Last Wednesday night with only a few hours to spare, Congress did what many observers and advocates for months had been citing as inevitable. They sent an appropriations Continuing Resolution (CR) to the President’s desk that puts off final decisions about Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 spending until after the November general election. The CR ensures […]
Conservation, Energy & Environment
Climate and Agriculture Legislation Roundup
Editor’s Note: The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) created a blog series on Rep. Chellie Pingree’s Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA), the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Blogs one through seven focus on specific provisions within the ARA; whereas this eighth and final blog in […]
Grazing for Climate
Editor’s Note: This is the seventh blog in a series focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. The ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Read blogs one, two, three, […]
Big 2020 Signup Numbers For CRP Grasslands
In July 2020, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that it accepted around 1.2 million new acres into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands initiative. These acres were accepted from applications submitted between March 16 and May 15, 2020. While other variations of CRP support conservation by removing land from cultivation for extended periods of […]
Do Cover Crops Help Farmers Save Costs?
After decades of research, cover crops have been widely shown to be beneficial to crop yields, soil health, and farmers’ bottom lines. However, many obstacles to cover crop adoption still remain – including start-up costs and the amount of time before benefits are seen…. Read More →
Thousands of Farmers Sign Congressional Call to Action on the Climate Crisis
Every farmer stands on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Last year, farmers and ranchers within the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) network mobilized to make certain that policymakers understood their concerns and desires to meet the climate crisis head-on. NSAC members worked with farmers and ranchers to draft a letter that lifts up farmer […]
Federal Support for States & Tribes Building Climate Resilience Through Soil Health
Editor’s Note: This is the sixth blog in a series focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. The ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Read blogs one, two, three, […]
Regional and Long-Term Agricultural Research Build Climate Resilience
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth blog in a series focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. The ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Read blogs one, two, three, […]
Combating the Climate Crisis Through Conservation
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth blog in a series that focuses on the provisions of the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. The ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Read our previous blogs in […]
Agriculture Underscored in House Climate Committee Report
Major comprehensive federal legislation to deal with the global climate crisis is long overdue. While no bills are likely to become law this year, the time is ripe for piecing together the key components of a new law for consideration in the 117th Congress (2021-22). Even before next year, the House of Representatives will engage […]
A Climate-Friendly Approach to Managing Manure
Editor’s Note: This is the third blog in a series focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. The ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. The first blog focused on […]
Enrollment Alert! Farmers Encouraged to Apply for CLEAR and CLEAR30 to Promote Healthy Waters
For better and for worse, farmers know how water flows through their land. When rain falls, it must go somewhere – usually into local streams that eventually flow into larger bodies of water such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, or the Chesapeake Bay. In recent years, there have been reports of increased […]
Potential for Carbon Markets in Agriculture to Address Climate Change
Editor’s Note: This is the second blog in a series that will be focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. The first blog […]
Building a Resilient Future in Food and Farming
Editor’s Note: This is the first blog in a series that focuses on the provisions of the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. The first blog focuses on the […]
$15 Million Available for Conservation Innovation Grants
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently announced the availability of $15 million for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. This is in addition to the $25 million announced in March for on-farm trials. This funding announcement is the traditional CIG option that has been offered in the past and is referred to as […]
A Deeper Dive: The Regional Conservation Partnership Program Rule
The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) has helped conserve thousands of acres across the country by promoting partnerships between producers and organizations, with support from the federal government. These partnerships, most often led by non-profit conservation organizations, involve sometimes hundreds of landowners and work to address resource concerns across landscapes and watersheds. Earlier this year, […]
$50 Million Available for Regional Conservation Partnership Program AFA
The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) has helped conserve thousands of acres of land across the United States. This program focuses on protecting watersheds by promoting soil health, well-managed working farmland, and general good conservation practices. In order to apply for RCPP’s Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFAs) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, applications should be submitted […]
$25 Million Available for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Grants
Editor’s Note: In response to COVID-19, NRCS has extended the deadline for CIG On-Farm Trials. This post has been updated to reflect the latest information. On March 12, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the availability of $25 million in funding to advance the adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation […]
EQIP Signups Ongoing – Reach Out to Your NRCS Office!
Signup deadlines for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) vary by state, and there are many deadlines coming up at the end of March or even later in the Spring!… Read More →
RELEASE: Farmer Driven Conservation Outcomes Act to Strengthen Federal Conservation Programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Eric Deeble National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, edeeble@sustainableagriculture.net Farmer Driven Conservation Outcomes Act to Strengthen Federal Conservation Programs National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition applauds effort by Senators Bob Casey and Shelly Moore Capito, and Representatives Marcia Fudge and Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson Washington, DC, March 11, 2020 – The Farmer Driven Conservation Outcomes Act, […]
RELEASE: Millions of dollars available for on-farm conservation: Deadline approaching soon!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Eric Deeble National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, edeeble@sustainableagriculture.net Millions of dollars available for on-farm conservation. Deadline approaching soon! NSAC releases information alert for renewals and first-time enrollments in the Conservation Stewardship Program Washington, DC, March 3, 2020 – Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released an information alert for farmers […]
Comprehensive Climate and Agriculture Legislation Introduced in House
The New Deal had its Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) to address the pressing farm issues of its day in a powerful new way, one that became the predecessor of all subsequent federal farm bills. This week, Maine farmer and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) to address the most pressing farm […]
NSAC Special Report: Conservation Stewardship Program
Over the last decade, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) has enrolled over 94 million acres of farmland, ranchland, and forestland in conservation contracts. As of the end of 2018, over 74 million acres were enrolled in active CSP contracts – a landmass equal to the entire size of the states of Iowa […]
RELEASE: The Agriculture Resilience Act Sets the Bar for Future of Climate-Smart Agriculture
Agriculture Resilience Act Sets the Bar for Future of Climate-Smart Agriculture: NSAC Applauds Comprehensive Climate Bill… Read More →