and vegetables on program acres that started with the 1996 Farm Bill were not in place yet. He urged a movement back in that direction, at least for processed vegetables.
Several witnesses expressed disappointment with the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) for not addressing the most pressing concerns of specialty crop growers. Chairman Cardoza sympathized with the concern and said he would follow-up with the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over USDA research.
Margaret Smith cautioned the Subcommittee to remember that the most important research to help fruit and vegetable producers will be long-term systems research that will take time to conduct. Smith also suggested that the SCRI is too focused on big multi-state, multi-institution projects and needs to be more balanced between local, regional, and national concerns.
USDA Boosts Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers
Monday, July 19th, 2010
The USDA Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO) is requesting a second round of applications for the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Competitive Grants Program (OASDFR), a program that seeks to ensure equitable participation in USDA programs for minority producers.
The OAO will fund up to $4.7 million in grants to eligible entities.
Applications can be found here and must be submitted on or before August 9, 2010.
A conference call is taking place on Tuesday, July 20 from 1 PM to 2 PM EST to answer questions about the program and the request. The call-in number is (800) 867-6144 and the conference code is 4635#. To RSVP for the call send a message to oasdfr@usda.gov.
In June, USDA announced some $26 million in FY 10 awards under an earlier round of the program.
Through the new OASDFR request for proposals, the OAO hopes to identify the causes of inequitable participation by certain socially disadvantaged groups through the provision of grants to Native American Tribal Governments and organizations, Latino-Serving Institutions, State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education, Land Grant Institutions, and community-based organizations and non-profits that focus on minority farmers.
Groups eligible for the newly-announced grants must be able to implement a project that addresses the following:
1. Collect and analyze data on the number of actual and potential socially disadvantaged farmers within a defined geographic region
2. Engage in outreach to identify causes of failure to achieve equitable participation in USDA agricultural programs and to develop recommended solutions
3. Develop and deploy improved approaches to technical assistance and outreach
4. Collect and analyze information to evaluate the success of those approaches
More information regarding the program is available on our website: OASDFR.
Resources and Showcase for Local and Regional Food Systems
Friday, July 16th, 2010
This week, as part of the USDA Know Your Farmer Know Your Food initiative, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack reported on investments in rural economies through development of local and regional food systems.
As Vilsack said, “By connecting farmers and ranchers more closely with consumers of food, we are creating new economic opportunities for producers and helping consumers to access healthy, nutritious food.”
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated $1.57 billion dollars to the Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program, which is administered by the USDA’s Rural Development Agency, an appropriation supported by NSAC.
On July 12th, Victor Vasquez, Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development, announced 11 businesses in 9 states as recipients of B&I Guaranteed Loans. Click here to see the USDA press release.
The purpose of the B&I program in general is to help improve, develop, or finance businesses and employment in rural areas by bolstering the existing private credit market through federal guarantees. The purpose of the local and regional food subprogram is to support farm and ranch incomes as well as the renewal of local food system infrastructure and community development.
Loans can be used to support and establish enterprises that process, distribute, aggregate, store, and market foods produced either in-state or transported less than 400 miles from the origin of the product. Individuals, cooperatives, cooperative organizations, businesses, and other entities are eligible for these loan guarantees.
In further support of local and regional food systems, Vilsack also announced a new feature of the Know Your Farmer Know Your Food website that highlights the vast web of connections emerging between consumers and farmers.
The new Ideas and Stories webpage creates a venue for sharing successful stories of food system entrepreneurship from around the country. The website also informs producers about USDA resources while helping consumers connect to their local farmers and ranchers.
Vilsack explained, “This showcase will serve a s a hub of ideas, local success stories, and USDA resources that showcase and strengthen the link between local production and consumption that benefits producers of all sizes.”
NSAC intends to do a more thorough analysis of local and regional food enterprise lending under the B&I program in the near future, and will share highlights with our readers.
FSA Programs Get USDA Push
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative recently highlighted Farm Service Agency (FSA) resources that can be used to expand and diversify farm businesses, preserve natural resources critical to future farm income and create links with local and regional food systems.
The Farm Storage Facility Loan program was expanded by the 2008 Farm Bill to include authority for use by vegetable, fruit, and nut producers as well as other farmers to use these loans for the construction of on-farm storage and minimal processing facilities. Controlling the product from seed to sale allows farmers to target specialty markets and retain more of the final sale price, increasing economic activity in rural areas.
Farmers and Ranchers can use FSA’s Guaranteed and Direct Loan programs either for farm ownership or for farm or ranch operating expenses, including for value-added and direct sale activities. The 2008 Farm Bill included special provisions to increase FSA credit opportunities for beginning, youth and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. These direct loans and guarantees are designed specifically for producers not yet able to receive financing through commercial lending sources.
FSA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) helps producers take fragile land out of production and establish conservation practices on working lands. Implementing conservation practices not only preserves and beautifies farmland but changing to sustainable production practices can allow farmers to realize a better price for their products through adopting value-added production methods. The new wildlife habitat the conservation practices create also offer new income opportunities through agritourism and hunting activities.
NSAC submitted comments this week to FSA on the new CRP-TIP program to help beginning and minority farmers and ranchers secure land coming out of the CRP program to engage in sustainable grazing or sustainable cropping operations.
You can get more information about all of these programs at your local FSA office.
According to FSA, their direct and guaranteed lending volume was up nearly 30 percent in the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2010 and the agency has requested additional funding from Congress that may come soon. In the meantime, county offices will continue to process all applications in expectation of supplemental funding or 2011 appropriations.
Rural Coop Development Grants Available
Friday, June 25th, 2010
On Friday, June 25, USDA announced the availability of almost $8 million in competitive grant funds through the Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program (RCDG). The RCDG program is designed to improve the economic conditions in rural areas by funding the establishment or operation of Coop Development Centers that can help start up, expand or improve rural coops and mutually-owned businesses.
This year USDA is specifically interested in projects that help create wealth in rural communities through strategies that stimulate economies and create jobs through:
- Local and regional food systems
- Renewable energy generation, energy conservation, and climate change adaptation/mitigation
- Broadband and other critical infrastructure
- Access to capital, or
- Innovative uses of natural resources
USDA expects to award about 35, one-year grants with an average grant size of $225,000. Paper applications must be postmarked by August 9, 2010 and electronic applications must be received by August 9, 2010. Visit the Rural Development website for more information or contact your local Rural Development office.
Farmers Fly to Washington D.C. to Have Their Voices Heard
Friday, June 25th, 2010
On June 23rd, 11 farmers from around the country flew to Washington D.C. to have their voices heard.
NSAC hosted the Budget and Appropriations “Fly-In” at a critical juncture as the USDA prepares it’s budget proposals for the Fiscal Year 2012 and Congress starts work to finalize 2011 agricultural appropriations. The farmers and NSAC staff spent the morning with officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the afternoon in individual meetings with their Congressional representatives as they expressed funding requests for indispensable sustainable agriculture programs. Click here to read a direct account from Steve Warshawer from Mesa Top Farm in New Mexico.
These top officials from the USDA carved out their morning to meet with farmers:
- Kathleen Merrigan, USDA Deputy Secretary,
- Erroll Bragg, Director of the Marketing Services Division of the Agriculture Marketing Service,
- Cheryl Cook, Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development,
- David White, Chief of the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and
- Meryl Broussard, Interim Deputy Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Participating farmers expressed their needs for conservation technical assistance and investment in research for transitioning to organic production in addition to their appreciation for ongoing funding opportunities such as the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) grant program and Value-Added Producer Grants and hoped-for new opportunities via the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account program. They also spoke to the utility of the Conservation Stewardship Program and other mandatory farm bill conservation programs.
“These programs offer more than capital or incentives, they are a vote of confidence in your farm,” said Amy Courtney a fruit & vegetable farmer from Santa Cruz County, California.
Although authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, funding for most rural development, marketing, and research programs require annual appropriations to get started and to remain available. Click here to read more about the appropriations process. This “fly-in” allowed farmers to tell USDA officials and their Congressional representatives what programs to prioritize and to give specific budget recommendations. To read NSAC’s 2011 appropriations priorities, click here.
In the afternoon meetings on the Hill, farmers emphasized funding for the same programs in the context of the upcoming appropriations bill for 2011. For instance, Margaret Smith, an organic crop and livestock farmer from Ash Grove Farm in Iowa, explained to Senator Harkin’s (D-IA) staff how cost-share CSP funding helped her purchase fencing to transition to a more sustainable rotational grazing livestock system. She also emphasized the importance of investment in organic production research systems, for sustainable and conventional agriculture alike.
Farmers in this year’s budget and appropriations fly-in hailed from GA, PA, CT, WI, IA, KS, and CA. Co-sponsors of the event included Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Organic Farming Research Foundation, Center for Rural Affairs, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, and California Farmlink.
House and Senate Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittees may be working on their funding bills for FY 2011 in the near future. You can stay on top of agricultural funding issues by signing up for NSAC action alerts.
Controversial House Subcommittee Hearing on Crop Insurance
Friday, June 18th, 2010
On June 17, in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill, the House Agriculture General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee held a hearing on U.S. farm safety net programs. Jim Miller, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services testified along with Jonathan Coppess, Farm Service Agency, and Bill Murphy, Risk Management Agency. You can view the Under Secretary’s opening statement here.
Subcommittee ranking member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) challenged the Risk Management Agency’s plan to cut funding to crop insurance companies by $6 billion. The agency proposed to allocate some of those freed-up funds to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). However, the CRP already receives mandatory funding in the 2008 Farm Bill legislation and concern was raised that the agency’s plan could jeopardize the 2012 Farm Bill baseline.
Representative Moran also raised concern about the timing for CRP sign-up. Miller said that the USDA would publish an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register early next week, which would be followed by a 30 day “no action” period. For farmers with expiring CRP contracts, this timeline pushes re-enrollment back until August, at best. As Moran bemoaned, this leaves precious little time for farmers to tear up cover crops and plan for planting, if necessary, should they not be re-enrolled in CRP.
NSAC is extremely concerned about the Administration’s decision to pay for a new CRP sign-up through savings from the renegotiation with crop insurance companies. Congress already provided the funding for CRP in the farm bill. Having the Administration pay for it again via the crop insurance deal is, in essence, paying for the program twice. Were it to become a precedent, it would in essence mean USDA and the White House could ignore conservation (or other) funding decisions made by Congress and simply cut funding administratively. This is very bad policy, and our hope is the Agriculture Committees and congressional leadership will make it clear to the Administration it should not happen again.
Comments Invited on the Value-Added Producer Grant Program
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Family farm advocates have an important opportunity to help shape the Value-Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG). USDA has requested comments on the administrative rules that will govern the implementation of this important program. VAPG offers competitive grants to farmers and ranchers developing new farm and food-related business enterprises that boost farm income, create jobs, and increase rural economic opportunity. VAPG offers both working capital and planning grants that strengthen the profitability and competitiveness of small and medium-sized farmers and ranchers.
The 2008 Farm Bill established ranking priorities for VAPG projects that benefit beginning, socially disadvantaged and small and moderate-sized family farmers and ranchers. Special reserve funds have been established for beginning farmers and projects involving mid-tier value chains.
While the rules are positive overall, NSAC has identified three areas in particular that require your input to ensure that VAPG fulfills its promise. Go to our action alert for talking points and instructions on how to submit a comment.