On Wednesday, July 28, USDA issued an interim rule to implement provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which were not implemented under two previously issued CRP interim rules. The interim rule is effective immediately. USDA is taking public comments on the interim rule, due by September 27, 2010, that […]
Archives for July 2010
USDA Extends Comment Period for GIPSA Proposed Rules
Bowing to pressure from a group of large-scale livestock and poultry packers and processors and House Agriculture Committee members who are aligned with them, USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) announced on July 26 that it is extending the public comment period on proposed rules for the Packers & Stockyards Act by 90 days. […]
Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act Update
The Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act, first enacted in 1999, requires USDA to establish a program of information regarding the marketing of cattle, swine, lambs, and the products of this livestock. The Act requires that the information, including price and volume information, be provided in a format that can be readily understood by producers; […]
Legislative Roundup: Farm Credit Funding Passes, Other Food and Farm Legislation Could Move
[Friday July 30 update to story below — A measure to fund the Pigford II class action settlement between USDA and black farmers is now expected to come to the Senate floor early next week as a stand alone measure. The Food Safety Modernization Act (S 510) is now not expected to be taken up […]
Conservation Reserve Program General Sign-Up Announced
On Monday, July 26, USDA announced that a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up will be held from August 2-27, 2010. This is the 39th sign-up for the CRP according to the somewhat unusual Farm Service Agency (FSA) sign-up counting system. It will be the first general sign-up since 2006. Under a CRP general sign-up, […]
Letter Supports Reinstatement of Shirley Sherrod
The Rural Coalition has crafted a sign on letter that expressed disappointment in the hasty removal of Shirley Sherrod from her position as USDA State Rural Development Director for Georgia on July 19, 2010. The letter—which went out to the press, the Secretary, the President, and the Attorney General multiple times last week—acknowledges the leadership […]
Update on USDA Hoop House Pilot Program
In December, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) launched a 3-year pilot program to provide cost-share funding to farmers who want to extend the growing season on their farms by using high tunnels (sometimes referred to as hoop houses). Read NSAC’s last update on the program. A big ‘thank you!’ to all the NSAC […]
TELL CONGRESS THAT YOU WANT A FAIR DEAL FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS
Farmers and ranchers who raise livestock and poultry need your help to get a fair deal and a level playing field with meat and poultry processors. The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry held a hearing on Tuesday, July 20 that focused on USDA proposed rules to strengthen and clarify the protections for […]
Specialty Crop and Organic Producers Testify
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, […]
Senate Deliberates On Rural Development and Energy in the Farm Bill
On Wednesday, July 21, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry convened to hear from several witnesses regarding rural development and the farm bill. The hearing centered on the potential benefits of alternative fuels production and research both for developing rural communities and for strengthening national security. A list of witnesses and a link […]
NSAC Sends Letter to White House and Congress Opposing Conservation Cuts
On Wednesday, July 21, NSAC, along with over 70 other farm, conservation, and environmental organizations sent a letter to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and a letter to President Obama expressing strong opposition to any use of farm bill conservation program funding as an offset to pay for improvements to school meal programs. […]
Ad Calls for Urgent Action on Child Nutrition Bill
On Wednesday, July 21, a full page Feeding America advertisement appeared in CQ Today and Roll Call, two Capitol Hill publications, urging Congress to pass a “robust, well-funded child nutrition bill this summer.” Support for the ad stems from a large and diverse group of organizations, including the Alliance to End Hunger, the American Cancer […]
House Committee Looks at USDA Rural Development
On Tuesday, July 20, the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Rural Development, Biotechnology, Specialty Crops, and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing to assess progress on Rural Development program implementation and hear ideas from the field in advance of the 2012 Farm Bill. USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager emphasized the “five pillars” the agency […]
Revised Chart on FY 2011 Ag Appropriations
With both the House Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee and the full Senate Appropriations Committee now having taken action on their Fiscal Year 2011 agricultural spending bills, NSAC is posting a revised version of its annual agriculture appropriations chart to our website. The chart provides detailed funding level decisions on a program-by-program basis for about 40 USDA […]
USDA Boosts Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers
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 […]
Climate Change Letter Delivered to Senators
The passage of climate change and energy legislation in this Congress is still an open question. Proposals range in scope from the American Clean Energy and Security Act – a comprehensive energy and climate bill passed by the House in 2009 but stalled in the Senate – to a narrow bill focused only on the […]
CBO Examines Federal Funding for Biofuels
A Congressional Budget Office report issued on Wednesday, July 14 examines the costs to taxpayers of achieving national energy goals for different types of biofuel. The report was requested by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure of the Senate Committee on Finance. He is also the Chair […]
Resources and Showcase for Local and Regional Food Systems
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 […]
Senate Committee Adopts Ag Spending Bill
On Thursday, July 15, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2011 Agricultural Appropriations bill by voice vote. The action on the agriculture bill came after a lengthy partisan debate over the overall discretionary spending levels for the entire government for FY 2011, which concluded with the adoption of Chairman Inouye’s proposed spending allocations. […]
Child Nutrition with Farm to School Passes House Committee
On Thursday, July 15, the House Education and Labor Committee approved the child nutrition reauthorization bill authored by Chairman George Miller (D-CA) (Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act, H.R. 5504) by a vote of 32 -13 with Republicans Todd Platts (PA), Michael Castle (DE), and Vernon Ehlers (MI) joining all of the Democratic members of […]
FSIS Names Advisory Committee on Meat & Poultry Inspection
On Thursday, July 15, USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service announced the reestablishment of the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) and the newly appointed members of the committee for 2010-2012. Established in 1971, the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) advises the Secretary of the USDA on federal and […]
USDA Awards Wetland Enhancement Projects
On July 12, David White, Chief of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), announced 5 projects approved to receive funding through the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP). Under the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), the USDA purchases long-term or permanent easements to restore, protect and enhance wetland values and functions on wetland that has been in […]
FSA Programs Get USDA Push
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 […]
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Urges Senate to Enact Comprehensive Climate Change Legislation
Washington, D.C., July 13, 2010 – Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition joined 64 sustainable agriculture and environmental groups from around the nation on a letter delivered to Senate leaders (see letter below), urging them to pass comprehensive climate change and energy legislation in this session of Congress. “Agriculture is especially vulnerable to the adverse […]