Crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net, insuring farms for losses from unpredictable weather, market fluctuations, and other risks. Consequently, the federal crop insurance program (FCIP) is the costliest part of agriculture production spending, as taxpayers subsidize the program to the tune of billions of dollars each year. Despite being a cornerstone […]
2022 Census of Agriculture
Stewarding Success: Enhancing Access for Underserved Farmers in CSP
EDITOR’S NOTE: On October 9, 2024, NSAC released “Stewarding Success: CSP Under the 2018 Farm Bill”, a comprehensive analysis of the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) over the course of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). The report offers an in-depth analysis of CSP’s enrollment trends, conservation practices supported, and funding impacts, including […]
Examining the Latest Agricultural Census Data
Last month, USDA released the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The Census of Agriculture, which has been conducted since 1840 and currently is updated once every five years, serves as perhaps the primary data source for understanding the state of US food and agriculture and is a critical tool for farmers, researchers, and stakeholders because of the wealth of data it contains about everything from farmer demographics to cover crop acreage. This post is the first in a two-part series through which NSAC examines the latest Census of Agriculture in detail. This post explores some of the high-level themes from across the Census…. Read More →
Release: 2022 Census of Agriculture Underscores Need for Policy Shift
Today, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the highly-anticipated results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The Census remains the most comprehensive source of agricultural data for states and counties across the United States and serves as a guide for federal farm program, policy, and funding decisions. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) welcomes the release of the 2022 Census of Agriculture data, which comes at a crucial moment for federal agriculture policy…. Read More →