On April 19, USDA’s Farm Services Agency (FSA) issued a Notice that the agency was setting a deadline for Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) project proposals. Farmers participating in approved projects are eligible for payments to establish bioenergy crops as well as an annual payment. Project proposals must be submitted by May 27 to FSA […]
Conservation, Energy & Environment
NSAC Submits Comment on Development of Guidelines to Measure GHGs and Carbon Sequestration
On Tuesday, April 19, NSAC responded to a request for comments by USDA on its intent to develop technical guidelines and methods to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon sequestration for agricultural and forestry activities. The 2008 Farm Bill directed USDA to prepare technical guidelines that outline methods to measure the carbon benefits from […]
Beginning and Minority Farmer Conservation Set-Asides: FY 2010 Results
With generous assistance from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff in the Resource Economic, Analysis and Policy (REAP) Division, NSAC has assembled the following brief report on farm bill conservation program assistance targeted to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers for the fiscal year 2010 enrollment period. What is REAP? The REAP Division’s […]
REAP Interim Final Rule and Notice of Funding Availability
On Thursday, April 14, USDA issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) which is effective immediately. USDA is taking public comments on the IFR until June 13, 2011. NSAC appreciated the IFR ranking priority for funding to small farms. NSAC also approves of the rule’s extending REAP funding […]
Congress Passes FY 2011 Budget, Cuts Billions from Agriculture
On Thursday, April 14, Congress passed a final 6-month continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. The CR cuts $42 billion relative to FY 2010 levels for non-defense spending, but couples that with a $4 billion increase in defense spending, for a net decrease of approximately $38 […]
House Hearing on the State of the Poultry Industry
On Wednesday, April 13, the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the State of the Poultry Industry. The three witnesses included a Virginia poultry grower representing the Virginia Poultry Federation, the chairman of an Iowa turkey processing company testifying on behalf the National Turkey Federation, and […]
Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Hearing on Renewable Fuels
On Wednesday, April 13, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee held a hearing on domestic renewable fuels, with a focus on corn ethanol. Witnesses on the first two panels included USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and officials from EPA and the Department of Energy who work on renewable fuel issues. They were followed by a […]
EWG Report Calls Soil Erosion “Far Worse than Official Estimates”
On Wednesday, April 13, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a new report on soil erosion in Iowa. The report, entitled Loosing Ground, states that soil in Iowa and other Corn Belt states is “being swept away at rates many times higher than official estimates.” The findings are based in part on data from aerial […]
Congress Releases Draft 6-Month Continuing Resolution
In the early morning of Tuesday, April 12, Congress released a draft of the 6-month continuing resolution (CR), agreed to by House and Senate Democrats and Republicans late last night. The CR would cut $42 billion relative to FY 2010 levels for non-defense spending, but couples that with a $4 billion increase in defense spending, […]
National Agricultural Landscapes Forum in Review
On Thursday and Friday, April 7-8, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), along with the Farm Foundation and American Farmland Trust, presented a two-day forum on landscape integrity and water security in the 21st century. As outlined in an earlier blog post, the National Agricultural Landscapes Forum followed a series five public meetings to gather […]
USDA Extends EQIP Organic Initiative Sign-up for FY 2011
On Monday, April 11, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced an additional sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program’s (EQIP) Organic Initiative for 2011. Certified Organic and Transitioning-to-Organic producers will now have until May 20, 2011 to sign up for the Organic Initiative for this ranking period. While applications for the program are […]
Farmers Defend Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture Programs
As Congress worked to reach a budget deal and avoid a government shutdown this week, more than 30 farmers and farm advocates from NSAC member groups in 18 states spread out over Capitol Hill to defend conservation and sustainable agriculture programs from reckless spending cuts. The message was delivered to key members of the Agriculture, […]
Senate and House Action on Legislation to Limit EPA Regulation of GHGs
On Wednesday, April 8, the Senate rejected four legislative riders that would have limited EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The riders were offered for attachment to a small business bill. The amendment offered by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and James Inhofe (R-OK) came closest to passing by a […]
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Leadership Testifies at House Appropriations Hearing
On Tuesday, April 5, Harris Sherman, USDA Undersecretary of Natural Resources and Environment, and Dave White, Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. The hearing focused on the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget, which proposes deep […]
Guest Post: LSP Letter to USDA on Conservation
Mark Schultz, the Policy and Organizing Director for Minnesota-based Land Stewardship Project, an NSAC member organization, recently sent the following letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack in response to the Obama Administration’s proposal to Congress to slash federal farm conservation program spending. The letter was subsequently posted on the LSP website, and we reprint it here […]
154 Groups Deliver Letter Opposing “Riders” to Appropriations Bill
More than 150 national organizations, including NSAC, delivered a letter to both Senate and White House leadership on Friday, April 1, opposing the attachment of non-germane legislative amendments, or “riders,” to the fiscal year (FY) 2011 appropriations bill, which Congress is likely to vote on next week. The same letter was sent to Senate Majority […]
Farm Bill Debate Starts with 2011 Funding Bill
While most commentaries on the 2012 Farm Bill treat it, quite logically, as a coming attraction, in many key respects the battle is already joined. Understanding why that is the case requires some insight into the strange world of congressional budgeting. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriations bill that Congress and the Administration are trying […]
House Passes Bill to Limit EPA Authority While Senate Considers EPA Amendments
On Thursday, March 31, the House of Representatives passed the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011 (H.R. 872), a bill that would prohibit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from requiring entities to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Eliminations System (NPDES) permit for the application of pesticides near navigable waters, so long as they are […]
EPA Farm, Ranch & Rural Communities Committee Meeting
On March 29 and 30, the EPA Farm, Ranch & Rural Communities Committee met in Arlington VA. The Committee overseen by EPA Agricultural Counselor Larry Elworth is a federal advisory committee to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on agricultural issues relevant to EPA. Administrator Jackson has requested that in 2010-2011 the Committee focus on agriculture and […]
CAFO Litigation Update
Michigan Court Rules State Can Require CAFO Permits Before a Spill On Tuesday, March 29, the Michigan Court of Appeals in the case Michigan Farm Bureau v. Department of Environmental Quality upheld Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Rule 2196. That Rule requires a CAFO to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit […]
Spanish Edition of NSAC’s Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill
A result of a coordinated effort between NSAC and the Agriculture and Land-Base Training Association, the Spanish Edition of the Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill is now available to download from our website. The Spanish edition of the Guide walks you through seven of the 2008 Farm Bill programs important to sustainable agriculture. […]
You’ve Got Mail
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack’s inbox was brimming this week with letters from farmers and advocates for USDA Conservation Programs. Hundreds responded to our action alert calling for letters to the Secretary asking him to stand up for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Wetlands Reserve Program(WRP). As the Obama Administration negotiates with the House over […]
EPA Farm, Ranch & Rural Communities Committee Meets March 29-30
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Farm, Ranch & Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC) meets next Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29-30, at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington VA. The 29-member Committee is a Federal Advisory Committee to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, chaired by Dr. Steven Balling with Del Monte Foods. Larry Elworth, the Agricultural Counselor to the […]
More FY 2010 Conservation Program Sign-up Data
The Resource Economics Analysis and Policy (REAP) Division of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently released draft final sign-up data for most USDA conservation programs for fiscal year (FY) 2010. We previously blogged the final FY 2010 sign-up numbers, including state-level data, for the Conservation Stewardship Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, Farm and Ranch Lands […]