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 […]
April 16, 2020
Organic farmers have seen tremendous growth in the organic sector as demand continues to rise. Despite this market opportunity, organic and transitioning organic farmers still face numerous challenges. Research, like that funded through the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) program spearheaded by the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), is being conducted to help […]
April 7, 2020
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. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education […]
March 16, 2020
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!
February 6, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana KovalcikNational Sustainable Agriculture CoalitionP: 202-547-5754, E: rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Sets 2020 Policy Priorities Washington, DC, February 4, 2020 – Last week, representatives from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s (NSAC) 130+ member organizations voted on a final set of policy and funding priorities to guide the Coalition’s work through 2020. “This collaborative priority […]
January 9, 2020
Note: This post has been updated to reflect changes made to the FY 2020 Request for Applications which was recently released late 2019. For further details on timing and updated application links, see below. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the FY 2020 Requests for Applications (RFAs) […]
December 20, 2019
This week, after months of delay, Congress passed a much-anticipated deal to fund the government through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2020. FY 2020 runs through September 30, 2020. The $1.4 trillion package of discretionary spending bills, which was divided up into two “minibuses”, was finally delivered this week after months of rigorous advocacy […]
December 4, 2019
This month, more than 22,000 organic producers are expected to receive in their mailboxes letters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). NASS is conducting its 2019 survey of certified or transitioning to certified organic farmers, asking for production, marketing, and transitioning information pertaining to their organic operations. The Organic […]
November 4, 2019
The Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on October 30, 2019 to review the state of organic agriculture from the perspective of the producers. This is the Subcommittee’s second hearing on organic agriculture this year; the first convened to assess the National Organic Program (NOP) in July. Organic […]
October 21, 2019
NCAT’s new report suggests organic farming is no more risky than non-organic farming. The report was funded by a research and education grant from NIFA.