The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition recently presented a set of policy briefing papers to members of President-elect Obama’s Transition Team. The briefing papers lay out SAC’s recommendations for addressing the most urgent priorities of the sustainable agriculture movement. This is the first in a series of blog posts that features some of those policy recommendations. All […]
Archives for December 2008
Weekly Update – December 19, 2008
THIS WEEK Obama Names Vilsack Secretary of Agriculture: On Wednesday, President-elect Barack Obama officially named former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as the incoming Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack, who previously served two terms as the governor of Iowa, has worked most recently as a lawyer in Des Moines since ending his brief 2008 presidential bid in […]
Request for Applications Announced – Risk Management Outreach Assistance for Underserved Farmers
Today, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, operating through the Risk Management Agency (RMA), issued a Request for Applications (RFA) for the Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership Program. $3.4 million is available for collaborative outreach, assistance, and training on risk management solutions for socially disadvantaged, limited resource, or traditionally underserved farmers and ranchers who produce priority […]
Weekly Update – December 12, 2008
THIS WEEK SAC Members Meet in Memphis! This week SAC members and staff congregated at the St. Columba Retreat Center outside of Memphis to strategize our work with the new Obama Administration, set priorities for the FY 2010 appropriations campaign, and consider future legislative and grassroots advocacy work on new issues such as climate change, […]
Weekly Update – December 5, 2008
THIS WEEK Ag Appropriations and Stimulus Bill Timing Problem: As we have often reported, the appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2009 got stuck this summer and has remained stuck through the start of the fiscal year on October 1. Now two months into the fiscal year, the process is beginning to move again. Though the […]
“Notes from the Field”- Raising Heritage Turkeys With the Help of SARE
Jacob Cowgill is a young farmer from Montana. He has spent the past two seasons experimenting with dryland vegetable production in north-central Montana. He and his new bride are planning to start their own farm very soon. For more information about the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, visit the SARE website. A couple […]