We want to thank Becca Klein from NSAC member the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) for her contribution. Becca is the Health & Agriculture Policy Project Director at CLF, working to bring a health perspective to federal food and agriculture policy. Believe it or not, just because I work for an academic […]
Archives for May 2012
A Northeast Farm Bill Agenda Released
Last week, the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG), New England Farmers Union Educational Foundation, Wholesome Wave, and others released A Northeast Farm Bill Agenda: Priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill. Given the diversity of size, scale, and environment in the Northeast, coupled with high population density, the agenda outlines polices that would create better […]
Farm Bill Timeline and Senate Floor Amendment Update
Last week we offered an overview of the possible timing for the next steps in the 2012 Farm Bill process. Without recovering the same ground, this post is a quick update to the earlier overview. As we note in the accompanying post, the big news this week was the release of the Senate Agriculture Committee-approved […]
Senate Farm Bill Reported and Budget Scores Released; NSAC Analysis
On April 26, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved its version of the the 2012 Farm Bill, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, by a vote of 16-5. Exactly four weeks later, on May 24, the Committee actually reported the text of the bill. It is normal for there to be a lag […]
USDA Announces Results of 43rd CRP General Sign Up
On Friday, May 25, USDA’s Farm Services Agency (FSA) announced that it had signed contracts to enroll 3.9 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) as part of its latest general sign up. The vast majority of these acres – roughly 3.3 million – will enter into the program as reenrollments as opposed to […]
For Immediate Release: NSAC Comments on Proposed USDA Microloan Program
For Immediate Release May 23, 2012 Contact: Juli Obudzinski, 202-547-5754 NSAC Comments on Proposed USDA Microloan Program Washington, DC – Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a proposed rule for a new microloan program that would be part of the suite of credit options available to farmers through the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The new […]
USDA Selects New Mississippi River Basin Initiative Wetland Projects
On May 22, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the selection of new Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watershed Initiative (MRBI) projects in five wetland areas covering seven states. USDA funding for the projects will come from the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP), a special component of the Wetlands Reserve Program. The USDA funding, combined with resources from […]
House Agriculture Subcommittee Hearing on Farm Bill Energy Title
On Friday, May 18, the Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing that included testimony on the next Farm Bill’s Energy Title. This is the final hearing in a series of Farm Bill hearings held in Washington D.C. by House Agriculture Subcommittees that featured farmers, ranchers, agricultural organizations, […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Next Steps in the Senate and the House
The burst of activity a few weeks ago around the Senate Agriculture Committee farm bill markup was an important step in the multi-step farm bill reauthorization process. In an earlier 10-post series we summarized action and results of the Senate markup. The next steps in the Senate and the House are the subject of this post. […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Hearing on Commodity and Crop Insurance Subsidies
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a series of farm bill hearings this week to examine commodity and crop insurance programs in advance of writing their version of what will hopefully become the 2012 Farm Bill. The full House Agriculture Committee expects to mark up and vote on a […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Letter Signals Senate Floor Amendment to Cap Insurance Subsidies Per Farm
On Tuesday, May 8, Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders in support of reforming the federal crop insurance program by placing caps on the amount of taxpayer subsidies any one farm could receive annually. The letter represents a first step toward an amendment to the 2012 […]
Guest Blog: “Local Foods, Local Profits” Hill Briefings
We want to thank Justin Tatham from NSAC member, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), for his contribution. Justin is the Senior Washington Representative for the Food & Environment program at UCS, specializing in agriculture, food, and farm bill policy. NSAC Policy Associate Helen Dombalis and Farmer Jack Hedin Earlier this week, the Union of […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Holds Specialty Crop and Nutrition Hearing
Tuesday, May 8th, the House Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture held its fourth of eight hearings in preparation for a 2012 Farm Bill. The hearing consisted of two panels, the first of which discussed specialty crop programs and the second, nutrition assistance. Rep. Pingree and Russell Libby Chairwoman Jean Schmidt (R-OH) opened the […]
What really matters to you?
Dear Supporter, See that photo below? It’s of Mississippi farmers John and Ora Carpenter, meeting with Representative Alan Nunnelee’s office this spring here in Washington, DC. The Carpenters shared stories about how their farm is an integral part of their community, and how federal programs have helped them expand their business and grow a diverse […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Credit Hearing
The House Agriculture Subcommittee held a hearing today, Thursday May 10th, to examine federal credit programs as they take up writing the 2012 Farm Bill. In addition to Chairman Fortenberry (R-NE-1) and Ranking Member Fudge (D-OH-11), Reps. King (R-IA-5), Crawford (R-AR-1), Baca (D-CA-43), and Pingree (D-ME-1) were also in attendance. The panel of witnesses were […]
New NRCS National Water Quality Initiative Targets Impaired Watersheds
On Tuesday, May 8, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has launched a new National Water Quality Initiative with $33 million in FY2012 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding. The Initiative is targeted at improving water quality in small watersheds impaired by agricultural use that are listed on a […]
USDA Announces Funding for SNAP EBT Equipment at Farmers Markets
On Wednesday, May 9, USDA announced $4 million in funding to expand EBT capacity at farmers markets across the U.S. as part of the Agency’s larger mission to improve healthy food access in low-income communities. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, provides benefits to recipients through an Electronic Benefit Transfer […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Farm State Editorials Call for Re-linking Conservation Compliance and Crop Insurance Subsidy
Changes in the 2012 Farm Bill coming out of the Senate Agriculture Committee are set to expand the role of crop insurance as the single largest crop subsidy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that federal crop insurance subsidies under current law will total $90 billion over the next decade. The Senate Committee-passed bill further increases […]
House Budget Committee Adjusts Spending Cap
In a quirky turn of events, the House Budget Committee on Monday modified its decision to use $1.028 trillion as the top-line discretionary spending cap for the House for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Instead, the Committee temporarily adjusted the spending cap to $1.047 for the first three months of the 2013 fiscal year (Oct.-Dec. 2012), […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Commodity and Crop Insurance Subsidy Provisions
Note to Readers: This is the tenth in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. Commodity Title The main storyline of the commodity title emerging from Senate Agriculture Committee markup of the 2012 Farm Bill is the elimination of direct payments and counter-cyclical […]
Farm Service Agency Continues Close Scrutiny of Loans to Contract Poultry and Hog Producers
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides guaranteed loans and direct loans to farmers for the purchase or operation of their farms. FSA can provide lenders with a guarantee of up to 95 percent of the loss of principal and interest on a guaranteed loan. FSA has a duty, both to the public and to farmers […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Research, Education, Extension
Note to Readers — This is the ninth in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. The bill that the Senate Agriculture Committee voted out of committee last week now makes its way to the Senate floor and hopefully will be taken up […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Local Food and Rural Development
Note to Readers — This is the eighth in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. The Senate Agriculture Committee voted the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act — the proposed name for the 2012 Farm Bill — out of Committee on Thursday, […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Organic Agriculture
Note to Readers — This is the seventh in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. Overall, the bill that was reported out of Committee last Thursday supports key pieces of the suite of unique programs that serve the organic sector. Most of […]