Editor’s Note: The post below is from NSAC member organization California Climate & Agriculture Network (CalCAN) on the recent Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, California. CalCAN is a statewide coalition that advances state and federal policy to realize the power of climate solutions offered by sustainable and organic agriculture. As highlighted in the […]
Conservation, Energy & Environment
Farm Bill Negotiators Hold First Public Meeting
Growing a more just and sustainable food and farm system through the farm bill, a massive package of legislation that is passed roughly every five years, is among the main priorities of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). Congressional negotiators just held their first official public meeting to discuss the nation’s next farm bill, which […]
What’s at Stake: Tiny But Mighty Farm Bill Programs
Editor’s Note: The 2014 Farm Bill expires on September 30th. If the next farm bill is not finalized before that date, numerous “tiny but mighty” farm bill programs that support family farmers and food-producing communities will effectively shut down in terms of new funding and grant opportunities for fiscal year 2019. These workhorse programs, which […]
Democratic Congress Members, NGOs Rally for Farm Bill Conservation Programs
Over 100 House Democrats sent a unified message to farm bill conferees this week – the final 2018 Farm Bill must retain critical conservation programs and environmental protections. The letter, which was led by Representatives Donald McEachin (D-VA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), and Jared Polis (D-CO) and signed by 104 other House Democrats, underscored to House […]
RELEASE: Major Ag States Stand to Lose Billions in Conservation Dollars Under House Farm Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Major Ag States Stand to Lose Billions in Conservation Dollars Under House Farm Bill New report shows losers far outnumber winners if 2018 Farm Bill eliminates CSP Washington, DC, August 23, 2018 – Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released a new […]
Sunny in Seattle: Recapping NSAC’s 2018 Summer Member Meeting
Editor’s Note: This piece was written by NSAC Grassroots Fellow Stephanie Henry with Associate Director for Communications Reana Kovalcik. Stephanie Henry is NSAC’s Summer 2018 Grassroots Intern. After her internship, Stephanie will be returning to Fort Wayne, Indiana where she is extensively engaged in the growth and development of the regional and statewide local food systems. […]
Time Running Out to Sign up for Continuous Conservation Reserve Program
Farmers and landowners have less than one week remaining to sign-up for the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP), a federal conservation program that pays farmers to install partial field conservation practices, primarily conservation buffers or wildlife habitat. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) ended a nearly yearlong freeze […]
Sustainable Agriculture Groups Awarded USDA Conservation Innovation Grants
The natural resource and environmental challenges of agriculture are constantly evolving. In order to keep pace, farmers and ranchers must continuously innovate and implement targeted solutions to the specific challenges of their region, climate, and farm type. The federal farm bill’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program is designed to help farmers and farmer-focused organizations to […]
NSAC’s Guide to the 2018 Farm Bill Conference Process
As we barrel toward the expiration of the 2014 Farm Bill on September 30, both the House and Senate have now passed their respective versions of what they hope will become the next farm bill. The House passed its version on June 21 by a narrow and strictly partisan margin of 213-211. The Senate passed […]
NSAC Members Highlight Importance of Farm Bill’s Largest Conservation Program
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is the nation’s largest conservation program and the only one that tackles resource concern protection and enhancement from a comprehensive approach. National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)’s member organizations work directly with the farmers and ranchers who utilize this program, and recently three NSAC member organizations helped tell the story […]
Senate Farm Bill Offers Hope to Sustainable Agriculture Advocates
On June 28, the Senate passed its version of the 2018 Farm Bill with strong, bipartisan support – 86 Senators voted in favor of passage, and only 11 against it. The Senate’s swift movement on their bill keeps hope alive that a final bill might be finished before the 2014 Farm Bill expires on September […]
COMMENT: Senate Farm Bill Paves the Way for Farmer-Forward Farm Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Senate Farm Bill Paves the Way for Farmer-Forward Farm Bill National Sustainable Agriculture praises bill, but laments lack of action on crop insurance reform Washington, DC, June 28, 2018 – Upon passage today of the Senate farm bill, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition […]
Farmers Take Sustainable Agriculture Priorities to Congress
Last week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) hosted our second farmer fly-in of 2018, bringing in farmer advocates from across the country to make their priorities known on Capitol Hill. Ten growers and advocates from Alabama, California, Mississippi, Montana, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, Oregon, Michigan, and Vermont took time out of their busy schedules […]
Senate Rejects Rescissions Cuts to Farm Bill Programs
On June 20, the Senate rejected the Administration’s rescissions package – an attempt to cut billions of much-needed dollars from vital programs, including farm bill programs – by a vote of 48-50. The House had already passed it on a party line vote, meaning that had the rescissions package made it through this initial procedural […]
A Tale of Two Farm Bills
Editor’s Note: You can find NSAC’s latest “Action Alert” and tips on how to engage in the farm bill process here. The Senate is poised this week to consider its bipartisan version of the 2018 Farm Bill, which was passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee 20-1 earlier this month. The Senate bill, while far from […]
COMMENT: President’s Rescission Package is Direct Attack on Farm Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net President’s Rescissions Package is Direct Attack on Farm Bill National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition urges Senate to reject nearly $1 billion in farm bill cuts Washington, DC, June 18, 2018 – The rescissions package being considered by the Senate this week would pull the […]
Path to the 2018 Farm Bill: Senate Agriculture Committee Advances Farm Bill
Every five years or so, Congress reauthorizes the federal farm bill, a large and complex package of legislation that affects all facets of food and agriculture policy in the U.S. The current farm bill, which Congress passed in 2014, expires on September 30, 2018. The 2018 Farm Bill must be passed before September 30 in […]
COMMENT: Senate Agriculture Committee Passes Farmer-Forward Draft Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Senate Agriculture Committee Passes Farmer-Forward Draft Bill NSAC optimistic as Senate Agriculture Committee farm bill moves to floor Washington, DC, June 13, 2018– In response to the Senate Agriculture Committee passage of Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) […]
Draft Senate Farm Bill: Conservation
This is the first post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the draft farm bill released on June 7, 2018 by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Subsequent posts focus on: local/regional food systems and rural development, research and seed breeding, organic agriculture, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, and crop insurance and commodity subsidies. The bill is expected to be considered and “marked-up” (aka […]
COMMENT: Senate Committee Leadership Produces Bipartisan Draft Farm Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Senate Committee Leadership Produces Bipartisan Draft Farm Bill National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition applauds provisions for sustainable agriculture, family farmers Washington, DC, June 8, 2018 – Following the Senate Agriculture Committee’s release of its draft farm bill, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released the […]
Enrollment Resumes for Continuous Conservation Reserve Program
After a year of frozen enrollment, this week the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced it would reopen enrollment in the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP). CCRP pays farmers to install partial field conservation practices, primarily conservation buffers or wildlife habitat. Farmers and landowners may enroll such land at any time […]
New Report Reveals Gaps in Enforcement of Conservation Compliance
Each year, billions of taxpayer dollars are used to subsidize farm bill programs (e.g., commodity programs and crop insurance). In exchange, farmers and ranchers who benefit from those programs are required to take certain basic steps to conserve our shared natural resources, specifically soil and wetlands. These expectations are codified in law through what is […]
Enrollment for Continuous Conservation Reserve Program Unfrozen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Enrollment for Continuous Conservation Reserve Program Unfrozen National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition applauds reopening of enrollment Washington, DC, June 1, 2018 – Today, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced it would resume Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) enrollment following a freeze initiated last year on enrollment of any new […]
Administration Seeks to Poach Nearly $1 Billion from Agriculture Programs
Last budget cycle, advocacy groups like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) helped to push a strong budget package through Congress, one which the President ultimately – if reluctantly – signed. Immediately after that budget deal was done and a fiscal year (FY) 2018 appropriations omnibus was delivered (with an extra $2 billion for agriculture […]