After months of uncertainty and start-and-stop negotiations between Congress and the White House, last week congressional leaders finally announced a two-year budget agreement. In addition to setting top-line funding levels so that the government can keep running, the budget deal sets annual discretionary spending caps for defense and non-defense programs for fiscal years (FY) 2020 […]
Archives for July 2019
Farmer Outreach Needed to Increase Adoption of Research Innovations
U.S. agriculture relies on innovations and new technology to support not continued productivity and to increase resilience within our farm and food systems. Investment in publicly funded agriculture research, however, has stagnated over the several decades, even though the need to equip farmers with new tools to address new challenges is increasingly dire. Support for […]
$9 Million in Farm to School Awards Brings Local Food to Schools, Bolsters Farm Sales
School is out for the summer, but that doesn’t mean efforts to connect schools with their local growers have stopped. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced a record level of funding – over $9 million – for projects funded through the Farm to School Grant Program. […]
Demolition by Relocation: ERS and NIFA Moving Day Looms Closer
Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee took the latest action in the ongoing, collaborative effort to reverse the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) relocation of two core research agencies from Washington, D.C. to Kansas City, Missouri. The Committee called on Dr. Scott Hutchins, Deputy Undersecretary for USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area to […]
Taking Matters into Their Own Hands: Farmers Urge USDA to Ensure Rights in Upcoming Rulemaking
Poultry, hog, and cattle growers from across the country stepped off their farms and stood up this week to consolidation, grower exploitation, and market manipulation by large meatpackers and processors (also called integrators). Meeting in Washington D.C. earlier this week, growers traveled from North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, West Virginia, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota […]
USDA Updates Options for Cover Crop Termination
Cover crops are a critical tool that farmers can use to improve soil health, reduce erosion, retain moisture, and suppress weeds. Especially as farmers are up against devastating floods, drought, and unpredictable weather and pressures, cover crop adoption is an essential practice to build resilient systems and mitigate risk. Despite these clear benefits for risk […]
USDA Grant Funding Now Available to Support Farmers of Color and Military Veterans
Historically, farmers of color and military veterans have struggled to access vital farm programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These disparities have existed for a number of reasons, including inadequate outreach to these communities by USDA, as well as institutional discrimination. In order to better serve farmers of color and veteran farmers, […]
Child Nutrition Reauthorization on the Horizon
Much to the surprise of many advocates – including those of us at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) – 2019-2020 may just turn out to be the year that Congress finally rewrites the nation’s outdated child nutrition laws. Congress typically revisits child nutrition programs and policies every five years in a single omnibus bill […]
$2 Million Available to Ramp Up Farm Stress Response
Farmers and ranchers across the country are in distress. Plummeting farm incomes, market instability, extreme weather patterns, and a thin disaster safety net has pushed many to bankruptcy, foreclosure, and even suicide. Farm Aid (an NSAC member) has seen a 109 percent increase in distressed farmer calls over the past year on their farmer hotline […]
From the Farm to the Hill: NSAC Hosts FY 2020 Farmer Fly-in
Last week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) brought in over a dozen farmers and advocates for the Coalition’s second “farmer fly-in” of 2019. Fly-in advocates from ten different states across the country came to DC to champion the federal programs important to them and their communities before congressional appropriators. Currently, Congress is negotiating federal […]
Cover Crops – Good for Crop Yields, Soil Health, and Bottom Lines
The benefits of cover crops have long been known to farmers, and today, they are also increasingly being studied by agricultural researchers. Despite their benefits to crop yields, soil health, and farmers’ bottom lines, however, many obstacles to cover crop adoption still remain. One significant barrier for many farmers is the cost of introducing cover […]
USDA to Tackle Corporate Concentration in Livestock Sector
Rising consolidation among meatpacking and processing companies over the past few decades has steadily eroded fair competition within the poultry and livestock industries. Despite years of clamoring from producers and advocacy organizations like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) for legislation and regulations needed to address this problem, progress has so far been painfully slow […]