On Friday, March 4, the Senate Appropriations Committee released draft Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriations legislation to fund all federal government functions for the last half of the current fiscal year. The bill is the Senate’s counter offer to H.R. 1, the House CR that passed on February 19 and included roughly $60 billion in […]
NSAC’S Blog
House Holds Two Hearings on Agriculture Appropriations
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies held two hearings with top officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). On Tuesday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, along with Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Chief Economist Joe Glauber, and USDA Budget […]
GIPSA Briefings in House and Senate
On February 28, 2011, briefings on the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule were held in both the Senate and House. Chandler Goule of the National Farmers Union moderated a panel of producers in favor of the rule: Mike Weaver, a contract poultry producer in West Virginia for Pilgrim’s Pride; Dan Hodges, […]
GAO Report Highlights Potential Ethanol, Commodity Program Budget Cuts
On Tuesday, March 1, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its first annual report to Congress in response to a new statutory requirement to identify federal programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives, either within departments or government wide, which have duplicative goals or activities. The objectives of the report are to: (1) identify federal programs […]
154 Grassroots Groups Call Budget Cuts Reckless and Unjust
154 grassroots organizations sent a letter to the United States Senate on Monday in opposition to a government funding bill that would slash more than $60 billion from the federal budget for the last half of fiscal year 2011. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) circulated the letter, and the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural circulated it […]
House Passes Two-Week Budget Extension with $4 Billion in Cuts
Earlier this afternoon, the House passed 335-91 a two-week extension of the existing short-term “continuing resolution” (CR) that is keeping the government running at fiscal year 2010 levels. The House extension includes $4 billion in immediate budget cuts, intended to be a down payment on the much deeper cuts contained in H.R. 1, the House […]
Over 185 Groups Urge Congress to Oppose H.R. 1 Cuts to Sustainable Agriculture
On Tuesday, March 1, NSAC delivered two letters to Senate offices in opposition to the sustainable agriculture cuts contained in H.R. 1, the House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR). The first letter was signed by 154 grassroots organizations from throughout the country, while the second letter was signed by 35 national conservation organizations. The common thread, running […]
USDA Announce Process to Resolve Discrimination Claims of Hispanic and Women Farmers
On Friday February 25, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Assistant Attorney General Tony West announced the establishment of a program to resolve the claims of Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who assert that they were discriminated against when seeking USDA farm loans. The program provides up to $50,000 for each Hispanic or woman farmer […]
National Beginning Farmer Survey, Have You Participated?
Data on the challenges faced by today’s young and beginning farmers is hard to come by. That’s why the National Young Farmers’ Coalition, in partnership with the Greenhorns and Beginningfarmers.org, is conducting a national survey to understand what’s working for beginning farmers, what’s not, and what policies they’d like to see in the next Farm […]
USDA Organic Farming Systems Research Conference Coming March 16-18
USDA will sponsor a free conference March 16-18, 2011 in Washington, DC, to examine findings from research on organic farming systems. Attendees include researchers, policymakers, farmers, ranchers, and others interested in learning more about the implications of organic farming research. Major objectives for the conference are: To investigate findings on U.S. research on organic systems, […]
New Movement on Government Funding Negotiations
There were several important new developments on Thursday in the continuing saga of arriving at a government funding bill for the rest of fiscal year 2011. House Republican leaders are getting ready to file a short-term extension of the existing short-term “continuing resolution” (CR) that is keeping the government running at fiscal year 2010 levels. […]
2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey
On Wednesday, February 23, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of the 2009 survey on the contribution of America’s farms and ranches in the production of renewable energy. Conducted as a follow-on to the most recent Census of Agriculture, the survey focused on three principal renewable energy systems: solar panels, wind turbines, […]
ERS Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America
USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) recently released the Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America data set. The tool, an interactive mapping application, provides spatial information (national to county-level) of socioeconomic factors on four broad categories of : People— county demographic profiles including age, race/ethnicity, education, migration and immigration, household size and family composition (from the from […]
Comments and Video from Merrigan on VAPG Interim Rule
On Wednesday, February 23, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan held a press conference call regarding today’s release of the interim final rule for the Value-Added Producer Grant program. Calling VAPG “one of my all time favorite programs,” Merrigan spoke about how the grants fund innovation and entrepreneurship among American farmers and ranchers and provide […]
Organic Seed Alliance Releases “State of Organic Seed” Report
On February 16, 2011, the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) released a survey-based report entitled State of Organic Seed: Advancing the Viability and Integrity of Organic Seed Systems. The report serves as the first comprehensive analysis of the organic seed sector. Although the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) requires the use of organic seed when commercially […]
AFRI Awards to Study Effects of Climate Change on Agricultural and Forest Production
On Friday February 18, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) funding opportunity, awarded three $20 million grants (over 5 years) to Coordinated Agriculture Projects (CAP) to study the effects of climate change on agriculture and forest production. Dr. Tim Martin, of the University of Florida […]
USDA Publishes Interim Rule for Value-Added Producer Grants
In June 2010, the USDA solicited public comments on the proposed rule for implementation of the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program. This morning, after months of anticipation, the agency released the interim final rule. Later this morning USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan will hold a press call regarding the interim rule for VAPG. With the […]
Take Action: Oppose Reckless Spending Cuts
Call Your Senators In the early hours of Saturday, February 19, the House of Representatives approved a government funding bill that would slash more than $60 billion from the federal budget for the last half of fiscal year 2011. The bill (H.R. 1) unfairly targets programs that serve sustainable and organic farmers. It makes steep […]
House Approves $60 Billion in Budget Cuts
In the early hours of Saturday, February 19, the House of Representatives approved on a near party-line 235-189 vote the government funding bill for the last half of fiscal year 2011. The bill, H.R. 1, would slash roughly $60 billion from the federal budget relative to fiscal year 2010 spending. Three Republicans voted against the […]
USDA Seeking Public Comment on GHG Estimation Tools
On February 18, 2011 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a notice in the Federal Register, seeking public comments on the development of tools and guidance for estimating greenhouse gases (GHG). The project, an effort to provide user friendly tools and guidance to farmers, ranchers and forest land owners interested in assessing the footprint […]
America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to Support Conservation and Working Lands
On February 16, 2011, President Obama released a report outlining the Administration’s plan to enhance conservation of public and private lands through the America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative. The AGO Initiative is a partnership between the Department of Agriculture (USDA ), Department of the Interior (DOI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and White House Council on […]
Love Your Farmer Day A Huge Success
With your help, over 1,000 calls were made to the White House this week in response to the Love Your Farmer Campaign launched on Valentine’s Day. The callers urged the Obama Administration to quickly implement a rule that promises to improve the lives of farmers and ranchers and the prosperity of rural communities by making […]
Obama USDA Budget Proposal a Mixed Bag
On Monday, February 14, President Obama submitted his budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. For sustainable agriculture interests, the budget proposal is a mixed bag, with big cuts to farm bill conservation programs, though mostly good news on discretionary spending accounts. Mandatory Farm Bill Spending President Obama’s proposed budget calls for deep, […]
NSAC Comments on Obama Cuts to Conservation
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release February 14, 2011 Contact: Ferd Hoefner 202-547-5754 NSAC Comments on Obama FY 2012 Agriculture Budget Comments of Ferd Hoefner, NSAC Policy Director: The President’s FY 2012 budget calls for deep cuts to farm bill mandatory spending for farm conservation with over $1 billion in permanent rescissions. As in […]