Editor’s Note: The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) created a blog series on Rep. Chellie Pingree’s Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA), the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. Blogs one through seven focus on specific provisions within the ARA; whereas this eighth and final blog in […]
climate change
RELEASE: Farmers and Ranchers Deliver Letter to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Eric Deeble, Policy DirectorNational Sustainable Agriculture Coalitionedeeble@sustainableagriculture.net Farmers and Ranchers Deliver Letter to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis A letter signed by 2,130 farmers and ranchers was delivered to Congress to highlight the impacts of the climate crisis on agriculture and the opportunities for farmers to lead on climate […]
Agriculture Underscored in House Climate Committee Report
Major comprehensive federal legislation to deal with the global climate crisis is long overdue. While no bills are likely to become law this year, the time is ripe for piecing together the key components of a new law for consideration in the 117th Congress (2021-22). Even before next year, the House of Representatives will engage […]
A Climate-Friendly Approach to Managing Manure
Editor’s Note: This is the third blog in a series focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. The ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. The first blog focused on […]
Potential for Carbon Markets in Agriculture to Address Climate Change
Editor’s Note: This is the second blog in a series that will be focusing on specific provisions included in the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. The first blog […]
Building a Resilient Future in Food and Farming
Editor’s Note: This is the first blog in a series that focuses on the provisions of the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in February 2020. ARA represents the first comprehensive piece of legislation introduced in the House of Representatives addressing climate change and agriculture. The first blog focuses on the […]
Comprehensive Climate and Agriculture Legislation Introduced in House
The New Deal had its Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) to address the pressing farm issues of its day in a powerful new way, one that became the predecessor of all subsequent federal farm bills. This week, Maine farmer and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) to address the most pressing farm […]
RELEASE: The Agriculture Resilience Act Sets the Bar for Future of Climate-Smart Agriculture
Agriculture Resilience Act Sets the Bar for Future of Climate-Smart Agriculture: NSAC Applauds Comprehensive Climate Bill… Read More →
A Call for Climate-Focused Agriculture Policy
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Tara Ritter, Senior Program Associate with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and edited by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). IATP is a member organization of NSAC, and Tara serves as Co-Chair of NSAC’s Climate Change Subcommittee. The current Administration has gone to great lengths […]
RELEASE: Moving American Agriculture to “Net Zero”
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. … Read More →
Exploring Agriculture’s Role in Addressing Climate Change
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis held a hearing last Wednesday, October 30, 2019 to discuss the role of agriculture in identifying and implementing solutions to the climate crisis. This is the first time that the Select Committee has focused on the potential for America’s farmers and ranchers to be a positive force […]
Hearing Highlights Challenges and Opportunities for Organic Producers
The Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on October 30, 2019 to review the state of organic agriculture from the perspective of the producers. This is the Subcommittee’s second hearing on organic agriculture this year; the first convened to assess the National Organic Program (NOP) in July. Organic […]
Presidential Candidates Give Air Time to Climate Change and Agriculture
Fourteen months may seem like a long ways away, unless you’re talking campaign politics. A slew of Democratic challengers to President Trump, as well as a handful of Republicans, have already been making their case to the public for months. What makes this cycle particularly interesting for food and agriculture advocates is the attention that […]
Congressional Hearings Examine Climate Change and Agriculture
Underscoring the growing national awareness of and concern over climate change’s impact on agriculture, last week Congress held two hearings in advance of their Memorial Day recess to examine the issue in detail. In the Senate, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing titled “Climate Change and the Agriculture Sector” which discussed how agriculture can […]
COMMENT: Renewed Focus on Climate Change Presents Opportunities for Sustainable Agriculture
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Renewed Focus on Climate Change Presents Opportunities for Sustainable AgricultureNational Sustainable Agriculture Coalition applauds Senate Agriculture Committee for underscoring the important role of producers in climate change mitigation and adaptation Washington, DC, May 21, 2019 – Today, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, […]
Climate Action Heats up in Congress – What Does it Mean for Agriculture?
Now in their second month on the job, the 116th Congress is increasingly focusing their attention on the very real effects of climate change – as well as the need to develop and advance policy solutions to address pressing climate-related threats. Farmers, ranchers, and rural communities have endured increasingly frequent and devastating natural disasters, and […]
Is American Agriculture Prepared to Tackle the Climate Challenge?
The 4th National Climate Assessment – “Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States,” released by the Administration just after Thanksgiving, underscores the very real climate change-related challenges that American producers can expect to face in the coming years. The extensive report includes a close examination and peer reviewed analysis of the implications for agriculture […]
Guest Post: Agriculture Spotlights at the Global Climate Action Summit
Editor’s Note: The post below is from NSAC member organization California Climate & Agriculture Network (CalCAN) on the recent Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, California. CalCAN is a statewide coalition that advances state and federal policy to realize the power of climate solutions offered by sustainable and organic agriculture. As highlighted in the […]
Why American Farmers Should Lead the Way on Climate Change Mitigation
Note: This is a guest blog by Matt Russell, Resilient Agriculture Coordinator at Drake University Agricultural Law Center. Matt has worked on retail agriculture, land tenure, conservation, climate change, farmer veteran issues, development, state food policy, and federal farm policy. Matt is a fifth generation Iowa farmer. He and his husband Patrick Standley operate Coyote Run […]
Agricultural Solutions to Climate Change, California Takes Action
Editor’s Note: This guest blog post is by Jeanne Merrill, Policy Director for the California Climate and Agriculture Network, an NSAC member organization. Jeanne believes that agriculture can play a constructive role in responding to the climate crisis by reducing its carbon footprint. The rollback of federal action to address climate change began in this […]
Au Revoir, Paris: a Bad Move for America, a Bad Deal for Farmers
Farmers are no strangers to the effects of climate change. Extreme weather events – catastrophic floods, severe droughts, and shifting pest pressures – have been impacting farmers across the country for years, and many have responded by increasing their conservation activities and moving to more sustainable production methods. Even with many farmers already implementing climate […]
USDA Publishes New Resource to Help Farmers Adapt to Climate Change
Farming is an inherently risky business. On top of daily weather events, market fluctuations, land access, taxes, and expenses, the stress of climate change exacerbates these problems and serves to make agriculture even less predictable. Farmers and ranchers all over the United States are already experiencing the effects of climate change and severe weather events, […]
How Can Agriculture Address the Growing Economic and Environmental Pressures of Climate Change?
The devastating consequences of climate change threaten our natural resources, food security, and the productivity and economic viability of farming operations. Agriculture has an important role to play in helping us mitigate and adapt to climate change, and as we approach a major administrative transition and early discussions around the 2018 Farm Bill, the connection between agriculture […]
Climate Change and Agriculture: A Problem Too Hot (and Cold, and Wet, and Dry) to Ignore
Editor’s Note: This article was written by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) for the Fair Farms Maryland (FFM) blog, and was originally published by FFM on September 1, 2016. Climate Change and Agriculture: A Problem Too Hot (and Cold, and Wet, and Dry) to Ignore By Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition […]