The Senate’s draft farm bill released on Friday builds on the what we know was included in the Super Committee farm bill proposal from last fall with a few but not all important funding and policy improvements. The Good The best news on the organic front is that the draft farm bill provides mandatory funding […]
Research, Education & Extension
Groups Tell Senate to Support Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers
On Thursday, April 19, NSAC along with nearly 200 other organizations from across the country, delivered a letter to Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Pat Roberts (R-KS), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, urging them to support funding in the new farm bill for two key programs that support the next generation […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Budget Complicates Farm Bill, but Senate Committee Will Begin Anyway
On Thursday, March 29, the House approved the FY 13 Budget Resolution introduced by Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) by a 228-191 vote, with all Democrats and 10 Republicans voting no. The budget resolution will not be taken up by the Senate and hence will only control spending actions in the House. The resolution […]
Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations; NSAC Delivers FY 2013 Appropriations Testimony to Senate
On Thursday, March 29, the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee held its first hearing on USDA’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request. The Subcommittee will consider USDA’s requests as it writes its funding bill for the year. Individual funding requests by Senators and outside groups were also due yesterday. You can download and read our FY […]
Path to the Farm Bill: New Bill Proposes Private Foundation to Fund Agricultural Research
On Thursday, March 29, leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee introduced a bill to expand funding for food and agricultural research through the creation of a private research foundation. The bill (S.2274) was introduced by Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-KS), along with Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), who […]
North Central Region SARE Seeks Regional Coordinator
The University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) has announced it is seeking a Regional Director of the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) program. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), NCR-SARE houses two main programs: the Research and […]
House and Senate Move Forward on Different Paths with FY 2013 Appropriations
NSAC Testimony On Tuesday, March 20, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) delivered its fiscal year (FY) 2013 agriculture appropriations testimony to the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. The testimony includes NSAC’s FY 2013 appropriations requests for critical conservation, rural development, marketing, research, credit, and beginning and minority farmer programs. We will deliver matching funding requests […]
Cause for Celebration: ATTRA Again Open for Business
For over 20 years, the ATTRA program (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) has served as a reliable source of research-based information about sustainable agriculture, offering an expansive selection of publications, webinars, and listings of farming internships. In 2010, its staff answered over 60,000 requests on its 1-800 call line and brought over 5.8 million unique […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: NSAC Releases 2012 Farm Bill Policy Platform
Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released its 2012 Farm Bill policy platform, Farming for the Future: A Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for the 2012 Food & Farm Bill. The platform is the culmination of two years of policy work with a broad, diverse coalition of over 90 grassroots organizations from across the country. It […]
Beginning Farmers Tell Their Stories at Hill Briefing
This week, four beginning farmers and ranchers came to Washington, D.C. to participate in a congressional briefing on the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act (S.1850, H.R.3236). The briefing was hosted in the House by Reps. Tim Walz (D-MN-1) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1), and in the Senate by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). The farmers came […]
USDA Funding Available for Organic Research
This week, USDA announced the availability of $3.8 million in grants to fund research on organic production systems, under the Integrated Organic Transitions Program administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The goal of the Organic Transitions Program is to improve the competitiveness of organic crop and livestock producers, as well as […]
USDA Solicits Stakeholder Input on Agricultural Research
Last week, over 150 people attended a stakeholder listening session to provide feedback on ways to improve the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) – USDA’s largest competitive grants program that funds agricultural research, education, and extension projects. The session was hosted in Washington, D.C. at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) – […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Kicks Off Hearings
In its “Path to the 2012 Farm Bill” series, NSAC gets into the details of the 2012 Farm Bill debate. On Wednesday, February 15, the Senate Agriculture Committee held its first in a series of four hearings for the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill. Hearings are an important part in the farm bill process because they […]
Obama’s FY 2013 USDA Budget Request
On Monday, February 13, President Obama submitted his budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. For sustainable agriculture interests, the budget proposal is a mixed bag, with big cuts to working lands conservation programs, and both cuts and increases to discretionary spending accounts for sustainable agriculture programs. As far as the upcoming 2012 […]
USDA Solicits Applications for Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has announced this year’s request for Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP) proposals. FSMIP promotes research projects that advance the marketing, distribution, and transportation of U.S. agricultural products both domestically and internationally. Under this program, USDA matches grant funds for qualified state agencies such as state departments of agriculture and state agricultural […]
Office of Advocacy and Outreach Launches New Website!
This week, USDA’s Office of Advocacy and Outreach launched their website located at www.outreach.usda.gov. The Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO) was established in the 2008 Farm Bill in order to increase access to USDA programs and to improve the viability and profitability of small farms and ranches, beginning farmers and ranchers, and socially disadvantaged farmers […]
Funding Available for Organic Research
On Tuesday, January 17th, 2012, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced the release of its 2012 Request for Applications (RFA) for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), which provides grants to academic, private, and non-profit research institutions to investigate research issues related to organic production. Applications are due on March 9th, […]
It’s Time: Help us Speak up for Sustainable Agriculture
Check out our Path to the 2012 Farm Bill blog series for updates on the 2012 Farm Bill process – and be sure to sign up for NSAC Action Alerts to stay in the loop on speaking out and taking action! The summer’s bounty may feel far away, but even in January, farmers and ranchers […]
Food and Farm Bill Alive in 2012!
Dear Supporters, We previously reported to you that a 2011 Food and Farm Bill appeared imminent. Days before Thanksgiving the Congressional “Super Committee” failed to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. With that, the 2011 Farm Bill proposal intended for inclusion in the Super Committee’s deficit reduction bill is thus no more. The […]
The Farm Bill is Dead! Long Live the Farm Bill! – Part Two
In part one of this post, we discuss what might be next for the ongoing congressional budget debate and in turn for the new farm bill. In part two we turn to details about what was in the short-lived and now dead 2011 Farm Bill deal. What We Know About the Farm Bill that Did […]
USDA Blogs about Farmers Market Data
In the last month, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted two blogs about exciting farmers market research and initiatives. USDA has updated its geo-coded dataset for farmers markets based on the 2011 National Farmers Market Directory. In a blog posted on October 27, 2011, titled “Data-Lovers Rejoice: More Farmers Market Geocodes Available,” USDA […]
Final FY 2012 Agriculture Funding Levels Agreed Upon
On Tuesday, November 15, House and Senate negotiators reached a compromise deal on a fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations “minibus” (H.R. 2112) which includes the FY 2012 agriculture appropriations bill. The minibus will now be sent back to both chambers of Congress for a final vote before being sent to the President for his signature […]
Funding Available to Support Research on Specialty Crops
USDA recently released the Request for Applications (RFA) for the fiscal year 2012 round of funding for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). This competitive grants program is entering its fifth and final year of funding under the current farm bill cycle. The program is administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). […]
Risk Management Education Centers Announce 2012 Request For Applications
On Wednesday, November 2nd, the regional Risk Management Education Centers announced the release of their 2012 Request for Applications (RFA) for the Extension Risk Management Education Program, which provides funding for regional projects that help farm and ranch families succeed through targeted risk management strategies. This program places a special emphasis on risk management strategies, education, […]