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 […]
April 2, 2020
Federal funding for food and agriculture public research has stagnated for decades, declining in real terms even while other federal agencies have seen their budgets trend steadily upward and even while China has long since overtaken the US as the major public investor in the sector. Yet, our food and agricultural system is a key […]
March 4, 2020
Editor’s Note: As the COVID-19 situation progresses, we will continue to update this blog with the latest available information on deadline extensions. Additionally, you can find information on administrative flexibilities issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) here. This is a key reference for anyone currently working under an active federal grant. The memo […]
February 27, 2020
This is the first year small farms will be inspected if they fall under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. Fortunately, there are a number of exceptional FSMA training programs that were recently funded by the Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) that will assist farmers trying to navigate the complex rules. The […]
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 13, 2020
Editor’s note: This is an updated post of an article originally published by NSAC in May 2019 that has been updated to reflect changes made to the FY 2020 Request for Application, which was recently released late 2019. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the largest federal agricultural research competitive grant program. In […]
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 17, 2019
The final appropriations package builds upon the sustainable agriculture community’s hard-fought farm bill wins and delivers much-needed support to family farmers across the country at a time when good news is increasingly hard to come by.
December 13, 2019
Conservation innovators recently received a major infusion of support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which last month announced over $24 million in awards for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials (On-Farm Trials). Sixteen projects received awards this cycle ranging from $280,000 to $3,000,000. These projects will advance innovative conservation practices […]
November 13, 2019
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has been helping farmers adopt climate-smart practices for decades, and today released a new report of policy and practice recommendations based on the latest climate science: Agriculture and Climate Change: Policy Imperatives and Opportunities to Help Producers Meet the Challenge.