Last month, NSAC Policy Associate Helen Dombalis traveled to Oklahoma where she explored the state’s many sustainable agriculture endeavors. Policy Advocacy and Research: GIPSA, Conservation, and Beyond – Yukon and Oklahoma City Helen was joined by sustainable agriculture advocate and farmer Kathy Moore of Anichini-Moore Ranch & Farm and co-founder of the Oklahoma Composting Council. […]
Grants and Programs
Value-Added Producer Grant Program – Deadline to Apply August 29, 2011
August 29, 2011 Deadline for Farm Value-Added Grants USDA has invited applications for Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG). Two years of funding totaling more than $37 million will be awarded. Proposals are due August 29th, 2011. VAPG is a competitive grants program that awards grants to producers to help them develop farm-related businesses that add value […]
Socially Disadvantaged Producer Coop Grants
On Wednesday, June 29, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service of USDA announced that its Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant Program (formerly known as the Small, Minority Producer Grant Program) will be open for applications until the deadline of August 15, 2011. The full Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) appears in the June 29 edition of the […]
Farm Value-Added Grants Available
For Immediate Release June 28, 2011 Contact: Ferd Hoefner 202-547-5754 . Farmers Have 60 Days to Apply for Value-Added Grants from USDA . Washington, DC June 28, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released a notice inviting farmers to apply for Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG). Today’s notice combines two year’s worth of funding […]
Value-Added Producer Grant NOFA Released – 60 Day Turn Around for Applications
On Tuesday, June 28, USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service will announce that its Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) will be open for applications until the deadline of August 29, 2011. The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) appears in the June 28 edition of the Federal Register. Advocates for the program are delighted the long anticipated […]
Request for Applications for Risk Management Education and Outreach Partnerships Program
On Tuesday, June 14, USDA’s Risk Management Agency released its Request for Applications (RFA) for the Risk Management Education and Outreach Partnerships Program. Approximately $3.5 million in funds is available for the program. Projects will be funded for up to one year, and will range from $20,000 to $100,000 per project. This Request for Applications […]
New Value-Added Grant Cycle to Start Next Week
After many months of delay and anticipation, NSAC is excited to alert our members and readers that the Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) for the Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) is expected to be published in the Federal Register mid-to-late week next week. Since the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funds were never released […]
USDA Announces $7 Million for Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative for 2011
On Tuesday, June 7, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will award $7 million for 31 projects in 11 states under the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) for fiscal year 2011. CCPI, a program originally conceived by NSAC in 2001, supports special local and regional conservation projects that […]
USDA Releases RFA for Rural Development Grant
On Tuesday, June 7, USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service released the Request for Applications (RFA) for its Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) to help rural cooperatives expand economic opportunities in their area. Up to $7.4 million in funds is available for competitive proposals of up to $225,000 per grant. Rural Cooperative Development Grants are made for […]
Apply Now for 2011 Farmers’ Market Promotion Program
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is now accepting applications for the 2011 Farmers’ Market Promotion Program (FMPP). The Notice of Funding Availability appeared in the June 1 Federal Register. For 2011, $10 million dollars in competitive grant funds are available for projects that expand direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Grant funds may be used for the […]
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Launches New Website
The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program had launched its newly designed website. The new site features enhanced search capabilities, seamless connection between SARE national and regional websites, and a Learning Center with free book downloads, online courses, grant information, videos and more. The site is mobile-device friendly and can be easily accessed by […]
National Organic Certification Cost Share Program Releases 2011 Report to Congress
The National Organic Program (NOP) has released its 2011 Organic Certification Cost Share Program Report to Congress. The report contains full information for Fiscal Year 2010 on the number of participating states, the number of producers and handlers the program served, and expenditures. Read our earlier blog post for an analysis of FY 2010 for […]
Health Promotion and Economic Development Funding Can Support Sustainable Agriculture
On May 20, the Obama administration announced the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, a sixteen-agency collaboration that will offer up to $33 million in funding to encourage public-private partnerships of regional industry clusters. Regional industry clusters (RICs) that promote workforce development and a broad base of related industries can apply for up to $2.2 million […]
House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Passes FY2012 Funding Bill
On Tuesday, March 24, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies passed by voice vote its fiscal year (FY) 2012 agriculture appropriations bill, which would cut USDA and FDA discretionary programs by 13.4 percent on top of a similar amount in the FY 2011 bill completed last month. […]
House FY2012 Appropriations Bill Would Slash Conservation, Rural Development, and Research Programs
On Monday, May 23, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies released a draft of its fiscal year (FY) 2012 agriculture appropriations bill. The Subcommittee will debate, potentially amend, and almost certainly pass the bill on Tuesday during an afternoon markup. Before the bill can become law, […]
Deadline to Apply for FY 2011 Organic Initiative Support Next Week
The deadline to apply for the Environmental Quality Incentives (EQIP) Organic Initiative Program is coming up fast. USDA has allocated $50 million for the Organic Initiative Program in 2011, which is available for all three of the following: certified organic growers, those transitioning to organic farming systems, and farmers exempt from formal certification.* The Organic […]
SARE Grant Proposal Deadlines
A number of important deadlines for pre-proposals and proposals to USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program lie ahead this spring, summer, and fall. SARE, part of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, is a national competitive grants and education program operating in every state and island protectorate. The program is operated regionally […]
Guest Blog: Value-Added Producer Grants in Action
(Editor’s Note: We want to thank Jenny R. Meudt of Pinn-Oak Ridge Farms, LLC in Delavan, Wisconsin, for submitting this post. Meudt was a participant in the recent NSAC farmer DC fly-in. She and other farmers came to DC to encourage Congress to maintain funding for critical sustainable agriculture programs, including the job-creating Value-Added Producer […]
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, […]
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 […]
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. […]
House Holds Appropriations Hearing on Rural Development
On Thursday morning, March 31, the House Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations held a hearing on Rural Development in Fiscal Year 2012. The hearing started with general remarks from subcommittee members regarding concern about the state of rural America, including a note that USDA Secretary Vilsack previously testified to the Subcommittee that rural America has been […]
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 […]
AFRI Grants Awarded to Research Sustainability of Small- and Medium-Sized Farms
USDA recently released the reports on funded Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) projects for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 grant cycle, including research focusing on sustainability of small- and medium-sized farms and rural development and on the economics of markets and development, two of the many AFRI subprograms. For 2011, as we previously reported […]