There was much speculation this week that the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees were close to finalizing a farm bill to send to the Super Committee today; however, no agreement has yet emerged. The chairs and ranking members of both committees had agreed in their October 14 letter to the Super Committee, […]
Conservation, Energy & Environment
EPA Proposed Rule for CAFO Information Reporting Falls Far Short
In October, EPA issued a proposed rule for obtaining information from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) under Section 308 of the Clean Water Act. This purposed rule exempts critical information from CAFO reporting requirements, which leaves huge gaps in EPA’s ability to regulate CAFO waste effectively. The proposed rule is required by a settlement between […]
Chicago Council Releases Farm Bill White Paper
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has released a white paper on the next farm bill that the co-chairmen of the council’s agriculture project presented to staff members of the House and Senate agriculture committees and the super committee on September 23. The Council’s proposal is estimated to save $7.5 billion per year, or $75 […]
Senate Passes FY2012 Agriculture Appropriations Package
On Tuesday, November 1, the Senate passed its fiscal year 2012 (FY12) agriculture appropriations bill as part of an appropriations “minibus,” which combined the Commerce-Justice-Science and the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development funding bills as well as the agriculture bill. The minibus passed 69-30, with 16 Republicans, 49 Democrats, and one Independent voting aye. The House […]
“Pick Three” Action Update
Hundreds of you have called and emailed your Senators and Representatives over the last two weeks – thank you for standing up for a fair and healthy farm and food system! To remind readers of current action items, we summarized and linked three alerts below. Urgent Action Needed on the Farm Bill The food and […]
USDA announces awards on organic research
On October 25, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced 23 new grants to research and extension programs working to help organic producers and processors grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. The grants, totaling $19 million, are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through two […]
Groundbreaking Opportunity: The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act
Is supporting your local farmer, visiting your farmers market, CSA, food coop, or other local food source important to you? What about having fresh, local food for your child’s school meals? Or as a farmer or rancher, do you want to figure out ways to add value to your food products to capitalize on sales […]
Local and Regional Food Bill Prepared for Inclusion in New Farm Bill
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release October 27, 2011 Contact: Helen Dombalis, Ferd Hoefner, 202-547-5754 Local and Regional Food Bill Prepared for Inclusion in New Farm Bill Washington, D.C. October 27, 2011 – Today Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine announced that next week they will introduce the Local […]
Beginning Farmer Bill Introduced in Congress to Include in Farm Bill
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition For Immediate Release October 25, 2011 Contact: Ferd Hoefner, Juli Obudzinski, 202-547-5754 Beginning Farmer Bill Introduced in Congress for Inclusion in New Farm Bill Washington, D.C. October 25, 2011 – House and Senate members today announced the introduction of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 [H.R. 3236], a […]
Today is Food Day! Join us in this call to action
Today, Monday 24th 2011, is Food Day. Please join the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) in answering this call to action. Healthy, green, fair, and affordable food is important to all Americans. Today we come together with people across the country who are hosting Food Day events in homes, schools, churches, farmers markets, city halls, […]
Super Fast Farm Bill? Super Fast Update!
Last Monday, the Republican and Democratic leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction suggesting a net $23 billion cut in mandatory farm bill spending over the next decade as their collective recommendation to the Joint Select Committee (hereafter referred to as the Super […]
Senate Votes to End Debate on Agriculture Appropriations Bill
Early in the morning of Friday, October 21, the Senate voted (83-16) to end debate on a fiscal year 2012 (FY12) appropriations package of bills including the FY12 Senate agriculture appropriations bill. No more than 30 more hours of debate will be allowed before the bill is voted upon once the Senate returns from its […]
What? Food and Farm Bill Over in 9 days?
Only once every 5 years do you have the opportunity to truly transform our food and farm system through the federal farm bill. Last Monday the Agriculture Committee leadership proposed to rewrite the food and farm bill in 2 weeks – yes you heard that right, 2 weeks – this is usually a year plus […]
Conservation Stewardship Program 2011 Sign-Up Results
USDA committed more than $191 million a year to enroll 12.75 million new acres in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) in fiscal year 2011. USDA signed 9,630 contracts in 49 states. Under CSP, farmers and ranchers sign five-year contracts to manage, improve, and increase conservation activities that result in environmental benefits on working land. With […]
Agriculture Committee Leader Letter Sent to Super Committee
Over the weekend we reported the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees had not finalized their letter to the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (also known as the Super Committee) recommended cuts to farm bill programs. That letter became final today and has been sent to the Super […]
No Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Letter Yet
The October 14 deadline for the authorizing committees of Congress to send their deficit reduction recommendations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (often referred to as the Super Committee) has passed without a letter from the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Word from the House and Senate Committees with jurisdiction over the farm […]
NRCS Issues Conservation Effects Assessment for the Great Lakes Region
On Thursday, October 13, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) issued the third study in the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) cropland component. The cropland component is intended to quantify the effects of conservation practices on cultivated cropland in the lower 48 states. The Great Lakes CEAP examined the effects of conservation practices on water […]
Agriculture Spending Coming Into Focus in Next Few Days
The Senate may begin consideration of the agricultural appropriations bill on the floor today, even while the House and Senate authorizing committee readies their letter, due tomorrow, to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction detailing proposed cuts to farm bill mandatory spending. According to published reports, the size of the proposed 10-year cut to […]
NSAC Submits Comments to FDA on Co-Management
The Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) was enacted into law at the beginning of this year, and the rulemaking process for the legislation is currently underway, with the proposed rule expected to be submitted for public comment near the start of next year. The FSMA includes several provisions that are related to wildlife and […]
White House Rural Council Releases its “Feedback from Rural America” Report
On June 9, 2011, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Rural Council. Since the establishment of the Council, the President, the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and various senior Administration officials have established an open dialogue with rural America through making nearly 200 visits to rural communities throughout the country. These […]
Conservation Ranks High in Public Survey of Farm Bill Priorities
In a recently released survey of public opinion on agriculture and the environment, the majority of people surveyed approved of priorities that are in line with the NSAC agenda for the next Farm Bill and for federal funding for agriculture. The survey was the third annual survey on behalf of The David and Lucille Packard […]
You watched it, passed it on, now you can take action!
Thanks to all of you that watched the beginning farmer and rancher video below and shared it through your social networks! The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 will be introduced in Congress next week! This is our chance to ensure food security for future generations and new farming enterprises that can bring […]
USDA Releases FY2012 Request for Applications for AFRI Program
This week the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) released four Requests for Applications (RFAs) for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) research program for Fiscal Year 2012. AFRI is USDA’s largest competitive grants program, funding extramural research conducted at federal research agencies, land-grant institutions and other colleges and universities, state agricultural experiment […]
56 Groups Release Conservation Principles to Guide Farm Bill Debate
On Wednesday, September 28, a national coalition of 56 policy and advocacy organizations, including NSAC, released a set of key principles to help guide lawmakers as they write the Conservation Title of the 2012 farm bill and seek ways to trim the federal deficit. According to the group’s press release, the 56 organizations are asking […]