We have been fielding lots of questions in the past few weeks following the congressional meltdown on the new farm bill. This is not surprising, given Congress’ failure to date to either pass a new farm bill or to enact a short-term extension of the existing farm bill before the farm bill expires at midnight, […]
Archives for September 2012
USDA Announces 2012 Farmers Market Promotion Program Awards
Today USDA announced the recipients of this year’s Farmers Market Promotion Program awards. The 2012 awards span 131 projects in 39 States and total over $9 million in funding. The full list of projects can be found here. The Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) aims to increase and strengthen direct producer-to-consumer marketing channels. Through a […]
Congress Votes to Slash Conservation Spending, Extends FY 2012 Funding Levels
The Senate voted (67-31) this morning to proceed to a vote to pass a 6-month continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded at FY 2012 levels through March 27, 2013. The final vote will likely occur sometime this weekend, slowed down by several procedural moves related to votes on extraneous matters. It may take […]
NCAT Webinar: NRCS Standards and Organic Farming Biodiversity Requirements
On Thursday, September 27, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) will host a webinar at 1 p.m. (EDT) on how the NRCS Conservation Practice Standards can help organic farmers and ranchers meet the National Organic Program‘s (NOP) regulations for biodiversity conservation. The webinar will feature a panel of three speakers, all with extensive experience […]
Bill Introduced to Assist Farmers in Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Proceedings
This week, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the Family Farmer Bankruptcy Tax Clarification Act of 2012 (S.3545). The Act is intended to overturn the ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court case Hall v. United States, a case that addressed the status of government claims for taxes in a Chapter 12 bankruptcy […]
Revised Version: Obama Administration Details Sequestration Cuts
On Friday, September 14, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a preliminary outline of how it would implement automatic budget cuts (known as sequestration) across government programs, as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). In early August 2012, Congress passed the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, which forced the Obama […]
Path to 2012 Farm Bill: Expiration, Election, and ???
It’s official. A spokesperson for House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) said today they are throwing in the towel on any farm bill action this week in the House. Neither a new farm bill nor an extension of the existing farm bill will be brought up for a floor vote. The September 30 expiration […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Letter to Protect Organic Programs
Today, House Organic Caucus co-chairs and House Agriculture Committee Members sent a bipartisan letter to the House leadership regarding the core organic programs that expire on September 30 unless Congress takes action to reauthorize and fund these programs. A number of beginning farmer, rural development, and marketing programs are in the same situation. In the letter, […]
Guest Post: Regional Food Systems Need Financial Services to Flourish
This post, written by Bob Heuer of the Illinois Local Food and Farms Council, was previously published on Civil Eats on September 13, 2012 and has been reposted with permission. “I’m the only middle man I like,” farmer Bill Warner says of his preference for a direct marketing business model that’s become known as “retail […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Not Now, Maybe Later; And Meanwhile, Conservation Programs Shut Down; Sequestration Cuts to be Revealed
Congress returned this week from its summer recess with questions abounding on the fate of the 2012 Farm Bill. After less than one short week in session, a bad situation has unfortunately grown worse, not better. Conservation Programs Shut Down On Thursday, September 13, the House approved a “continuing resolution” (or CR for short) to […]
Action Alert – 2012 Farm Bill: It’s Now or Never
Dear Supporter, This is it. It’s make or break time for the 2012 Farm Bill. What’s on the table? Hands-on training and tools for beginning farmers and ranchers. Support for cutting-edge organic and sustainable research. New infrastructure – like ‘food hubs’ and innovative marketing tools – that helps farmers take advantage of […]
Action Alert – Congress – don’t play politics with disaster aid.
Dear Supporter, In the face of the most disastrous, widespread drought in a generation, what’s the worst possible thing Congress could do? Play politics with disaster aid? It’s happening. Cut conservation programs – the very ones that help farmers protect themselves from the worst ravages of drought? It’s about to happen. Help us tell Congress […]
30 Organizations Warn Against Cutting Conservation to Pay for Drought Aid
On Tuesday, September 11, 30 organizations including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation partnership delivered a letter to Congress rejecting the notion that cuts to farm bill conservation funding should be used to pay for short-term disaster assistance. The Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012 (H.R. […]
Continuing Resolution Would Stop Key Conservation Programs in 2013
On Monday evening, September 10, the House Rules Committee posted the Continuing Resolution (CR) agreed upon by congressional leaders to fund the government for the next six months. The bill is expected to be voted on in the House on Thursday and in the Senate after that. The overall goal is to avoid a government […]
Poll Finds Farmers Oppose Cutting Conservation to Fund Drought Assistance
Last week, the National Farmers Union (NFU) released a poll confirming that farmers believe conservation programs are vital in helping to deal with drought. Two research firms (one Democratic and one Republican) polled 502 farmers across 13 states in the American Heartland and found that an overwhelming 79 percent of respondents view conservation programs as […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Just Say No to Separate Disaster Bill
On Friday, September 7, the two major general farm organizations and 11 commodity groups wrote a letter (PDF) to Senate leadership to urge them not to pass a stand-alone farm disaster bill in September. The letter urged lawmakers to deal with drought relief as part of a comprehensive new five-year farm bill. The House passed […]
New Data Shows CSP Support for Farmers Tops EQIP Support in Key Agricultural States
As enrollment in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) tops 50 million acres later this month, more and more producers are conserving soil, water, wildlife habitat, and other critical resources across the country through this stewardship incentive program. In fiscal year 2011, the value of CSP contracts exceeded the value of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) […]
Action Alert: Not on our watch.
September: it’s harvest time. Corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, apples and more are all coming in from the fields… as well as, with any luck, a new 2012 Farm Bill! It’s been pretty quiet on the farm bill front here in Washington, DC lately – legislators have been at home all month, meeting with folks like you. […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Congress Returns to DC with No Clear Path Forward
Earlier this month, when Congress left the heat and humidity of the DC summer to go on August recess, the fate of the 2012 Farm Bill remained unclear. (If you need a refresher on where we are in the process, recall that the House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the bill in July, but […]
USDA Issues New CEAP Report and Environmental Indicators Report
On Thursday, August 30, NRCS Chief Dave White announced the release of the report Assessment of the Effects of Conservation Practices on Cultivated Cropland in the Missouri River Basin. The report is a comprehensive look at the effects of NRCS conservation practices on the approximately 510,000 square miles that the basin covers. The basin extends […]
USDA Launches Organic Literacy Initiative
On Tuesday, September 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a series of resources as part of its new Organic Literacy Initiative, an effort to help connect current and prospective organic farmers, ranchers, and processors with the USDA resources available to them. The purpose of the Organic Literacy Initiative is to provide USDA staff as […]