On Tuesday, November 30, the House of Representatives passed the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, which authorizes nearly $4.6 billion to fund the settlements in two class-action discrimination lawsuits. The measure passed 256-152. It now goes to the President for his signature, ending a long, tortuous, but ultimately successful path to becoming law. The lawsuits […]
Archives for November 2010
USDA Publishes Grasslands Reserve Program Final Rule
On Monday, November 29, NRCS published its final rule for the Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP) in the Federal Register. You can download a pdf version of the final rule here. USDA published its interim final rule (IFR) for public comment on January 21, 2009, and subsequently published an amendment to address issues associated with wind […]
Senate Passes Food Safety Modernization Act
Friday Update to this story: Once the Senate-passed bill reached the House this week, a new problem emerged. The House claimed its right to be the originator of all bills with revenue provisions (in this case user fees that food companies would pay to help offset the costs of food recalls). Instead of simply passing […]
Pollan, Schlosser, McReynolds Weigh in on Food Safety Bill
The Senate tentatively expects to begin voting on the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) tonight (Nov. 29), around 6:30pm EST and conclude the voting on November 30. NSAC’s letter to the Senate in support of the measure can be read here. If you haven’t already called your Senators to voice your support for the […]
USDA Announces Funding for Conservation Projects in Mississippi River Basin
On Monday, November 29, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of up to $43 million in FY 2011 funding for existing conservation projects to improve water quality in forty-one priority watersheds through the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI), administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). The funding will be available to […]
Defend Farm Value-Added / Local and Regional Food
Food Safety Action Alert Call Your Senators Today To Defend Family Farm Value Added – Processing and Local and Regional Food Systems Debate and voting on The Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) is set to begin on the Senate floor TODAY! The bill takes important steps to improve food safety rules that affect large […]
SARE Announces New Director
On Monday, November 29, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program announced the appointment of Rob Hedberg, SARE’s interim director since January 2009, as its new national director. Since growing up on a small farm in Michigan, Hedberg has dedicated his career to agriculture science, education, and policy, most recently at USDA’s National Institute […]
GIPSA Rule Comment Period Ends
The 150 day public comment period on the livestock and poultry competition and contract fairness rule proposed by USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) closed on Monday, November 23. There were over 46,000 public submissions as of November 17 and in all likelihood the final number will exceed 50,000. The sheer magnitude demonstrates […]
USDA Publishes Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) Final Rule
On Tuesday, November 23, NRCS published its final rule for the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) in the Federal Register. You can download a pdf version of the final rule here. USDA published its interim final rule (IFR) for public comment on January 16, 2009. It subsequently published two amendments to address a number of […]
Local Food, Rural Development in New Issue of USDA’s “Amber Waves”
USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) has released the December issue of its quarterly publication, Amber Waves. This issue has several articles that might be of interest to followers of NSAC’s work, as the articles address issues such as rural development, farm labor, and local food systems. Click here to access the December issue of Amber […]
New York Times “Room for Debate” Column Discusses Farm Subsidies
On Sunday, November 21, the New York Times featured farm subsidies as the topic of its “Room for Debate” column, a column which showcases multiple viewpoints on various topics, with a different topic being debated almost every day. Sunday’s Room for Debate, entitled, “Do Farm Subsidies Protect National Security?”, featured six debaters, including Chuck Hassebrook, […]
Pigford II Settlement Funding Clears Senate
On Friday, November 19, the Senate finally passed a bill to fund the Pigford II class action lawsuit settlement between black farmers and USDA, along with funding for the Cobell settlement between Indian tribes and the Department of the Interior. Also included in the legislation was resolution of tribal water rights claims for the White […]
Appropriations Likely Headed for Continuing Resolution
Despite weeks of work by congressional appropriators to put together an omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2011, it appears increasingly likely that the appropriations measure, already a month and a half overdue, will not have the votes to pass. Democratic appropriators have written a bill to the reduced total spending level advocated by their […]
Food Safety Update: Final Senate Action Set for Right After Thanksgiving
Late Wednesday, November 17, a deal was reached on a revised version of the Tester-Hagan small farm amendment to S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. The revised amendment, which NSAC helped broker, was then placed into a revised version of the Manager’s amendment to the bill. The Manager’s amendment also includes several other NSAC-backed […]
Workshop, New Guide for Organic Farmers and Ranchers
This week, the Organic Farming Research Foundation hosted a workshop in Davis, California with organic farmers and ranchers and staff of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The workshop explored and identified ways that NRCS programs and conservation technical assistance can better work for farmers and ranchers using organic farming systems. About 55 participants […]
Specialty Crops Champion to Chair Senate Agriculture Committee
Today, November 19, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced that she will be taking the helm of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, following Sen. Kent Conrad’s (D-ND) decision to remain at the head of the Senate Budget Committee. “Agriculture is critical to Michigan’s economy,” Senator Stabenow said in a statement this morning. “I look forward to working […]
USDA Releases Final FY10 Contract and Payment Data for Easement Programs
On Friday, November 12, USDA officially announced that it obligated nearly $550 million to enroll 272,762 acres in the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in FY 2010. With this signup–the highest single-year enrollment in WRP history and a 52 percent increase over last year’s 179,000 acres–nearly 2.35 million acres are now enrolled in WRP nationwide. In […]
Senate Food Safety Bill Chugs Forward
Today, November 17, the Senate voted 74 to 25 to invoke cloture on the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510), bypassing Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) threatened filibuster to bring the bill to the floor for limited debate. The wide margin of passage for the cloture motion suggests that the next vote – on the motion to […]
Agriculture Committees Hear Pro-GIPSA Rule Testimony from Producers
The National Farmers Union organized briefings for the Senate and House Agriculture Committees in support of the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule this week, giving committee members and staffers the opportunity to hear testimony from pork, poultry, and beef producers. The briefing panel consisted of Craig Watts, a contract poultry grower […]
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Moving Forward
By Amy Bacigalupo, Land Stewardship Project, Farm Beginning Program Director As I addressed the group of 60 participants for the first Project Director’s meeting for USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), I was struck by a strong sense of excitement. It is truly momentous that the 29 projects represented at the meeting are […]
Deficit Commission Proposes $3 Billion in Cuts to Farm Subsidies, CSP
Yesterday, the two co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, an 18-member bipartisan panel commissioned by President Obama in February 2010, released a draft plan to slow the growth of the federal budget deficit. As expected, the “trial balloon” report offers a contradictory set of recommendations; the commission’s chairs for instance propose […]
National Farmers Union and R-CALF Respond to Industry-backed GIPSA Study
On Wednesday, November 10, the National Farmers Union, Ranchers-Cattleman United Legal Fund (R-CALF), and Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) held a press conference in support of the Agriculture Department’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) proposed rule. The press conference coincided with the release of a new study by Informa Economics, commissioned by meatpacker […]
New Publication: A Sustainable Agriculture Perspective on Food Safety
On Thursday, November 11, the NSAC Food Safety Task Force released a new paper, “A Sustainable Agriculture Perspective on Food Safety,” in anticipation of the upcoming debate and vote on the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) when Congress returns next week and looking ahead to more food safety rules and activities at USDA and FDA […]
Child Nutrition Bill Gains Support of Representatives McGovern and DeLauro
The Child Nutrition reauthorization bill, a landmark opportunity for lawmakers to establish stronger nutrition standards in schools, improved its odds of passage in the lame-duck session of the House this week when Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) removed their opposition to the bill. DeLauro and McGovern had opposed the bill, and in […]