August 4, 2010
On Wednesday, August 4, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced legislation to reduce farm program payment limits and close the loopholes that are being used by mega farms to game the system and soak the taxpayer. The Rural America Preservation Act (bill number not yet assigned) would cap commodity payments at not […]
July 22, 2010
Specialty crop and organic producers are “classic entrepreneurs” said Subcommittee Chair, Dennis Cardoza (D-CA). Rep. Cardoza spoke on Wednesday, July 21st at the House Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture hearing to review specialty crop and organic programs in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill. Cardoza began the hearing with praise for specialty crop producers, […]
July 22, 2010
On Wednesday, July 21, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry convened to hear from several witnesses regarding rural development and the farm bill. The hearing centered on the potential benefits of alternative fuels production and research both for developing rural communities and for strengthening national security. A list of witnesses and a link […]
July 8, 2010
By Anna Jones-Crabtree from Vilicus Farm On July 1st, NSAC posted a blog to applaud Secretary Vilsack’s plea to Congress to support beginning farmers and to encourage USDA to walk the talk. Farmers agree. Here is how Anna Jones-Crabtree from Vilicus Farm in Montana responded to our blog: We would not be farming if it […]
July 1, 2010
A funny thing happened on the way to a Senate Agriculture Committee farm bill hearing to review progress on implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill’s commodity, crop insurance, and disaster assistance programs. As the lead witness at the June 30 hearing, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack did not read a single word or convey a single […]
June 18, 2010
On June 17, in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill, the House Agriculture General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee held a hearing on U.S. farm safety net programs. Jim Miller, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services testified along with Jonathan Coppess, Farm Service Agency, and Bill Murphy, Risk Management Agency. You can view […]
June 4, 2010
This Tuesday, June 1, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman, Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) announced that the Committee will begin hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill at the end of this month. The first hearing will be held in Senate Agriculture Committee Room at 9:30am on June 30, 2010 on the topic of “Maintaining Our Domestic Food Supply […]
May 14, 2010
Thursday’s hearing in the House Agriculture Committee brought in two panels of farm and food policy experts to continue the conversation kicked off on late April in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill. As in the first hearing in late April, the witnesses’ testimony and Representatives’ questions covered a wide range of topics, but consistently […]
May 11, 2010
Click here to forward on the invitation to colleagues. On June 8, 2010, NSAC, Farm Aid, Organic Valley, and Heifer International US Country Program will host a congressional briefing on Agriculture of the Middle: New Strategies to Support America’s Mid-sized Family Farmers. In recent decades, many mid-sized farmers and ranchers who rely on farming as […]
April 29, 2010
Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) described last Wednesday’s House Agriculture Committee Hearing on the Farm Bill as “two-and-a-half hours to kick off two-and-a-half years.” The hearing was the first of Committee Chairman Collin Peterson’s (D-MN) meetings to get a head start on planning for the next Farm Bill, scheduled for completion in 2012. Over the past […]