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 […]
Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs
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 […]
Most Want Real Farm Subsidy Reform, but Mega-Farms Want More Taxpayer Money
Our Analysis of Public Comments on USDA’s Actively Engaged in Farming Rule The public comment period on USDA’s proposed “Actively Engaged in Farming” rule recently closed. USDA will now sift through more than 80 comments received to write a final rule, that we hope will be with a commitment real reform. The draft rule, while […]
Release: NSAC Submits Comments on USDA Draft Rule that would continue to allow million dollar subsidy payments to mega-farms
Washington, DC, May 27, 2015 – The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to undertake a major overhaul of its “actively engaged in farming” draft rule to create fair and effective limitations on the subsidies taxpayers provide to commodity farms. Fair and effective enforcement of the farm bill’s payment […]
Millions Still Available to Help Farmers Purchase Land
Please note that this post analyzes loan funding availability for 2015. For a more updated analysis of FSA loan funding, please see our recent posts looking at Commodity, Crop Insurance, and Credit Programs. Are you a farmer? Want more information on Federal Farm and Food Programs? Check out our Grassroots Guide for more information. With less […]
Whole Farm Revenue Protection Policy Reaches First Year Milestone
Early Data Shows Whole-Farm has Increased Sales in its First Year The last day to purchase a Whole Farm Revenue Insurance (WFRP) policy passed on March 15, and the first sales statistics for the new policy are beginning to become clear. To date, RMA has reported that 1046 WFRP policies were sold for the 2015 […]
USDA Proposes to Continue Farm Subsidy Abuse
The USDA proposed its “actively engaged in farming” rule defining eligibility for commodity subsidies…. Read More →
The Farm Bill Reloaded
The House Budget Committee is expected to markup the fiscal year 2016 budget resolution on Wednesday March 18. The Senate Budget Committee is expected to follow suit the next day…. Read More →
Budget Time on Capitol Hill – Farm Bill to be Re-Opened?
Two recent events on Capitol Hill are colliding in a potentially significant way. First, on March 9, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – the scorekeeper for federal legislators on budgetary matters – issued its budget “baseline” that will be used in decision-making on legislative proposals for the balance of this year, including the annual congressional budget resolution process that is about to begin…. Read More →
NSAC Policy Director and Former NRCS Chief Pen Guest Blog for AGree
On February 18, NSAC Policy Director Ferd Hoefner and former NRCS Chief Bruce Knight published the following blog on AGree’s foodandagpolicy.org website. The blog explores the intersection of crop insurance and conservation practices that could improve the health of the land while also increasing yields. The blog was posted in conjunction with the release of […]
House and Senate Bills Would Eliminate Harvest Price Option Subsidy
On Thursday February 12, Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) teamed with Representative John Duncan (R-TN) to introduce legislation in both the Senate (S.463) and House (H.R.892) to eliminate the subsidy for the Harvest Price Option (HPO) within the federal crop insurance program. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that this legislation, if […]
Senate Bill Would Cap Crop Insurance Subsidies
On Tuesday February 3, Senators Shaheen and Toomey introduced legislation to cap crop insurance subsidies at $50,000 per entity. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this payment limit would save the federal government $2.2 billion over 10 years while impacting only 2.5 percent of producers. Currently, the federal government subsidizes, on average, 62 percent of […]
ICYMI — Webinar on New Whole Farm Revenue Protection Crop Insurance Policy
ICYMI – On Wednesday January 21, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), and the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA) presented a national webinar on the Risk Management Agency’s new Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) insurance policy, a new risk management product designed for diversified farms. Crop insurance specialists with […]
Release: NSAC, NCAT and RAFI to Host National Webinar on New Whole Farm Revenue Protection Policy – January 21, 2015
Release: NSAC, NCAT and RAFI to Host National Webinar on New Whole Farm Revenue Protection Policy – January 21, 2015 January 12, 2015, Washington, D.C. — There’s a new crop insurance option now available for diversified farmers – Whole Farm Revenue Insurance – and an upcoming webinar will help farmers understand whether it’s right for them. […]
Farm Bill Changes to Farm Loan Programs Go Final
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has posted a final rule codifying a variety of changes to the farm loan programs as directed by the 2014 Farm Bill. Several of the rule changes were championed by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Tim Walz (D-MN), the lead congressional sponsors […]
Top 14 of 2014: A Look at This Year’s Key Victories for Sustainable Food and Farming
As 2014 comes to a close, we thought we would take a moment to recognize and celebrate this year’s victories for sustainable food and farming. Among the successes? From new or restored farm bill programs that are up and running, important progress on our campaign priorities, hill visits and hearings, and the release of our […]
Farm Microloans Big in 2014
Finding a way to finance a new farming operation before money starts coming in at the end of the growing season is a challenge that all new farmers face. And while some farmers are able to save enough before they start farming, there are always inevitable start-up and annual operating expenses – like buying seeds, […]
It’s a Wrap – This Congress is Over – Final Bills and Letters
Both the House and Senate have now finished, bringing this Congress to a close. A new Congress — the 114th — begins in January. This post summarizes some end of session activity. Legislation Government Spending Bill — The Senate approved the so-called “cromnibus” appropriations bill on Saturday, December 13 and the bill was signed into […]
New Organic Price Elections for 2015 Crop Insurance Announced
December 15, The Risk Management Agency (RMA) recently released 10 new organic price elections for the 2015 crop insurance year. This brings the total number of organic price elections to 26 for the 2015 crop year. While this represents progress there is a long way to go since RMA offers over 100 individual crop policies. […]
Final LSP Crop Insurance White Paper Released with Principles for Reform
On December 9, the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) released a new white paper, How Crop Insurance Hurts the Next Generation of Farmers, the final of three white papers on the federal crop insurance program . This final white paper was released alongside a “Principles of Reform” document that outlines LSP’s ideas for reform of the […]
Enterprise Diversity and Farm Income
The recent news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that farm incomes are down — and expected to recede even more after several years of high incomes linked to historically high crop price — shines a light on something that NSAC has been talking about for many years. NSAC has long advocated for federal […]
White Paper: How the Federal Crop Insurance Program Benefits Mega Farms
On December 2, the Land Stewardship Project released the second of three white papers on the federal crop insurance program. This paper is entitled, Crop Insurance Ensures the Big Get Bigger. This paper makes the point that the top 10 percent of crop insurance subsidy recipients took in more than half of all premium subsidies […]
LSP Releases White Paper on Government Subsidies to Large Corporate Crop Insurance Companies
On November 24, the Land Stewardship Project released a new white paper, Crop Insurance – The Corporate Connection, part of a three-part series entitled How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster. The first white paper outlines the profits being obtained by a few corporations from the multiple subsidies provided them by the federal […]