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Supporting the economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities.

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Farmers Speak Out on the Devastating Impact of USDA Funding Freeze

grants

Farmers Speak Out on the Devastating Impact of USDA Funding Freeze

March 20, 2025

On March 6, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) hosted a virtual briefing: Impact in the Field – How the USDA Funding Freeze and Employee Layoffs are Impacting Farmers and Ranchers. Five farmers from around the country joined NSAC’s policy director, Mike Lavender, for a panel discussion to voice their concerns about the ongoing funding […]

Filed Under: Carousel, Grants and Programs, NSAC Coalition

A Deep Dive on the Senate’s Farm Bill Proposal: the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024

May 10, 2024

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a detailed section-by-section summary of her farm bill proposal. NSAC welcomed the pragmatic Senate bill, the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024 (RPFSA), as an important step toward completing a bipartisan farm bill reauthorization this year. In this post, NSAC takes a deep dive into the proposals contained in the RPFSA. … Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Farm Bill

SARE Delivers for Farmers. Will Congress Deliver for SARE?

April 10, 2024

NSAC and 97 other organizations have urged Congressional Appropriators to fully fund the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program at $60 million for fiscal year 2025. SARE, established over 35 years ago, focuses on farmer-driven research and education initiatives but has yet to reach its fully authorized funding amount. Despite its proven effectiveness in addressing agricultural challenges, demand for SARE funding surpasses available resources, making increased funding crucial for addressing issues such as soil health, rural economy, and climate change resilience…. Read More →

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Carousel, Research, Education & Extension

Sowing Seeds of Impact: NSAC’s Year in Review and Vision for 2024

December 20, 2023

It has been a long, unusual year for federal policy, and the implications for sustainable agriculture and food systems policy have been unmistakable. In our latest blog post, NSAC highlights all that we achieved in 2023 towards building a more sustainable, equitable transformations in the food and farming system…. Read More →

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Carousel, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Farm Bill

NSAC’s Top 10 of 2022: A Year in Review

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. … Read More →

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Budget and Appropriations, Carousel, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Competition & Anti-trust, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Coronavirus, Farm Bill, Food Safety, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Organic, Research, Education & Extension, Rural Development

RCPP Grants: A New Take on Alternative Funding

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…. Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Grants and Programs

Diversified Growing: Farmers Cultivating Community and the Necessity of Federal Funding for Farmer-led Education and Research Programs

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…. Read More →

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Budget and Appropriations, Carousel, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Farm Bill, General Interest, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Organic, Research, Education & Extension, Rural Development, Sustainable Livestock

Release: NSAC Celebrates GLCI Funding Announcement

August 10, 2022

This week the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced $12 million for its Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI). NRCS will accept proposals through GLCI until September 22, 2022. … Read More →

Filed Under: Conservation, Energy & Environment, Grants and Programs, Press Releases

Climate and Agriculture Legislation Roundup

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.
… Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Climate Change, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Organic, Research, Education & Extension

New $25 Million Funding Opportunity to Provide Technical Assistance to Underserved Farmers Closes Soon

May 12, 2022

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a new investment of $25 million in grants for the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Technical Assistance Investment Program (ARPTAI) – a new program to provide historically underserved farmers, ranchers and forest landowners technical support in accessing USDA programs and services…. Read More →

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Carousel, Grants and Programs

Release: NSAC Publishes Newly Revised Growing Opportunity Guide

March 24, 2022

NSAC published a brand new, fully updated Growing Opportunity: A Guide to USDA Sustainable Farming Programs. This free, comprehensive, practical guide is for farmers and ranchers who want to better understand which key federal programs offered by USDA can help them meet their needs and support their diversified, sustainable farming operations…. Read More →

Filed Under: Press Releases

A Record $35 Million Now Available to Support Historically Underserved and Veteran Farmers

March 23, 2022

Earlier this month, USDA announced a record $35 million in funding for 2501 grants, almost $20 million more than was available in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, to help organizations conduct targeted outreach and provide technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers. The Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program, more commonly known as the “2501 Program,” and administered by USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE), helps to ensure that historically underserved producers have equitable access to the information, programs, and opportunities that will help them to find success in agriculture. June 8, 2022 is the deadline for applications. … Read More →

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Carousel, General Interest, Grants and Programs, Research, Education & Extension

USDA Opens Latest Round of Funding to Support Local and Regional Food Economy Development Projects

March 11, 2022

NSAC looks at USDA’s recently announced round of grant funding for the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) and Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) program to build and expand local and regional food and agriculture markets. The deadline to apply for the FMLFPP and RFSP program is Monday, May 16, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Full details on the NSAC blog. … Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, General Interest, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Rural Development

Over $30 Million Awarded for Organic Research, Education, and Extension

September 24, 2021

NIFA has awarded over $30 million to fund organic research, education, and extension projects to improve yields, quality, and profitability for producers and processors who have adopted organic standards…. Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Grants and Programs, Organic, Research, Education & Extension

Closed out: How U.S. farmers are denied access to conservation programs

September 13, 2021

Editor’s Note: This blog post is co-authored by Cathy Day, PhD, NSAC Climate Policy Coordinator and Michael Happ, Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, (IATP). ITAP is an NSAC member organization with a 30-year history of pursuing cutting edge solutions that benefit family farmers, rural communities and […]

Filed Under: Carousel, Conservation, Energy & Environment, General Interest, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Rural Development

Farm to School Projects – $10 million in Grants Available and a New Streamlined Application Option

October 29, 2020

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the opening of the fiscal year (FY) 2021 Farm to School (F2S) Grant  Program request for applications (RFA). Administered by the U.S Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Office of Community Food Systems, the program provides farmers, schools, local government, and healthy food advocates […]

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Carousel, General Interest, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Nutrition & Food Access

$15 Million Available for Conservation Innovation Grants

May 21, 2020

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently announced the availability of $15 million for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. This is in addition to the $25 million announced in March for on-farm trials. This funding announcement is the traditional CIG option that has been offered in the past and is referred to as […]

Filed Under: Conservation, Energy & Environment, Grants and Programs, Organic

Food Safety Outreach Program to Provide Additional Trainings in 2020

February 27, 2020

This is the first year small farms will be inspected if they fall under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. Fortunately, there are a number of exceptional FSMA training programs that were recently funded by the Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) that will assist farmers trying to navigate the complex rules. The […]

Filed Under: Food Safety, Grants and Programs, Research, Education & Extension

$192 Million in Food and Agriculture Research Funding Now Available

January 13, 2020

Editor’s note: This is an updated post of an article originally published by NSAC in May 2019 that has been updated to reflect changes made to the FY 2020 Request for Application, which was recently released late 2019. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the largest federal agricultural research competitive grant program. In […]

Filed Under: Grants and Programs, Research, Education & Extension

New On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials Program Awards Over $24 Million

December 13, 2019

Conservation innovators recently received a major infusion of support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which last month announced over $24 million in awards for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials (On-Farm Trials). Sixteen projects received awards this cycle ranging from $280,000 to $3,000,000. These projects will advance innovative conservation practices […]

Filed Under: Conservation, Energy & Environment, Grants and Programs, Research, Education & Extension

VAPG Helps Farm and Food Entrepreneurs Bring Home the Bacon

December 3, 2019

Editor’s Note: On December 11, 2019 USDA Rural Development announced the availability of at least $37 million and a 90 day application period for VAPG grants. Stay tuned, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) will publish more information, including its updated Farmers’ Guide to Applying for the Value-Added Producer Grant Program in the new year. The […]

Filed Under: Local & Regional Food Systems, Marketing and Labeling

Farm to School Grant Request for Applications Released During National Farm to School Month

October 17, 2019

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the opening of fiscal year (FY) 2020 Farm to School Grant Program request for applications (RFA), which is a welcomed start to National Farm to School Month. The Farm to School Grant Program was first established in the 2012 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA), and provides farmers and […]

Filed Under: Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems

Over $24 Million Awarded to Support Organic Research, Farmers

October 9, 2019

Researchers and scientific institutions across the food and farm communities have been on edge as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun the process of relocating the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) (and agency staff) to its new headquarters in Kansas City. Even in these early stages, the relocation process has already […]

Filed Under: Organic, Research, Education & Extension

$300 Million Announced for Conservation Partnerships, New Rulemaking Pending

September 20, 2019

This month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of $300 million in project funding for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) in fiscal year (FY) 2019. RCPP, administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), takes a cooperative approach to conservation activities with the private sector and local agencies working with NRCS […]

Filed Under: Grants and Programs, Research, Education & Extension

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