Earlier this week NSAC issued a blog on the final rule for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), a rule that does not do nearly enough to ensure that BCAP will focus on projects for the establishment of perennial bioenergy crops. USDA’s Farm Service Agency also issued this week a record of decision for the […]
Archives for October 2010
USDA Announces Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program Awardees
On Thursday, October 28, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the 75 awardees of grant and loan funds from USDA’s Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP). Merrigan made the announcement in Lexington, Kentucky, one of 36 states in which projects will receive funding. “This program creates opportunities for small businesses to prosper by giving them access […]
USDA Calls for Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Applications
On Tuesday, October 26, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) issued a request for applications (RFA) for its Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) for the fiscal year 2011. The application period runs through December 22, 2010, with awards expected to be made by or before October 2011. The farm bill provides […]
USDA Announces Community Food Project Awards
Today, October 27, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the recipients of the 2010 Community Food Projects grants, administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The grants are intended to help build community food systems and fight hunger and food insecurity in low-income communities. The $4.8 million in grant awards went to 27 […]
NIFA Announces Organic Research and Extension Grants
Today, October 27, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced 30 grants totaling over $22 million to enhance the ability of organic producers and processors grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. In announcing the awards, NIFA Director Roger Beachy noted “More and more farmers are adopting organic agriculture practices to produce […]
USDA Risk Management Agency Announces $9.6 Million in Partnership Agreements
On Tuesday, October 26, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced its annual Partnership Agreement awards, which are geared primarily toward small and underserved producers. This year, $9.6 million in funds were awarded, including $3.6 million in Community Outreach and Assistance Partnerships. According to the USDA press release, these partnerships “can help farmers diversify production and […]
Biomass Crop Assistance Program Final Rule Major Disappointment
The final rule for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program is scheduled for official publication in the Federal Register on October 27. The final rule was addressed by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack last Thursday as part of a set of bioenergy policies. NSAC submitted comments to USDA on the BCAP proposed rule back in April of […]
NRCS Seeking Comments on Draft CEAP Chesapeake Bay Report
On Monday, October 25, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that it is seeking comments on a draft of its second Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) report, entitled “Assessment of the Effects of Conservation Practices on Cultivated Cropland in the Chesapeake Bay Region.” The full report is available for download here. Comments should be […]
USDA Announces 2010 Specialty Crop Research Grants
Today, October 25, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the 28 recipients of 2010 Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grants. The SCRI, administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), was established in the 2008 Farm Bill to support the specialty crop industry through research and extension activities. Specialty crops are defined as […]
USDA Announces Subsidies for Biofuels
On Thursday, October 21, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a series of measures to expand and develop infrastructure and incentives for the production of biofuels, including a rule to implement the Farm Bill’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). He also called on Congress to extend the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax which in the near term […]
Vilsack Responds to Letter from Representatives on GIPSA Rule
On October 1, 115 House members submitted a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting additional economic analysis of the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule. Earlier this week, Vilsack responded to the representatives, assuring them that the regular process of rulemaking would take place and all the rulemaking requirements are being […]
US Reaches $760 Million Settlement with Native American Farmers
On Tuesday, October 19, the Obama Administration agreed to pay up to $760 million to compensate American Indian farmers and ranchers who were denied loans from USDA, ending months of negotiation on the 11-year-old class-action lawsuit now known as Keepseagle vs. Vilsack. The Keepseagle plaintiffs charged the USDA with denying low-interest loans to thousands of […]
“Why Pollinators Matter” Conference Bee-gins
Today, October 20, the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) kicked off its three-day 10th Annual International Conference, “Pollinators and North American Priorities: Why Pollinators Matter: Benefits, Challenges, and Outcomes,” at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. NAPPC, which is administered by the Pollinator Partnership (P2), is a collaborative group of over 120 organizations and individuals […]
Consumer Groups Get it Wrong on Tester
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, representing 40 grassroots family farm, food, rural, and conservation organizations from all regions of the country, today responded critically to a letter and analysis sent to the United States Senate by a coalition of 9 national consumer organizations opposing an amendment to be offered by Senators Jon Tester and Kay Hagan to S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act…. Read More →
New Publication on Farm Bill Programs and Habitat Conservation
NSAC is pleased to announce the release of a new publication – Conserving Habitat through the Federal Farm Bill: A Guide for Land Trusts and Landowners. A group of six organizations came together to contribute to this comprehensive and practical guide for farmers, ranchers, land trusts and other landowners who want to increase wildlife habitat […]
USDA Announces $18 Million in Awards for Beginning Farmer and Rancher Training and Mentoring Programs
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) is a competitive grants program administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). BFRDP grants are awarded to local, state, and regionally based networks and partnerships to support financial and entrepreneurial training, mentoring, and apprenticeships for beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as land link programs that connect retiring with new farmers and innovative farm transfer and transition practices…. Read More →
Economic Research Service to Conduct Farm to School Survey
On Friday, October 15, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) filed a notice in the Federal Register announcing its plans to conduct a nationwide survey of existing Farm to School efforts. The farm to school initiative at USDA is an effort “to connect schools (K – 12) with regional or local farms in order to serve healthy meals […]
Farmers Win Challenge to Damage Award for Company’s Unfair Practices
On October 13, in the case Been v. O.K. industries, Inc., the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury award of damages under the Packers & Stockyards Act (PSA) of over $14,000,000 to a group of poultry farmers. The farmers had contracts with OK Farms, one of the nation’s largest poultry processors, to […]
USDA Announces Iowa REAP Grant Recipients
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $32 million in loans and grants for 433 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Iowa under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Grants and loans totaled $14.5 million and $17.4 million, respectively. REAP, which is administered by USDA’s Rural Development agency, makes grants and loans available to […]
USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program Announces 2010 Grants
On Thursday, October 14, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the 2010 grants of the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP). The program awarded 77 grants in 34 states, amounting to $4,099,897 in funding. The FMPP was first developed by NSAC in the lead up to the 2002 Farm Bill, and we have championed funding for […]
EPA Farm, Ranch, & Rural Communities Advisory Committee Meeting
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee met in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 30-Oct. 1. NSAC Senior Policy Associate Martha Noble is a member of the Committee. The Committee is currently charged with one major task – the preparation of a paper with recommendations to EPA Administrator Lisa […]
USDA Farm Service Agency Releases Report from 39th CRP Signup
From August 2-27th of this year, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) held a general signup for its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). On October 8, FSA released its report on the sign-up, which detailed the variety and distribution of acreage accepted into the program. Read the full report here. On September 14, Secretary Vilsack announced that […]
NOP Releases Draft Guidance Documents for Comment
USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) has released five draft guidance documents for public comment, according to the notice published today in the Federal Register. Comments are due by December 13, 2010, and can be submitted here. Guidance documents provide interpretations of NOP statutory and regulatory requirements in order to assist those who own, manage, or […]
USDA Office of Outreach and Advocacy Convenes Cooperators Conference
Lydia Villanueva, a member of NSAC’s Organizational Council and co-leader of NSAC’s Diversity Committee, brought a delegation of four farmers (three Latina and one Latino) to the USDA’s 2010 Cooperators Conference, held September 26-28 in St. Louis, Missouri. The event, which brought together an audience of 600 socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers and ranchers and […]