October 19, 2020
Editor’s Note: This blog is a guest post by Meghan Filbert, Livestock Program Manager at Practical Farmers of Iowa, an NSAC member organization. This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2020 Practical Farmer Newsletter. The Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program Means Out-of-state Market Access While Iowa’s large meat packing plants made national news during the height of pandemic-related […]
October 14, 2020
Local food systems and direct-to-consumer marketing through farmers markets, farm stands, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) programs have flourished across the country over the past several decades. Once viewed as a fad or niche part of the food sector, local food systems and direct marketing agriculture are now an integral part of American agriculture and […]
October 9, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Eric Deeble, Policy Specialist National Sustainable Agriculture Coalitionedeeble@sustainableagriculture.net CSP Rule Fails Farmers and Environment Trump Administration’s First Farm Bill Conservation Final Rule Flouts the Law Washington, DC, October 9th, 2020 – The Trump Administration published its first 2018 Farm Bill conservation title program final rule in today’s Federal Register. The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) […]
October 8, 2020
Last Wednesday night with only a few hours to spare, Congress did what many observers and advocates for months had been citing as inevitable. They sent an appropriations Continuing Resolution (CR) to the President’s desk that puts off final decisions about Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 spending until after the November general election. The CR ensures […]
October 1, 2020
Editor’s Note: The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) created a blog series on Rep. Chellie Pingree’s Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA), the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Blogs one through seven focus on specific provisions within the ARA; whereas this eighth and final blog in […]
October 1, 2020
Since 2015, the Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) has provided small and mid-sized farms, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, and small-scale wholesalers with the training they need to comply with new food safety requirements included in the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act. To reach the aforementioned audiences, the program has largely focused on […]
September 29, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Kelly Nuckolls, Policy Specialist National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition knuckolls@sustainableagriculture.net RELEASE: The Strengthening Local Processing Act Addresses Critical Livestock and Poultry Supply Chain Issues The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) Applauds Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) for introducing a comprehensive bill to support small processing plants. Washington, DC, September 29th, […]
September 24, 2020
Research underpins the success of every farm – not least of all for organic agriculture. Cutting-edge innovations and science-based studies continue to advance this multi-billion dollar industry, at times with funding from the federal government. The National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently announced over $20 million in research investments to support organic farmers […]
September 22, 2020
On August 20, 2020, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) approved new updates to the Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) program. WFRP is a unique crop-neutral revenue insurance product available for diversified farming operations. Unlike traditional yield or revenue insurance, this product is not intended for a single specific crop, but for all the crops […]
September 22, 2020
This week, USDA is launching a second round of COVID-19 relief payments that will hopefully reach more farmers who were left out of previous aid programs. In this blog, we break down what farmers need to know about USDA’s revamped Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.