May 28, 2020
Americans’ interest in knowing more about where, how, and by whom their food is produced has been growing for many years and the coronavirus pandemic has shown new light on the serious shortcomings in our highly concentrated food production system. Along with the rise of the local food movement there has also been a building […]
May 27, 2020
The Reinvestment Fund (RF) recently announced the opening of 2020 applications for financial and technical assistance through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Targeted Small Grants program. Funding for the HFFI is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), authorized by the Farm Bill to offer $3 million in grant funds for food […]
May 22, 2020
USDA recently announced details of the new Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) which will open for enrollment on May 26, 2020. CFAP will provide $16 billion in aid to farmers who suffered economic losses due to the pandemic. NSAC is glad to see relief begin to flow to farmers, but there are several shortcomings in the program that will make it more difficult for some farmers to seek relief. In this blog, we break down what farmers need to know about this new program.
May 21, 2020
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 […]
May 15, 2020
As farmers and communities across the country continue to struggle to adapt to the new normal that is life amidst a global pandemic, Congress set the stage this week for the fourth round of federal aid to combat this crisis. And while previous aid packages have addressed some of the most urgent relief, our nation’s […]
May 13, 2020
USDA recently announced the availability of $20 million to to support farmer mental health and training for military veterans.
April 28, 2020
USDA recently announced plans to distribute $19 billion in aid to farmers impacted by COVID, raising serious concerns about which farmers will benefit.
April 22, 2020
Editor’s Note: The RFP has now been published and can be accessed below. We will continue to update this post as more information and resources become available. Last updated 4/27 at 5:02pm Late on a Friday night (4/17), Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the highly anticipated plan for how the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]
April 6, 2020
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 […]
March 31, 2020
Local and regional food economy entrepreneurs and organizations received some long-awaited news earlier in March – the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) finally released the Request for Applications (RFA) for the Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) Program. RFSP is a new program that supports foodshed-level approaches to developing regional food economies. […]