On June 22, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill in what has become a rare occurrence – unanimous, bipartisan approval. The Senate’s approval of the agriculture bill stood in stark contrast to what transpired in the House Appropriations Committee just a week earlier – an eight plus hour partisan slog that resulted in approval of the House’s FY2024 Agriculture spending bill along party lines. In this post, NSAC takes a closer look at the bill. … Read More →
BFRDP
RFA ROUNDUP: SPRING 2023 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
This post shares all the information that food and farm organizations might need to best utilize the newly released funding resources. From funding guidelines, application deadlines, and program requirements, NSAC covers everything needed for the latest round of Requests for Applications (RFAs) to support your community of farmers and advocates…. Read More →
Inside the FY22 Appropriations Package: Wins for Sustainable Agriculture
On March 15th President Biden signed H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, also known as the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Omnibus. In this blog post, NSAC examines the content of the FY 2022 agriculture appropriations bill and how NSAC’s appropriations priorities fared in the process…. Read More →
$19 Million Available to Support Beginning Farmers and Ranchers in 2022
USDA announced $19 million for the BFRDP in the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Request for Application (RFA). Applicants have until May 19, 2022, to apply for this year’s round of grants…. Read More →
A Year in Review: Wins and Reflections for Sustainable Agriculture in 2021
As this unpredictable year comes to a close and we look to the future, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition takes a look back at our coalition’s hard-fought wins towards building a more sustainable, equitable food and farm system in 2021…. Read More →
Over $50 Million Awarded to Train Next-Generation Farmers and Ranchers
With additional funding from recent legislation to address the impacts of the pandemic, new projects to train and educate beginning farmers and ranchers are underway…. Read More →
2501 Funding Now Available for FY 2021
Historically, farmers of color have been unable to participate in or benefit from USDA programs to the same extent as their white neighbors. This presents an enormous challenge for farmers of color when they are looking to start or maintain viable and resilient careers in farming. Rising costs and limited availability of farmland, access to […]
$16 Million Invested to Train Beginning Farmers – Where Does It Go?
Beginning farmers and ranchers face a number of unique circumstances and challenges to establish themselves in the industry, and their path has become no easier in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the Economic Research Service (ERS) published a report that found beginning farmers have higher debt-to-asset ratios, are less likely to receive […]
RFA Roundup: Spring 2020 Funding Opportunities
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 […]
USDA Invests $14 Million to Train the Next Generation of Farmers
The new farmer boom continues to grow all across the country, but barriers to entry (such as access to land, capital, and viable markets) continue to make it hard for new farmers to build a successful and sustainable farm business. In response, hundreds of farmer training programs and projects have emerged over the past decade […]
From the Farm to the Hill: NSAC Hosts FY 2020 Farmer Fly-in
Last week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) brought in over a dozen farmers and advocates for the Coalition’s second “farmer fly-in” of 2019. Fly-in advocates from ten different states across the country came to DC to champion the federal programs important to them and their communities before congressional appropriators. Currently, Congress is negotiating federal […]
RFA Roundup: Bonanza of Spring Funding Opportunities
Grant funding announcements from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been log jammed due to a series of government delays over the course of the last six months: passage of the 2018 Farm Bill was delayed by roughly three months, the last several appropriations and budget bills have been delayed, and the government shutdown […]
$14 Million Available to Help Train the Next Generation of Farmers
Note: This post has been updated to reflect changes made to the FY 2020 Request for Applications which was recently released on December 16, 2019. For further details on timing and updated application links, see below. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced the availability of $14 million in grant funds to help launch […]
A Closer Look at the 2018 Farm Bill: Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach Program
Editor’s Note: This is the final post in a multi-part blog series digging deeper into some of the new programs and policies of the 2018 Farm Bill. These posts detail how the new farm bill is likely to impact core sustainable agriculture programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Previous posts focused on: working lands conservation, local and regional food systems, and nutrition incentive and anti-hunger programs. […]
2018 Farm Bill Drilldown: Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers
Editor’s Note: This is the second post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the final negotiated 2018 Farm Bill, which was released on December 11, 2018 by the leaders of the Farm Bill Conference Committee. Subsequent posts focus on: organic agriculture, conservation, research and seed breeding, and crop insurance and commodity subsidies; previous posts focused on local and regional food and beginning/socially disadvantaged farmers. […]
$18 Million Awarded for Vital Beginning Farmer Program, but Future Remains Uncertain
Interest in careers in agriculture is on the rise, but many aspiring farmers and ranchers find themselves blocked from starting food and farm businesses because of the many significant barriers to entering the industry. Farmer training programs and projects, hundreds of which have emerged in the last decade alone, help aspiring and beginning producers to […]
What’s at Stake: Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers
Editor’s Note: The 2014 Farm Bill expires on September 30th. If the next farm bill is not finalized before that date, numerous “tiny but mighty” farm bill programs that support family farmers and food-producing communities will effectively shut down in terms of new funding and grant opportunities for fiscal year 2019. These workhorse programs, which […]
Draft Senate Farm Bill: Beginning & Socially Disadvantaged Farmers
This is the fifth post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the draft farm bill released on June 8, 2018 by the Senate Agriculture Committee. The final post will focus on crop insurance and commodity subsidies. The bill is expected to be considered and “marked-up” (aka amended) by the full Agriculture Committee on June 13 […]
Racial Equity in the Farm Bill: Recommendations and Opportunities
Editor’s Note: This blog post is the third and final post in a three-part blog series by NSAC Policy Intern Noah McDonald, which examines how the Farm Bill can take steps to advance racial equity within the food system. The first post discussed the historical context and foundations for racial inequities with the food system. […]
RFA Roundup: Funding Opportunities in the New Year
The New Year may have just started, but there are already many federal funding opportunities available for eligible farmers, ranchers, non-profits, and universities. Several of these opportunities opened last year and have rapidly approaching deadlines. Others have been more recently posted, and you may have missed the Request for Application (RFA) announcement during the end-of-year […]
Beginning Farmers Make Strides with Support from Federal Programs
As the average age of our nation’s farmers and ranchers continues to rise, ushering in the next generation of American producers has become a national priority. Congress recognized the potential crises this lack of production capacity could cause nearly a decade ago, and responded by creating the first ever federal program aimed exclusively at training […]
Funding Available to Help Train the Next Generation of Farmers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced the availability of $22 million in grant funds to help launch new and expand existing programs to train beginning farmers, including a new initiative to train military veterans. These federal grants will be awarded through two competitive programs administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture […]
RELEASE: Investments in Beginning Farmer Training Are Paying Off
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Investments in Beginning Farmer Training Are Paying Off New Report from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Analyzes Impact of BFRDP Washington, DC, October 19, 2017 – Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released findings from the first-ever comprehensive evaluation of the U.S. […]
Path to the 2018 Farm Bill: Programs with Expiring Funding
Editor’s Note: As a lead up to the 2018 Farm Bill, around which discussions and debate in Congress have already begun, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is previewing some of the major programs and policies that advocates need to know in order to effectively engage. The fourth post in our series, “Path to the 2018 […]