On Thursday, April 14, NSAC submitted fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.  The testimony includes NSAC funding requests for sustainable agriculture programs in FY 2012, and explains the importance of each program.  Click here to view a copy of the testimony.

Requests were submitted for programs administered by the National Agricultural Statistical Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Rural Business and Cooperative Service.  Highlights include a $30 million request for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, a request of $600 million and $1.05 billion for direct farm ownership loans and direct operating loans, respectively, and a $30 million request for the Value-Added Producer Grants program.  We also explicitly oppose cuts to farm bill mandatory spending for conservation, beginning and minority farmer programs, community food and direct marketing programs, and rural development.

We will submit our FY 2012 appropriations requests to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee in the coming weeks as well.  Visit the NSAC website to learn more about our annual appropriations work.