December 22, 2022
The end of a year signifies a time to reflect on all the most important accomplishments and tribulations of the past year. At NSAC, we had the opportunity to celebrate and find new reasons to expand our advocacy to support sustainable agriculture practices, small-scale producers, diversified farming, local food systems, and beginning and underserved farmers and ranchers. This post shares NSAC’s Top 10 accomplishments of 2022.
December 15, 2022
This is the fourth post in our series covering key pillars of NSAC’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform which details how conservation programs and research centered on ecologically beneficial approaches can support farmers and their communities, contributing to a climate-resilient future.
October 19, 2022
With the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization on the horizon, advocates and farmers from across the country gathered in Washington, DC last month to champion the federal programs important to them and their communities. NSAC hosted a cohort of farmers, ranchers, and food systems advocates for more than thirty meetings with Congressional leaders and senior USDA officials to encourage them to prioritize sustainable food and farm needs in the upcoming farm bill and in ongoing program implementation efforts.
September 2, 2022
USDA recently announced the availability of up to $40 million for nutrient management projects funded through grant agreements, called RCPP Grants. Applications for RCPP Grants will be accepted until October 31, 2022. In this post, NSAC provides background on RCPP, highlights some FY 2022 awards, and provides details on this new iteration of RCPP.
August 25, 2022
On August 10th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the availability of $15 million for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. This funding is in addition to the $25 million in funding that was previously announced for on-farm trials (a CIG sub-program established under the 2018 Farm Bill), and […]
August 22, 2022
Cultivating and substantiating farmer leadership through education and research initiatives is essential to generating an equitable and resilient food and farming system.
July 28, 2022
Yesterday, after months of on-and-off negotiations, Senate leaders announced a proposed deal on legislation aimed at advancing key pieces of President Biden’s agenda, including measures to combat climate change. If passed, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 would, among other things, provide approximately $369.75 billion for energy security and climate change programs over the next ten years.
July 27, 2022
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service announced the availability of $25 million in funding to advance the adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation practices on agricultural lands. The funding is for on-farm trials, a subprogram of the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. The deadline to apply for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials is September 22, 2022.
June 28, 2022
The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) was created in the 2014 Farm Bill through the combination of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRE), the Grassland Reserve Program, and the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. The program is administered through Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS,) and is divided into two tracks: a wetland easement component and an agricultural land easement (ALE) component. The 2018 Farm Bill gave ACEP a major increase in annual funding – adding $200 million per year as compared to levels under the 2014 Farm Bill. The 2018 Farm Bill also added new provisions to prioritize projects that maintain farm viability and land affordability.
June 7, 2022
During the 117th Congress, congressional legislators have introduced a number of bills that aim to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in agriculture and transform farms and the food system to better address climate challenges. In this post, NSAC summarizes those bills.