Access to credit continues to be an urgent need for farmers across the country, especially for small and beginning farmers. Starting a new farm is not unlike starting any other small business–it can require significant upfront capital to get off the ground. USDA recently announced exciting changes to their Microloan Program, including launching a new […]
Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs
10 Ways USDA Can Address Climate Change in 2016
The new year presents a final window of opportunity for the Administration to act upon climate change … Read More →
Top 15 Wins for Sustainable Agriculture in 2015
All that we have to be grateful for in 2015, from promoting conservation to empowering beginning farmers… Read More →
Massive Year-End Funding Bill A Mixed Bag But Includes Significant Wins for Sustainable Agriculture
Final appropriations package for Fiscal Year 2016 will fund programs supporting sustainable agriculture… Read More →
Final Actively Engaged Rule Preserves Unlimited Subsidies for the Biggest Farms
USDA has released the final rule for implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill’s “actively engaged” provision that governs commodity program payment limitations. This final rule governs the ability of non-family partnerships and joint ventures to qualify for hundreds of thousands of dollar of extra federal subsidy payments. This is one of the last final rules […]
Congress Reverses Crop Insurance Reform; Agriculture Appropriations and Nutrition Decisions Loom
Last week, Congress voted to reverse several basic reforms to the federal crop insurance program – reforms that both the House and Senate agreed to as part of a two-year budget deal signed into law by the President back in late October. That budget deal required the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to renegotiate its […]
High Demand for Farm Loans in 2015 with Even Greater Demand on Horizon for 2016
Just like any small business, starting and running a farm is no small feat, and can be quite expensive. Everything from purchasing or leasing land to farm, seeds, equipment, and breeding stock, add up. Often, the timing of farm expenses required at the beginning of a growing season don’t line up perfectly with when revenue […]
Final Budget Deal Raises Spending Caps and Reforms Crop Insurance: Will Reforms Stand?
Shortly after 3am on Friday, October 30, the Senate passed a final budget deal for fiscal years (FY) 2016 and 2017, which the House passed on Wednesday…. Read More →
USDA Awards $7 Million for Risk Management Education
Last week, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced awards totaling over $7 million for risk management education and training programs through the Risk Management Education Partnerships Program and the Targeted States Crop Insurance Education Program. Although farming is risky business, farmers can take a variety of actions to mitigate the inherent risk in farming. This year, […]
Congress and White House Reach Budget Deal: What it Means for Agriculture
As the clock struck 11pm on Monday, October 26, Congress and the White House announced that they had reached an agreement on raising the United States debt limit as well as discretionary spending caps for fiscal years (FY) 2016 and 2017. Debt Limit and Spending Caps The agreement suspends the U.S. borrowing cap (also known […]
NSAC Delivers 2016 Sustainable Agriculture Funding Requests
On Tuesday, October 6, NSAC delivered a letter to members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging them to support sustainable agriculture priorities in the final fiscal year 2016 appropriations legislation. Congress is currently debating funding levels for the remainder of 2016 fiscal year, which began on October 1. On the final day of […]
Organic Production Survey: A Deeper Dive
This blog explores several areas of the 2014 Organic Production Survey that have not been extensively covered already. The areas include: demographics and income, crop insurance use, USDA conservation program participation, and the source of the overall loss of organic acreage…. Read More →
Good News for Organic Farmers: RMA Announces More Organic Price Elections
The US Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has announced 14 new Organic Price Elections to be added to the 28 that are already available, expanding crop insurance options for organic farmers. These new organic price elections will be available for the 2016 crop year. Organic price elections allow organic farmers to insure their […]
RMA Announces that Whole-Farm will be the First Universally Available Crop Insurance Policy
On August 27, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced the expansion of the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) crop insurance policy to every state and every county, making WFRP the first crop insurance policy to be universally available nationwide. WFRP is a single crop insurance policy that insures all of a farmer’s crops and animals under […]
New Farm Storage Financing Options For Meat, Dairy, and Eggs
For most farmers, on-farm storage is essential to keeping food fresh and safe prior to marketing. Whether a grain bin, cold storage for fruits and vegetables, refrigerated milk tank, or even a Used Stainless Steel Three Door Commercial Freezer for meat and dairy products, all farmers need a temperature-stable environment like the ones offered by […]
Avian Flu: What About the Contract Poultry Grower?
There has been a lot of talk about the Avian Flu outbreak from the media, including many reports by outlets that don’t often don’t spend much time covering agriculture. They have covered the 34 million birds that have been euthanized and the skyrocketing cost of conventionally produced eggs. What they have not been covering is […]
Release: FSA Financing Options Improving for Produce Farmers
Washington, DC, July 22, 2015 – For fruit and vegetable growers, especially operators of small and mid-scale family farms, packing and storage sheds serve as critical pieces of their farm operations, allowing fresh produce to be safely washed, sorted, graded, labeled, boxed up, and stored before it heads to market. In an effort to better […]
Improved Financing Options Available for Produce Farmers!
Most produce farmers rely on some combination of cold-storage, washing, and packing equipment to keep food fresh and safe prior to marketing. Whether selling to a regional wholesaler or trucking down to the weekend farmers’ market, the ability to safely wash, package, and store any commodity produced on-farm is a critical component of nearly every […]
What’s in the Senate Funding Bill for Sustainable Agriculture?
Pop quiz: What do Frankenfish, Orca Whales, and whole grains all have in common? Answer: They were all part of the amendment process today as the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced their version of next year’s federal funding bill for food, agriculture, and rural development. Read on for our analysis of the Senate funding bill that […]
National Working Group Recommends Path to Improved Soil Health
Late last month, the National Working Group on Cover Crops and Soil Health released a list of ten recommendations for improving soil health and expanding the use of cover crops to achieve that goal. The Working Group rolled out the recommendations in a presentation to a variety of Washington D.C. based agriculture and conservation groups, including […]
House Committee Passes USDA-FDA Funding Bill, Rejects Reform Amendments
On Wednesday, July 8, the House Appropriations Committee passed the 2016 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which funds most of the programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). You can visit our previous post for a full breakdown of the bill as it stood before debate by the full […]
Guest Post: RAFI Producer Survey on Whole Farm Revenue Protection
We are pleased to run this guest post co-authored by Annie Segal (RAFI Americorps VISTA), Viola Glenn, and James Robinson of the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA. RAFI-USA is an NSAC represented member group. Note that USDA’s Risk Management Agency has just issued a Request for Proposals that calls for projects that will offer training and education to advance the […]
Funding for Risk Management Education Available – Includes Whole Farm Revenue Protection Training
Risk Management Education Partnerships On Wednesday, July 1, USDA’s Risk Management Agency announced via website press release its Request for Applications (RFA) for the Risk Management Education Partnerships Program. Approximately $2.0 million in funds is available for the program. The RFA itself is available on the RMA website as well as on grants.gov here. The […]
Status of Farm Bill Organic Price Election Mandate
Recently, the Risk Management Agency (RMA) posted a new report on its website outlining progress on developing organic price elections. The report was transmitted to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees in March 2015. The report outlines RMA’s progress on and strategies for establishing organic price elections. In a provision NSAC helped champion, the 2014 […]