In a hearing before the House Agriculture Committee, Secretary Vilsack highlighted the importance of climate investments, efforts to better support underserved producers, the need for increased staffing at USDA, and how funds allocated through the IRA will address conservation backlogs for farmers across the nation…. Read More →
IRA
The Agriculture Resilience Act in 2023
The Agriculture Resilience Act represents a comprehensive approach to addressing climate change in agriculture. First of its kind, the act addresses climate change throughout much of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) programming–not only that which affects farmers, but elements that shape the larger food system, as well. There is broad public support for government incentive-based solutions to climate challenges in agriculture. With its focus on incentives for best practices throughout agricultural programs, the ARA represents exactly what the public, researchers, and advocates have been calling for to move agriculture toward climate resilient systems…. Read More →
Guest Post: Still Closed Out
This guest post by Michael Happ, Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, (IATP), provides an update on the federal conservation agriculture policy landscape since it’s 2021 publication, Closed Out: How U.S. farmers are denied access to conservation programs. … Read More →
Release: USDA Announces Implementation of Equity Work Under the Inflation Reduction Act and Equity Commission Outcomes
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) outlined plans to implement equity-related funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Department also presented some of the outcomes from the work of its Equity Commission…. Read More →
Release: Broad Coalition Calls on Congress to Defend Climate Spending in Conservation Programs
Advocates of conservation programs delivered a letter to House and Senate Agriculture Committee leadership calling for the defense of climate focused conservation spending in the Farm Bill. The letter, signed by 644 organizations, businesses, and farmers, makes clear to Congress that the historic investment in conservation programs made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 must be preserved in the 2023 Farm Bill. The IRA provided sweeping greenhouse gas reductions across sectors including farming. … Read More →
IRA Rollout Begins: Conservation Program Application Dates Change
As of February 13, USDA began enrolling producers in working lands conservation programs using IRA funding. This blog post covers a few points farmers and food and agriculture system professionals need to know about how to access IRA funds in CSP and EQIP, and how these conservation programs will be affected…. Read More →
Release: USDA Announces Implementation Plans for Inflation Reduction Act and Plans Around Western Water
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced plans for the implementation of the agricultural conservation provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, an act that provided sweeping greenhouse gas reductions across sectors including farming. NSAC welcomes the Administration’s approach that encompasses both direct greenhouse gas benefits and the many co-benefits that accompany effective conservation practices…. Read More →
NSAC’s Top 10 of 2022: A Year in Review
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 →
NSAC’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform: Advancing Racial Equity Across the Food System
This is the fifth post in our series covering key pillars of NSAC’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform which discusses the need to craft a farm bill that advances racial equity by improving access to USDA funding and programs for underserved individuals and communities, and particularly farmers of color; increasing funding for programs and policies that support underserved communities and particularly farmers of color; and strengthening data collection, analysis, reporting, and transparency to inform racial equity-driven decision-making…. Read More →
Release: USDA Announces $800 Million in Assistance to Distressed Farmers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that distressed borrowers with qualifying USDA farm loans have already received nearly $800 million in assistance, as part of the $3.1 billion in assistance for distressed farm loan borrowers provided through Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). … Read More →
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: A Deep Dive on an Historic Investment in Climate and Conservation Agriculture
In this post NSAC takes a deep dive into the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 – an historic investment in climate and conservation agriculture. … Read More →