On Wednesday, October 17, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the recipients of USDA’s 2012 Rural Business Opportunity Grants (RBOG) and Rural Cooperative Development Grants (RCDG). Both of these programs seek to spur growth and create jobs in rural communities. Out of the 42 total RBOG projects funded, five projects address agricultural and food system development: […]
Rural Development
Stories from the Field: Seizing Economic Opportunities
Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place. In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without funding.* This post is part of our 10-week blog series which will feature […]
What’s at Stake: Value-Added Agriculture
Due to Congressional inaction, the 2008 Farm Bill has expired without a new bill or extension to take its place. In the absence of a farm bill, numerous innovative programs that invest in sustainable agriculture systems are shut down and left without mandatory funding. This is the second post in our 10-week “What’s at Stake?” […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Farm Bill Expires on Monday — What Does It Mean and What Happens Now?
We have been fielding lots of questions in the past few weeks following the congressional meltdown on the new farm bill. This is not surprising, given Congress’ failure to date to either pass a new farm bill or to enact a short-term extension of the existing farm bill before the farm bill expires at midnight, […]
Revised Version: Obama Administration Details Sequestration Cuts
On Friday, September 14, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a preliminary outline of how it would implement automatic budget cuts (known as sequestration) across government programs, as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). In early August 2012, Congress passed the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, which forced the Obama […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Congress Returns to DC with No Clear Path Forward
Earlier this month, when Congress left the heat and humidity of the DC summer to go on August recess, the fate of the 2012 Farm Bill remained unclear. (If you need a refresher on where we are in the process, recall that the House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the bill in July, but […]
USDA Launches Organic Literacy Initiative
On Tuesday, September 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a series of resources as part of its new Organic Literacy Initiative, an effort to help connect current and prospective organic farmers, ranchers, and processors with the USDA resources available to them. The purpose of the Organic Literacy Initiative is to provide USDA staff as […]
Rural Development Farm Bill Letter Delivered to Congress
On August 30, NSAC and 43 other other organizations in the Campaign for a Renewed Rural Development sent a letter to Capitol Hill regarding the importance to rural America of renewing the Farm Bill this year. In the letter, the 44 organizations urged the House of Representatives to bring the Farm Bill to a vote […]
Rural Business Enterprise Grant Awards Include Food and Agriculture Development
USDA announced two rounds of funding for the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) program this summer. On June 26, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced funding for seven projects in two states. The second round of RBEG awards was announced August 21 for 16 grant recipients from 17 states. USDA explains RBEG as a program […]
USDA Awards Rural Energy for America Program Grants and Loans
On August 14, USDA announced the award of nearly $8.7 million in FY2012 funding for Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) loans and grants for 106 renewable energy system and energy efficiency projects on farms and rural businesses in 29 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The funding also included an award of $59,365 to Washington […]
USDA Announces Funding Opportunity for Value-Added Producer Grants
On August 15, USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service announced the availability of $14 million in funding for its Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) competitive grants program. The Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) can be found in the August 15, 2012 Federal Register. Applications are due October 15, 2012. Program Basics: VAPG is a competitive grants program that […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Local Food Marker Bill: Where Are We Now?
Last fall, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act to create jobs and spur economic development through food and farms. This bill funds and improves critical programs that create economic opportunities for farmers, support local and regional food systems, and improve food access for all. […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Beginning Farmer Marker Bill: Where Are We Now?
Last fall, Senator Harkin (D-IA) and Representatives Fortenberry (R-NE) and Walz (D-MN) introduced the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act to invest in the next generation of American farmers. This bill funds and improves critical programs that provide training, outreach, and technical assistance for new farmers and ranchers. As a marker bill, it’s not intended […]
Path AWAY from a 2012 Farm Bill: Pending House Extension Dooms Farm Bill Programs
For the past two days we have reported on the surprise move by the House Republican leadership to pull the rug out from under the 2012 Farm Bill. Rather than complete its business by taking the farm bill reported out of the House Agriculture Committee to the floor and then to conference with the Senate-passed […]
House Farm Bill Extension Would Hurt Farmers and Economy, Undermine Conservation Efforts
On Friday, July 27, the House Rules Committee posted the text of a one-year extension to the 2008 Farm Bill. In our earlier post, we noted that we strongly oppose a clean extension of the Farm Bill, given that the bill would allow many critical programs expire. Unfortunately, the bill posted on the Rules Committee […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: NSAC Assessment of House Committee-Passed Bill
In an earlier post we provided highlights and lowlights of the House Agriculture Committee one-day markup of their version of the 2102 Farm Bill, including a rundown of sustainable agriculture amendments passed and defeated. Here we turn to an assessment of the bill overall. Still to come is a piece discussing possible next steps in […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Agriculture Committee Debates and Passes Its Farm Bill
After a full-day marathon markup that started on Wednesday morning and went into the early hours of Thursday, the House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the 2012 Farm Bill by a vote of 35-11. Seven Democrats and four Republicans voted against the bill. The Republicans who voted against the bill did so based on […]
Path to 2012 Farm Bill: House Markup Looms
The House Agriculture Committee will debate and vote on its version of the 2012 Farm Bill tomorrow, Wednesday July 11. It is now widely expected that the House Agriculture Committee “mark-up” of the 2012 Farm Bill will take less than a day, rather than the normal multi-day process. The markup will begin at 10 AM […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Draft House Farm Bill Drilldown
On July 5, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Peterson (D-MN) released their draft farm bill ahead of the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill markup scheduled for next week beginning Wednesday, July 11. The bill generates $35 billion in savings by cutting over $16 billion from nutrition programs and more than $6 billion […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Draft House Farm Bill Highlights
On July 5, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Peterson (D-MN) released their draft farm bill ahead of the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill markup scheduled for next week beginning Wednesday, July 11. The bill generates $35 billion in savings by cutting over $16 billion from nutrition programs and more than $6 billion […]
ERS Releases Report on Local Meat Processing
On June 19, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report titled “Slaughter and Processing Options and Issues for Locally Sourced Meat.” The report sought to evaluate “the availability of slaughter and processing facilities for local meat production and the extent to which these may constrain or support growth in demand for locally sourced meats.” […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Successful Day One of Farm Bill Voting in Senate
We are delighted to report that the U.S. Senate today passed an amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill providing $150 million in critical funding for rural economic development and new farmer programs. The amendment, introduced and championed by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), was approved on a 55-44 vote, with Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) […]
Groups Ask Senate to Support Jobs, Beginning and Disadvantaged Farmers
On June 18, NSAC joined nearly 100 organizations from across the country on a letter which was sent to Senators encouraging them to support socially disadvantaged, beginning, veteran, and limited resource producer programs in the 2012 Farm Bill, which is currently being debated on the Senate floor. The letter was spearheaded by the Rural Coalition and […]
Small Business Innovation Research Program Accepting Application for Projects
On June 14, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program released this year’s request for applications. SBIR is a division of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). This program supports scientific and technological innovation “in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy, one small business at a time.” SBIR’s objectives focus […]