The EPA has just released the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool, an online database system that allows users to track polluters included in the database. Under the Clean Water Act, facilities with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits report discharge data to the EPA. The EPA has pooled and classified some of this […]
Archives for January 2012
FY 2012 CRP General Sign Up Coming Soon; Preliminary FY 2012 CSP Sign Up Results – UPDATED February 1, 2012
UPDATED February 1, 2012 Since our blog post on January 31, USDA announced that the FY 2012 Conservation Reserve Program general sign up period will be March 12-April 6. According to today’s press release, “contracts on an estimated 6.5 million acres will expire on Sept. 30, 2012” and this sign up will attempt to fill […]
NSAC Members Set 2012 Agenda
A movement-building haiku from NSAC’s grassroots planning session Earlier this week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) held its semi-annual member meeting near Reisterstown, Maryland. Every winter, NSAC members discuss, debate, and vote on the coalition’s priorities for the year. In the coming year, NSAC will work with Congress and the Administration to: Create jobs […]
Office of Advocacy and Outreach Launches New Website!
This week, USDA’s Office of Advocacy and Outreach launched their website located at www.outreach.usda.gov. The Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO) was established in the 2008 Farm Bill in order to increase access to USDA programs and to improve the viability and profitability of small farms and ranches, beginning farmers and ranchers, and socially disadvantaged farmers […]
U.S. Conference of Mayors Establishes Food Policy Task Force
At its January meeting in Washington, DC, the U.S. Conference of Mayors established a food policy task force to be headed up by Mayor Tom Menino of Boston and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore. The group will spend the next six months collecting information and drafting a report for consideration at the Conference of Mayors’ […]
Women and Latino Farmers Now Eligible for Larger Discrimination Claims
On January 25th, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Obama Administration has increased the maximum cash recovery for claims from Latino and female farmers and ranchers discriminated against when seeking USDA loans. Now, Latino and female farmers claiming discrimination in the USDA loan process between 1981 and 2000 are eligible to receive up to $250,000, […]
USDA Taking Applications for Rural and Farm Energy Funding
On January 20, USDA announced that it is taking applications for Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) funding. For FY2012, USDA has $25.4 million in budget authority for REAP, which will support at least $12.5 million in grant funding and approximately $48.5 million in loan guarantees. USDA is taking applications for all components of the […]
Beginning Farmer Land Contract Program Launches
For Immediate Release January 19, 2012 Contact: Ferd Hoefner, Juli Obudzinski, 202-547-5754 Beginning Farmer Land Contract Program Launches Washington, DC January 19, 2012 – As of January 3, 2012, the Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher Land Contract Guarantee Program is available nationwide. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) issued the final rule for this […]
New Regulatory Certainty Program Announced in Minnesota
On Tuesday, January 17, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, and USDA’s Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service Dave White met in Minnesota to announce a new partnership between the State, USDA, and EPA. Through the partnership, producers would receive immunity, also known as […]
Funding Available for Organic Research
On Tuesday, January 17th, 2012, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced the release of its 2012 Request for Applications (RFA) for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), which provides grants to academic, private, and non-profit research institutions to investigate research issues related to organic production. Applications are due on March 9th, […]
USDA Announces CIG Funding for Water Quality Markets
On Friday, January 13, USDA announced the availability of $10 million for water quality credit trading projects through the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. According to USDA’s vision of water quality credit trading, “a producer who implements conservation practices to reduce water quality pollutants can also benefit by generating water quality market credits that could […]
EPA Releases Farm, Ranch & Rural Advisory Committee Recommendations
The EPA has released a Report from its Farm, Ranch & Rural Advisory Committee that was presented to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in December 2011. The Committee, as reconstituted under the Obama Administration, held its first meeting in September 2010. Administrator Jackson charged the Committee at the meeting with preparing recommendations regarding water quality issues […]
Changing Landscape for Biofuels in 2012
A number of actions at the end of 2011 and early 2012 may result in a changed landscape for biofuels in 2012. EPA Sets Renewable Fuel Standards for 2012 On January 9, EPA issued a final rule with standards for the Renewable Fuel Standards Program (RFS2) in 2012. A link to the final rule, a […]
It’s Time: Help us Speak up for Sustainable Agriculture
Check out our Path to the 2012 Farm Bill blog series for updates on the 2012 Farm Bill process – and be sure to sign up for NSAC Action Alerts to stay in the loop on speaking out and taking action! The summer’s bounty may feel far away, but even in January, farmers and ranchers […]
2012 Conservation Stewardship Program Sign-Up Extended
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release January 10, 2012 Contact: Greg Fogel or Ferd Hoefner 202-547-5754 Farmer Deadline for Conservation Stewardship Program Sign-Up Extended until January 27 Washington, D.C. January 10, 2012 – The cutoff date for farmers and ranchers to apply to participate in the 2012 sign-up for the Conservation Stewardship Program has […]
2012 Conservation Stewardship Program Sign-Up Period Extended
INFORMATION ALERT 2012 Conservation Stewardship Program Sign-Up Extended On Friday, December 9, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that the fiscal year (FY) 2012 ranking period cutoff for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is January 13, 2012. Given the busy holiday season time frame, on January 10 NRCS extended the ranking period cutoff date […]
NRCS Funding New Mississippi River Basin Initiative Projects
On January 3, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) issued a notice that it is accepting proposals for new projects under the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). Proposals are due March 19, 2012. Under the MRBI, NRCS provides financial assistance to farmers in areas covered by MRBI projects who undertake conservation practices specified […]
Deadline for FY2012 CIG Pre-Proposals due January 31
On Wednesday, January 4, USDA issued a press release to remind program applicants that the deadline to submit a pre-proposal for a fiscal year (FY) 2012 Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) is January 31. You can download the FY 2012 CIG Announcement of Program Funding from USDA’s CIG webpage. Those who are interested in proposing a […]