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 […]
Beginning and Minority Farmers
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 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 […]
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, […]
House GOP Funding Proposal Would Cut NSAC Priority Programs
Post updated 2/15/11 Following a revolt by some of their rank and file on Thursday, House Republican leaders on Friday night released their draft bill to cut government funding for the remainder of the fiscal year that end September 3 by a significantly larger amount then they planned for earlier in the week. The bill […]
LSP Report Evaluates 2010 BFRDP Awards
On Monday, February 7, the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) issued a report evaluating the 2010 grant allocations through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Project (BFRDP), administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NSAC collaborated on the evaluation and report. The evaluation included a phone survey of […]
Upcoming USDA Program and Grant Deadlines
In case you haven’t kept track of all of the blogs we’ve posted about USDA conservation and competitive grant programs over the past few months, here is a handy summary of the USDA programs with upcoming enrollment or application deadlines: Sign-up Deadlines for USDA Conservation Programs: Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Organic Initiative, administered by USDA’s […]
40th Conservation Reserve Program General Sign-up Announced
On Friday, January 28, USDA announced that a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up will be held from March 14-April 14, 2011. This is the 40th general sign-up for the CRP and the second general sign-up since 2006. Secretary Vilsack made the announcement today at the National Pheasant Fest in Omaha, Nebraska. The last general […]
USDA Publishes Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program Final Rule
On Monday, January 24, NRCS published its final rule (FR) for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) in the Federal Register. You can download a pdf version of the final rule here. USDA published its interim final rule (IFR) for public comment on January 16, 2009, and subsequently published an amendment to: Clarify […]
2011 Sign-up for EQIP Organic Initiative
On Monday, December 20, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced $50 million in available funding for the 2011 sign-up of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Organic Initiative. The EQIP Organic Initiative, administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), provides financial and technical assistance to certified organic producers and producers transitioning to organic to […]
Senate Omnibus Appropriations Bill Released
(Updated Version — 12/15/10 — of Original Post) The Senate Appropriations Committee released the long-awaited omnibus, government-wide appropriations bill the afternoon of December 14. The $1.1 trillion bill is a less than two percent increase over FY 2010, $26 billion less than what the Obama Administration requested in February, $18 billion more than the long-term […]
USDA Issues FY11 Request for Proposals for CCPI and AWEP
On Tuesday, December 14, USDA published its FY 2011 Request for Proposals for the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) and the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), both of which are administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Both CCPI and AWEP are partnership programs, through which NRCS partners with Indian tribes, State and local […]
USDA Introduces Online Farm Link Tool for Beginning Farmers
On Monday, December 13, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the release of TIP Net, an online tool to help link retiring farmers who have expiring Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts with beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers who want to buy or rent land for their operations. CRP contracts covering millions of acres of […]
Beginning Farmer Advisory Committee Meeting Next Week in DC
USDA’s Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers will be holding a public meeting next Wednesday and Thursday, December 15th and 16th, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. The Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Secretary of the USDA on the development, administration, and improvement of USDA’s beginning farmer programs. The meeting will […]
House Approves Funding for Pigford II Settlement
On Tuesday, November 30, the House of Representatives passed the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, which authorizes nearly $4.6 billion to fund the settlements in two class-action discrimination lawsuits. The measure passed 256-152. It now goes to the President for his signature, ending a long, tortuous, but ultimately successful path to becoming law. The lawsuits […]
Pigford II Settlement Funding Clears Senate
On Friday, November 19, the Senate finally passed a bill to fund the Pigford II class action lawsuit settlement between black farmers and USDA, along with funding for the Cobell settlement between Indian tribes and the Department of the Interior. Also included in the legislation was resolution of tribal water rights claims for the White […]
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Moving Forward
By Amy Bacigalupo, Land Stewardship Project, Farm Beginning Program Director As I addressed the group of 60 participants for the first Project Director’s meeting for USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), I was struck by a strong sense of excitement. It is truly momentous that the 29 projects represented at the meeting are […]
USDA to Host Grant Writing Webinar for Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program
On November 22, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will host a webinar on how to write grants for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). The webinar, lasting from 2:00-3:30pm (EDT), will discuss the program, eligibility, changes in FY 2011, and major “dos” and “don’ts” of writing proposals. The request for applications […]
Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development Seeks Peer Reviewers
The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD), which published its inaugural issue, “Growing New Farmers,” in August 2010, is gearing up for its second issue and seeking to expand its pool of peer reviewers. The JAFSCD is a peer-reviewed online publication focused on the practice and applied research interests of agriculture and […]
Call for Nominations: NRDC’s Growing Green Awards
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has announced the nomination period for its third annual Growing Green Awards, given each year to individuals who have demonstrated original leadership in the field of sustainable food and farming. A Growing Green Award will be given to an outstanding individual in each of the following four categories: Food […]
USDA Calls for Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Applications
On Tuesday, October 26, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) issued a request for applications (RFA) for its Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) for the fiscal year 2011. The application period runs through December 22, 2010, with awards expected to be made by or before October 2011. The farm bill provides […]