Note to Readers — This is the first in what will be a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. The Senate Agriculture Committee voted the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act — the proposed name for the 2012 Farm Bill — out of […]
Conservation, Energy & Environment
House Hearing on Farm Bill Conservation Programs
On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on conservation programs in the next Farm Bill. Among the witnesses was Carl Homan of Homan Dairy Farm in Centre County Pennsylvania, who testified on behalf of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Mr. Homan spoke about how the […]
For Immediate Release: NSAC Comments on Senate Farm Bill Markup and Passage
For Immediate Release April 26, 2012 Contact: Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-5754 NSAC Comments on Senate Farm Bill Markup and Passage Washington, DC – The Senate Agriculture Committee voted a new farm bill out of committee today by a vote of 16-5. The committee bill saves $23 billion over the next ten years according to budget estimates. […]
House Sets Government Funding Allocations
On April 19, we reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee had approved discretionary spending allocations for the coming 2013 fiscal year. The size of the total spending pie, as laid out by the Committee, was completely consistent with the levels set by law in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Today, the House Appropriations Committee […]
Former NRCS Chiefs Support Conservation in Crop Insurance
On Friday, April 20, four former Chiefs of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) wrote a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees in support of reattaching highly erodible land and wetland conservation requirements to federal crop insurance subsidies. This letter comes nearly one month after two former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Draft Farm Bill – Local Food and Rural Development Drilldown
Agricultural policy that bolsters community economic development serves as a cornerstone of NSAC’s advocacy. Within this framework, we support strong Rural Development programs that target small business development and job creation. Similarly, NSAC recognizes the economic opportunities inherent in food produced for local markets and thus urge Congress to address infrastructure and information barriers to […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Draft Farm Bill – Beginning Farmer Drilldown
Overall, while beginning farmers did not fair too poorly in the Senate draft farm bill that was released by the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, they were certainly far from being the highlight of this legislative package. There were some small wins for beginning farmers in the draft conservation and credit titles, which included provisions […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Draft Farm Bill – Organic Drilldown
The Senate’s draft farm bill released on Friday builds on the what we know was included in the Super Committee farm bill proposal from last fall with a few but not all important funding and policy improvements. The Good The best news on the organic front is that the draft farm bill provides mandatory funding […]
15 National Organizations Deliver Conservation Compliance Letter
On Monday, April 16, a group of 15 national conservation, agriculture, wildlife, and renewable energy organizations sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees in support of reattaching conservation compliance requirements to federal crop insurance subsidies. In the letter, the 15 organizations urged Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Writes a Farm Bill
The Senate Agriculture Committee is on track to meet its timeline for marking up a farm bill later this month. Agriculture staffers in the Senate have been meeting throughout the two-week Congressional Easter recess to discuss issues and proposals. The Senate Agriculture Committee leadership is writing a draft of the farm bill – known as […]
Loan Programs that Help Farmers Bridge the Conservation Cost-Share Gap
Background – Why there is a Gap USDA’s conservation programs, as well as numerous state conservation programs, provide financial resources for farmers to implement conservation practices that protect natural resources and the environment. Many of these programs fund only a share of the cost of implementing the practices, and hence are referred to as cost […]
Conservation Loan Program Final Rule Shows Need for Revisions in the Next Farm Bill
Conservation Loan Program Final Rule This month, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) issued a final rule, effective May 18, 2012, for the Conservation Loan Program (CLP). The CLP was included in the 2008 Farm Bill as a stand-alone program to provide guaranteed and direct loans to farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices. It has […]
Shifting Ground for Water Quality Regulation Demonstrates Need for Conservation in California’s Salinas Valley
By Gary Peterson (Editor’s note: We thank Gary Peterson, Development and Communications Director with the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), an NSAC member organizations, for reporting on recent developments concerning agriculture and water quality in California’s Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay region. ALBA brings a unique perspective to this issue with its mission to […]
UPDATE – CRP General Sign Up Ends on Friday, April 13
UPDATE: Since this blog was posted on April 3, USDA has extended the CRP sign up deadline by one week to Friday, April 13. The fiscal year (FY) 2012 general sign up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) ends on Friday, April 6. You can read our blog post from late January for more information […]
30 Organizations Deliver Letter to Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees
On Wednesday, March 28, 30 national conservation organizations delivered a letter to the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees, urging members to “oppose cuts to mandatory agricultural conservation programs in the fiscal year 2013 agriculture appropriations legislation.” The letter notes that since 2002, “the Conservation Title has been uniquely and disproportionately targeted for appropriations cuts” and […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Budget Complicates Farm Bill, but Senate Committee Will Begin Anyway
On Thursday, March 29, the House approved the FY 13 Budget Resolution introduced by Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) by a 228-191 vote, with all Democrats and 10 Republicans voting no. The budget resolution will not be taken up by the Senate and hence will only control spending actions in the House. The resolution […]
Path to the Farm Bill: Senator Harkin Introduces Rural Energy Investment Act
On Thursday, March 29, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the Rural Energy Investment Act (S. 2270) which would reauthorize and provide mandatory funding for several programs in the Farm Bill’s Energy Title. The bill would provide $1.285 billion in farm bill mandatory funding over five years, including support for two farmer-based programs (see below) plus […]
Path to the Farm Bill: Former Agriculture Secretaries Support Conservation Requirements
Former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture Dan Glickman (1995-2001) and Ann Veneman (2001-2005) delivered a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on Wednesday, March 28, urging them to reattach basic conservation compliance requirements to federally subsidized crop insurance in the next farm bill. The letter states: As you renew […]
Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations; NSAC Delivers FY 2013 Appropriations Testimony to Senate
On Thursday, March 29, the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee held its first hearing on USDA’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request. The Subcommittee will consider USDA’s requests as it writes its funding bill for the year. Individual funding requests by Senators and outside groups were also due yesterday. You can download and read our FY […]
Congressional Briefing on Perennial Biomass Crops in the 2012 Farm Bill
On Monday, March 26th, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute hosted a congressional briefing entitled Conservation, Energy Security and Jobs with Biomass Crops? – A Question for the Next Farm Bill. The briefing focused on how the establishment of perennial biomass crops can increase both environmental quality and economic opportunities in rural America. Presentation slides […]
Bill to Improve Rural Energy for America Program Introduced
On Thursday, Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced Senate Bill 2225 that reauthorizes and amends the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP provides agricultural producers and rural businesses with grants and loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The Program also provides grant funding for energy audits and renewable energy […]
House and Senate Move Forward on Different Paths with FY 2013 Appropriations
NSAC Testimony On Tuesday, March 20, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) delivered its fiscal year (FY) 2013 agriculture appropriations testimony to the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. The testimony includes NSAC’s FY 2013 appropriations requests for critical conservation, rural development, marketing, research, credit, and beginning and minority farmer programs. We will deliver matching funding requests […]
USDA Report on Rural Energy for America Program Achievements
This week, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack released a report entitled The Impact of the Rural Energy for America Program on Promoting Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The Report summarizes the energy efficiency and renewable energy projects funded by the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) over the last three years, 2009 through 2011. It also […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: NSAC Releases 2012 Farm Bill Policy Platform
Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released its 2012 Farm Bill policy platform, Farming for the Future: A Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for the 2012 Food & Farm Bill. The platform is the culmination of two years of policy work with a broad, diverse coalition of over 90 grassroots organizations from across the country. It […]