On July 5, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Peterson (D-MN) released their draft farm bill ahead of the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill markup scheduled for next week beginning Wednesday, July 11. The bill generates $35 billion in savings by cutting over $16 billion from nutrition programs and more than $6 billion […]
Conservation, Energy & Environment
Sportsmen, Conservation, and Agriculture Groups Support National Sodsaver Legislation
A diverse group of sportsmen, scientists, and conservation and agricultural organizations delivered two letters to Representatives Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) this week in support of the Protect Our Prairies Act (H.R. 5879). Representatives Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Tim Walz (D-MN) introduced the legislation in late May as a marker bill. Marker bills […]
Poll Finds Midwest Farmers Support Conservation in Farm Bill
This week, the National Farmers Union released a poll confirming that farmers believe conservation programs and environmental stewardship are integral parts of the farm bill. Two research firms (one Democratic and one Republican) developed a survey and polled 502 farmers across 13 states in the American Heartland about their opinions on the inclusion of conservation […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Success Continues on Day Two of Senate Farm Bill Deliberations
The good news continues! Yesterday we reported on major farm bill floor victories on amendments to improve funding for rural economic development and beginning farmers and to cap commodity subsidies. Today, on the second full day of the Senate’s “vote-o-rama” on the 2012 Farm Bill, NSAC-supported amendments to reform federal crop insurance were victorious, against […]
Update on Soil and Wetlands Conservation Amendment
Last week, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) filed an amendment (S.A. 2438), which is identical to Senator Cardin’s (D-MD) Soil and Wetlands Conservation Amendment (S.A. 2219), detailed in a previous blog post. This amendment would reattach basic soil and water conservation measures to premium subsidies for crop insurance. Chambliss’s version will be considered on the Senate […]
USDA Announces Awards for Mississippi River Basin Initiative
Today, June 19, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced nearly $8.4 million in funding for a new round of partnership projects as part of USDA’s Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). Twenty three projects in nine Midwestern and Southern states were awarded funding. MRBI is a voluntary Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) program administered by […]
USDA Funds New and Expanded Biomass Crop Assistance Program Projects
On June 13, USDA announced that it using $9.6 million to fund two new Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) projects, in New York and North Carolina, and to expand an existing project in Arkansas. The sign-up period for these project areas will begin June 18, 2012 and end on Sept. 14, 2012. USDA’s Farm Service […]
Over 90 Organizations Urge Senate to Support Conservation Amendment
On Wednesday, June 13, more than 90 organizations from around the country delivered a letter to the Senate to urge Senators to support the Soil and Wetlands Conservation Amendment (S.A. 2219) introduced by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and cosponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Al Franken (D-MN). This bill would amend the Agriculture Reform, Food […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: “Hold the Line” on Conservation Cuts
On June 11, NSAC and nearly 30 NSAC member groups joined over 520 organizations in sending a letter to the Majority and Minority leaders of both Houses of Congress asking them to protect the Conservation Title from more cuts. In the Senate version of the 2012 Farm Bill, the Conservation Title sustained heavy cuts to programs […]
House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Passes FY2013 Funding Bill
UPDATED: June 18, 2012 On Wednesday, June 6, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee approved its FY 2013 agriculture appropriations bill. The spending bill covers the majority of the functions of USDA as well as the Food and Drug Administration. In late April, we happily reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2013 agriculture appropriations bill […]
Representatives Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Native Grassland
On Thursday, May 31, Representatives Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Tim Walz (D-MN) introduced bipartisan legislation that would protect our nation’s remaining native prairies and prime grasslands. The Protect Our Prairies Act aims to enact a nationwide “Sodsaver” provision that will tighten farm subsidy program rules to diminish the taxpayer-funded incentive to destroy critical grassland resources. According […]
Senate Farm Bill Reported and Budget Scores Released; NSAC Analysis
On April 26, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved its version of the the 2012 Farm Bill, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, by a vote of 16-5. Exactly four weeks later, on May 24, the Committee actually reported the text of the bill. It is normal for there to be a lag […]
USDA Announces Results of 43rd CRP General Sign Up
On Friday, May 25, USDA’s Farm Services Agency (FSA) announced that it had signed contracts to enroll 3.9 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) as part of its latest general sign up. The vast majority of these acres – roughly 3.3 million – will enter into the program as reenrollments as opposed to […]
USDA Selects New Mississippi River Basin Initiative Wetland Projects
On May 22, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the selection of new Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watershed Initiative (MRBI) projects in five wetland areas covering seven states. USDA funding for the projects will come from the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP), a special component of the Wetlands Reserve Program. The USDA funding, combined with resources from […]
House Agriculture Subcommittee Hearing on Farm Bill Energy Title
On Friday, May 18, the Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing that included testimony on the next Farm Bill’s Energy Title. This is the final hearing in a series of Farm Bill hearings held in Washington D.C. by House Agriculture Subcommittees that featured farmers, ranchers, agricultural organizations, […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Hearing on Commodity and Crop Insurance Subsidies
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a series of farm bill hearings this week to examine commodity and crop insurance programs in advance of writing their version of what will hopefully become the 2012 Farm Bill. The full House Agriculture Committee expects to mark up and vote on a […]
New NRCS National Water Quality Initiative Targets Impaired Watersheds
On Tuesday, May 8, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has launched a new National Water Quality Initiative with $33 million in FY2012 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding. The Initiative is targeted at improving water quality in small watersheds impaired by agricultural use that are listed on a […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Farm State Editorials Call for Re-linking Conservation Compliance and Crop Insurance Subsidy
Changes in the 2012 Farm Bill coming out of the Senate Agriculture Committee are set to expand the role of crop insurance as the single largest crop subsidy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that federal crop insurance subsidies under current law will total $90 billion over the next decade. The Senate Committee-passed bill further increases […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Organic Agriculture
Note to Readers — This is the seventh in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. Overall, the bill that was reported out of Committee last Thursday supports key pieces of the suite of unique programs that serve the organic sector. Most of […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Energy Title
Note to Readers — This is the sixth in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. Major action on the Farm Bill’s Energy Title was mostly about money as the Senate Agriculture Committee marked up the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act – […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Conservation Title
Note to Readers — This is the fourth in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. With respect to conservation issues, previous posts have covered the Conservation Stewardship Program and sodsaver/highly erodible land and wetland conservation. This post covers other conservation title programs. […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Sodsaver and Conservation Compliance
Note to Readers — This is the third in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. With much of the rhetoric and substance of the new, in-the-making 2012 Farm Bill revolving around the rapidly growing and expensive crop insurance title, major corresponding attention […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Conservation Stewardship Program
Note to Readers — This is the second in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. Step Forward, Two Steps Backward for Conservation Stewardship Program First the good news: the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) remains part of the revised conservation title for the 2012 […]
Senate Committee Approves 2013 Agriculture Spending Bill
On Thursday, April 26, while the Senate Agriculture Committee was busy passing their version of the 2012 Farm Bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee was also meeting to approve the Fiscal Year 2013 Agricultural Appropriations bill. The spending bill covers the majority of the functions of USDA as well as the Food and Drug Administration. We […]