On Friday February 25, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Assistant Attorney General Tony West announced the establishment of a program to resolve the claims of Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who assert that they were discriminated against when seeking USDA farm loans. The program provides up to $50,000 for each Hispanic or woman farmer […]
Archives for February 2011
National Beginning Farmer Survey, Have You Participated?
Data on the challenges faced by today’s young and beginning farmers is hard to come by. That’s why the National Young Farmers’ Coalition, in partnership with the Greenhorns and Beginningfarmers.org, is conducting a national survey to understand what’s working for beginning farmers, what’s not, and what policies they’d like to see in the next Farm […]
USDA Organic Farming Systems Research Conference Coming March 16-18
USDA will sponsor a free conference March 16-18, 2011 in Washington, DC, to examine findings from research on organic farming systems. Attendees include researchers, policymakers, farmers, ranchers, and others interested in learning more about the implications of organic farming research. Major objectives for the conference are: To investigate findings on U.S. research on organic systems, […]
New Movement on Government Funding Negotiations
There were several important new developments on Thursday in the continuing saga of arriving at a government funding bill for the rest of fiscal year 2011. House Republican leaders are getting ready to file a short-term extension of the existing short-term “continuing resolution” (CR) that is keeping the government running at fiscal year 2010 levels. […]
2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey
On Wednesday, February 23, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of the 2009 survey on the contribution of America’s farms and ranches in the production of renewable energy. Conducted as a follow-on to the most recent Census of Agriculture, the survey focused on three principal renewable energy systems: solar panels, wind turbines, […]
ERS Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America
USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) recently released the Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America data set. The tool, an interactive mapping application, provides spatial information (national to county-level) of socioeconomic factors on four broad categories of : People— county demographic profiles including age, race/ethnicity, education, migration and immigration, household size and family composition (from the from […]
Comments and Video from Merrigan on VAPG Interim Rule
On Wednesday, February 23, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan held a press conference call regarding today’s release of the interim final rule for the Value-Added Producer Grant program. Calling VAPG “one of my all time favorite programs,” Merrigan spoke about how the grants fund innovation and entrepreneurship among American farmers and ranchers and provide […]
Organic Seed Alliance Releases “State of Organic Seed” Report
On February 16, 2011, the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) released a survey-based report entitled State of Organic Seed: Advancing the Viability and Integrity of Organic Seed Systems. The report serves as the first comprehensive analysis of the organic seed sector. Although the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) requires the use of organic seed when commercially […]
AFRI Awards to Study Effects of Climate Change on Agricultural and Forest Production
On Friday February 18, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) funding opportunity, awarded three $20 million grants (over 5 years) to Coordinated Agriculture Projects (CAP) to study the effects of climate change on agriculture and forest production. Dr. Tim Martin, of the University of Florida […]
USDA Publishes Interim Rule for Value-Added Producer Grants
In June 2010, the USDA solicited public comments on the proposed rule for implementation of the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program. This morning, after months of anticipation, the agency released the interim final rule. Later this morning USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan will hold a press call regarding the interim rule for VAPG. With the […]
Take Action: Oppose Reckless Spending Cuts
Call Your Senators In the early hours of Saturday, February 19, the House of Representatives approved a government funding bill that would slash more than $60 billion from the federal budget for the last half of fiscal year 2011. The bill (H.R. 1) unfairly targets programs that serve sustainable and organic farmers. It makes steep […]
House Approves $60 Billion in Budget Cuts
In the early hours of Saturday, February 19, the House of Representatives approved on a near party-line 235-189 vote the government funding bill for the last half of fiscal year 2011. The bill, H.R. 1, would slash roughly $60 billion from the federal budget relative to fiscal year 2010 spending. Three Republicans voted against the […]
USDA Seeking Public Comment on GHG Estimation Tools
On February 18, 2011 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a notice in the Federal Register, seeking public comments on the development of tools and guidance for estimating greenhouse gases (GHG). The project, an effort to provide user friendly tools and guidance to farmers, ranchers and forest land owners interested in assessing the footprint […]
America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to Support Conservation and Working Lands
On February 16, 2011, President Obama released a report outlining the Administration’s plan to enhance conservation of public and private lands through the America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative. The AGO Initiative is a partnership between the Department of Agriculture (USDA ), Department of the Interior (DOI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and White House Council on […]
Love Your Farmer Day A Huge Success
With your help, over 1,000 calls were made to the White House this week in response to the Love Your Farmer Campaign launched on Valentine’s Day. The callers urged the Obama Administration to quickly implement a rule that promises to improve the lives of farmers and ranchers and the prosperity of rural communities by making […]
Obama USDA Budget Proposal a Mixed Bag
On Monday, February 14, President Obama submitted his budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. For sustainable agriculture interests, the budget proposal is a mixed bag, with big cuts to farm bill conservation programs, though mostly good news on discretionary spending accounts. Mandatory Farm Bill Spending President Obama’s proposed budget calls for deep, […]
NSAC Comments on Obama Cuts to Conservation
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release February 14, 2011 Contact: Ferd Hoefner 202-547-5754 NSAC Comments on Obama FY 2012 Agriculture Budget Comments of Ferd Hoefner, NSAC Policy Director: The President’s FY 2012 budget calls for deep cuts to farm bill mandatory spending for farm conservation with over $1 billion in permanent rescissions. As in […]
A Valentine for Farmers and Ranchers
Fighting against the corporate concentration of our food supply is an ongoing battle. Today, you can make a difference. A small handful of giant meatpackers and processors have been underpaying and unfairly treating farmers and ranchers for decades. Please take a few moments of your day this Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday to call the White […]
House GOP Funding Proposal Would Cut NSAC Priority Programs
Post updated 2/15/11 Following a revolt by some of their rank and file on Thursday, House Republican leaders on Friday night released their draft bill to cut government funding for the remainder of the fiscal year that end September 3 by a significantly larger amount then they planned for earlier in the week. The bill […]
Senators Leahy, Grassley Press USDA, DOJ to Follow Up on 2010 Agriculture Competition Workshops
On Wednesday, February 9, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) submitted a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) follow up on the series of workshops held in 2010 regarding […]
No House Appropriations Bill Yet
Last week we reported that House Republican leaders had announced their intention to produce an appropriations bill to cover the last half of Fiscal Year 2011 that would cut domestic programs by $40 billion, while increasing the defense budget, for a net deficit reduction of approximately $32 billion. Agriculture was to take a 14 percent […]
Organic Certification Cost Share Data Publication
On February 9, USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) published updated financial information on its two organic certification cost-share programs: the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) and National Organic Certification Cost Share Programs (NOCCSP). The publication provides a state-by-state overview of all program activity from fiscal year 2008 through to the present, including data from reports submitted […]
LSP Report Evaluates 2010 BFRDP Awards
On Monday, February 7, the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) issued a report evaluating the 2010 grant allocations through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Project (BFRDP), administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NSAC collaborated on the evaluation and report. The evaluation included a phone survey of […]
GMO Alfalfa Approved With No Restrictions? Stay Informed & Take Action
The Obama Administration’s recent decision to allow unlimited, non-restricted commercial planting of genetically-engineered (GE) alfalfa resistant to the herbicide commercially known as Roundup was a huge disappointment to the sustainable and organic agriculture community. With the sudden decision and resulting outcry from organic and consumer groups, including many of our member groups working on this […]