NSAC Archives for the 'Rural Development' Category
Stories from the Field: Boosting the Economy in Rural Nebraska
Thursday, November 8th, 2012
Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place. In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without funding. This post is part of our 10-week blog series that features both Read the Rest…
What’s at Stake: Rural Economic Development
Tuesday, November 6th, 2012
Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place. In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without mandatory funding. This is the sixth post in our 10-week “What’s at Stake?” Read the Rest…
Farm Energy: USDA Announces $16 Million in Rural Energy Grants
Friday, October 19th, 2012
On Friday, October 19, USDA announced that it is awarding $16 million in grant and loan awards in FY 2012 through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The award will fund 244 projects aimed at helping farmers, ranchers, and small businesses conserve energy and produce renewable energy. In August of this year, USDA awarded Read the Rest…
Investing in Food Hubs and Rural Coops: 2012 RBOG and RCDG Awards Announced
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
On Wednesday, October 17, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the recipients of USDA’s 2012 Rural Business Opportunity Grants (RBOG) and Rural Cooperative Development Grants (RCDG). Both of these programs seek to spur growth and create jobs in rural communities. Out of the 42 total RBOG projects funded, five projects address agricultural and food system development: Read the Rest…
Stories from the Field: Seizing Economic Opportunities
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place. In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without funding.* This post is part of our 10-week blog series which will feature Read the Rest…
What’s at Stake: Value-Added Agriculture
Tuesday, October 9th, 2012
Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place. In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without mandatory funding. This is the second post in our 10-week “What’s at Stake?” Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Farm Bill Expires on Monday — What Does It Mean and What Happens Now?
Friday, September 28th, 2012
We have been fielding lots of questions in the past few weeks following the congressional meltdown on the new farm bill. This is not surprising, given Congress’ failure to date to either pass a new farm bill or to enact a short-term extension of the existing farm bill before the farm bill expires at midnight, Read the Rest…
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…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Congress Returns to DC with No Clear Path Forward
Thursday, September 6th, 2012
Earlier this month, when Congress left the heat and humidity of the DC summer to go on August recess, the fate of the 2012 Farm Bill remained unclear. (If you need a refresher on where we are in the process, recall that the House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the bill in July, but Read the Rest…
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…
