On Friday, October 28, USDA announced $13.5 million in grants to support crop insurance education and outreach in 47 states to ensure that small and underserved producers get the information they need to effectively manage their risk and remain productive. The grants were awarded as part of the fiscal year 2011 funding cycle for two […]
Archives for October 2011
“Pick Three” Action Update
Hundreds of you have called and emailed your Senators and Representatives over the last two weeks – thank you for standing up for a fair and healthy farm and food system! To remind readers of current action items, we summarized and linked three alerts below. Urgent Action Needed on the Farm Bill The food and […]
NSAC Writes Agriculture Committee Leaders on Key Points for Farm Bill
On Friday, October 28, as the staff for the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees prepare for final deliberations on a farm bill proposal to send to the special congressional deficit reduction panel (or super committee), NSAC sent the leaders a letter highlighting some key concerns. The letter addresses three […]
Next Week Key for Agriculture Appropriations and the Farm Bill
The Senate returns from recess on Monday, one day before the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are expected to deliver a farm bill proposal to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (informally known as the “Supercommittee”). In their October 14 letter to the Supercommittee, the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate […]
Black Farmer Settlement Approved by Court
On Thursday, October 27, 2011, a District Court Judge issued a motion to approve the settlement in the Pigford II black farmers’ class action discrimination lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The settlement provides $1.25 billion for tens of thousands of black farmers who were discriminated against by USDA in the 1980s and […]
USDA announces awards on organic research
On October 25, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced 23 new grants to research and extension programs working to help organic producers and processors grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. The grants, totaling $19 million, are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through two […]
Groundbreaking Opportunity: The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act
Is supporting your local farmer, visiting your farmers market, CSA, food coop, or other local food source important to you? What about having fresh, local food for your child’s school meals? Or as a farmer or rancher, do you want to figure out ways to add value to your food products to capitalize on sales […]
Local and Regional Food Bill Prepared for Inclusion in New Farm Bill
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release October 27, 2011 Contact: Helen Dombalis, Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-5754 Local and Regional Food Bill Prepared for Inclusion in New Farm Bill Washington, D.C. October 27, 2011 – Today Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine announced that next week they will introduce the Local […]
Senators Harkin and Johnson Stand Up for Fair Competition
On Thursday, October 20 , Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) presented floor statements in support of the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) livestock competition rule. Earlier in the Senate floor debate, negative remarks made against the rule were made by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS). […]
NSAC urges Congress to support beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers
On Monday, October 24, NSAC joined with 115 other organizations across the country on a sign-on letter to Congress, to advocate for federal programs and policies that would support beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, including tribal producers and farmworkers. The letter was delivered to members of both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, as they […]
Take Action on the Farm Bill
With this much at stake, we wanted to make sure you saw the call to action last week. Only once every 5 years do you have the opportunity to truly transform our food and farm system through the federal farm bill. Last week the Agriculture Committee leadership proposed to rewrite the food and farm bill […]
Beginning Farmer Bill Introduced in Congress to Include in Farm Bill
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release October 25, 2011 Contact: Ferd Hoefner, Juli Obudzinski, 202-547-5754 Beginning Farmer Bill Introduced in Congress for Inclusion in New Farm Bill Washington, D.C. October 25, 2011 – House and Senate members today announced the introduction of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 [H.R. 3236], a […]
USDA Accepting Applications for Agricultural Trade Advisory Committees
The face of America – and of American agriculture – is changing. The number of farms in the United States has grown 4 percent and the operators of those farms have become more diverse in the past five years, according to results of USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture. According to the Census, the numbers […]
Today is Food Day! Join us in this call to action
Today, Monday 24th 2011, is Food Day. Please join the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) in answering this call to action. Healthy, green, fair, and affordable food is important to all Americans. Today we come together with people across the country who are hosting Food Day events in homes, schools, churches, farmers markets, city halls, […]
Super Fast Farm Bill? Super Fast Update!
Last Monday, the Republican and Democratic leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction suggesting a net $23 billion cut in mandatory farm bill spending over the next decade as their collective recommendation to the Joint Select Committee (hereafter referred to as the Super […]
Senate Votes to End Debate on Agriculture Appropriations Bill
Early in the morning of Friday, October 21, the Senate voted (83-16) to end debate on a fiscal year 2012 (FY12) appropriations package of bills including the FY12 Senate agriculture appropriations bill. No more than 30 more hours of debate will be allowed before the bill is voted upon once the Senate returns from its […]
NIFA Awards Speciality Crop Grants and Pre/Post-Doc Fellowships
On October 14, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the award of 29 grants across 19 states to develop science-based tools to address the needs of America’s specialty crop industry. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded the grants, totaling $46 million, through its Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). SCRI supports the specialty […]
What? Food and Farm Bill Over in 9 days?
Only once every 5 years do you have the opportunity to truly transform our food and farm system through the federal farm bill. Last Monday the Agriculture Committee leadership proposed to rewrite the food and farm bill in 2 weeks – yes you heard that right, 2 weeks – this is usually a year plus […]
Senators Grassley and Johnson Advocate for Limits to Farm Payments to Reduce Deficit
On October 14th, Senators Charles Grassley and Tim Johnson submitted a letter to the chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee), recommending the inclusion of their legislation that would generate upwards of $1.5 billion in savings through setting strict payment limits on all commodity farm programs, as well as closing the […]
Conservation Stewardship Program 2011 Sign-Up Results
USDA committed more than $191 million a year to enroll 12.75 million new acres in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) in fiscal year 2011. USDA signed 9,630 contracts in 49 states. Under CSP, farmers and ranchers sign five-year contracts to manage, improve, and increase conservation activities that result in environmental benefits on working land. With […]
BFRDP Proposals Due in November, Grant Writing Webinar on 10/21
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced that the Request for Application (RFA) for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) is now available, and applications are due by Nov. 22, 2011. Projects will be awarded in 2012 and performed between October 2012 and September 2013. Approximately $19 million is expected to […]
Agriculture Committee Leader Letter Sent to Super Committee
Over the weekend we reported the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees had not finalized their letter to the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (also known as the Super Committee) recommended cuts to farm bill programs. That letter became final today and has been sent to the Super […]
No Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Letter Yet
The October 14 deadline for the authorizing committees of Congress to send their deficit reduction recommendations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (often referred to as the Super Committee) has passed without a letter from the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Word from the House and Senate Committees with jurisdiction over the farm […]
USDA Announces 2011 Farmers Market Promotion Program Awards
For Immediate Release October 13, 2011 Contact: Helen Dombalis 202-547-5754 USDA Announces 2011 Farmers Market Promotion Program Awards Washington, DC October 13, 2011 – Today USDA announced the recipients of this year’s Farmers Market Promotion Program awards. The 2011 awards span 149 projects in 42 States and the District of Columbia and total $9.2 million […]