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

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Examining the House Agriculture Committee’s Reconciliation Bill

OREI

Examining the House Agriculture Committee’s Reconciliation Bill

June 4, 2025

On May 22, 2025, the House of Representatives approved its budget reconciliation legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB, HR 1), by a vote of 215-214-1. Just a week earlier, on May 15, the House Committee on Agriculture approved, by a party line vote of 29-25, components of OBBB that fall within its jurisdiction. […]

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Carousel, Farm Bill

Guest Post: Is the Future of Organic Food at Risk? Research Funding Holds the Answer

November 19, 2024

Editor’s Note: This blog post is a guest post authored by Gordon Merrick, Senior Policy and Programs Manager at the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and Mark Schonbeck, Research Associate, also at OFRF, which is an NSAC member. The world is increasingly recognizing the value of sustainable food systems, and organic agriculture plays a vital role in […]

Filed Under: Carousel, Climate Change, Organic, Research, Education & Extension

Path to a New Farm Bill: Sustainable and Organic Research 

September 17, 2024

Editor’s Note: This post is the fifth post in a multi-part series exploring some of the key sustainable agriculture and food systems challenges that the farm bill can address. Through a series of posts comparing the House and Senate Agriculture Committees’ proposals, we provide an assessment of how each chamber’s bill would address a given […]

Filed Under: Carousel, Climate Change, Farm Bill, Organic, Research, Education & Extension

FY25 Agriculture Spending Bills: What You Need to Know

July 24, 2024

On July 11, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill with unanimous, bipartisan agreement. The Senate Appropriations Committee skipped subcommittee markup this fiscal year, and the full committee’s unanimous approval took less than 10 minutes (59:00 – 1:07:54). This outcome […]

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Carousel

Organic Research Funding: Examining and Refuting USDA’s Justifications for Decreasing Dedicated Organic Funding

April 30, 2024

This guest blog post highlights the critical role of organic agriculture in addressing sustainability and health concerns within food systems. It discusses the concerning decrease in funding specifically allocated for organic-dedicated competitive grant programs in the Presidential Budget Request for fiscal year 2025 and analyzes the justifications provided for this shift. The post emphasizes the importance of proactive engagement from the scientific community, legislators, and funding agencies to ensure robust support for organic agriculture research and development…. Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Research, Education & Extension

RFA Roundup: Spring 2024 Sustainable Agriculture Funding Opportunities 

February 15, 2024

USDA has announced several funding opportunities for sustainable agriculture. This blog post outlines the funding guidelines, application deadlines, and program requirements for a range of food and farm system grants funded through USDA that are currently accepting applications. The funding opportunities fall into three categories: Research and Education, Local Food (including urban and rural-focused programs) and Nutrition, Climate, Conservation, and Energy…. Read More →

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Carousel, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Research, Education & Extension

What the Expiration, and Likely Extension, of the 2018 Farm Bill Means for Food and Agriculture

October 25, 2023

On October 1, 2023, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 – more commonly known as the 2018 Farm Bill – expired. Thankfully, in recent days Congress has begun to turn its attention toward a much-needed extension of the 2018 Farm Bill. Yet until an extension is passed, many essential programs will continue to be impacted. This blog post takes a deep dive into the current and potential future impacts of the expired bill, examining which programs are stranded, and what it means for food and agriculture…. Read More →

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Carousel, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Farm Bill, Local & Regional Food Systems, Organic, Research, Education & Extension

From Commodification to Conservation: Restoring Agrobiodiversity Through Seed Breeding – Part I: 

October 5, 2023

This post is the first in a two-part series about seed breeding. It explores the history of seed breeding in the US, the impacts of consolidation and concentration of seed breeding on farmers and our food systems, and what a more democratic seed breeding system might look like. … Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Research, Education & Extension

RFA ROUNDUP: SPRING 2023 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

February 28, 2023

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 →

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

Digging into the 2023 Farm Bill: Senate Hearings Kick-Off the Long Road to the 2023 Farm Bill

July 22, 2022

NSAC details the recent Senate Agriculture Committee field hearing as a first step as part of the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization process. This is the first post in a multi-part series taking a deeper look into the 2023 Farm Bill process…. Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Farm Bill

Recent Reports Highlight Barriers and Opportunities for Organic Farming

May 6, 2022

Organic agriculture continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors of American agriculture. Two reports from Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA), the National Organic Research Agenda (NORA) and State of Organic Seed (SOS) examine organic farming challenges across the US and provide comprehensive assessments and recommendations for ensuring the ongoing growth and success of organic farming…. Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Organic, Research, Education & Extension

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

More Funding Available for 2021 Organic Research

November 25, 2020

Just a few weeks after the 2019 Organic Survey reported a 31 percent growth for organic sales and an increase in certified organic farms and transitioning acres, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) released its FY 2021 Request for Application (RFA) for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension […]

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

$22.6 Million Awarded to Support Organic Farming, Research

September 24, 2020

Research underpins the success of every farm – not least of all for organic agriculture. Cutting-edge innovations and science-based studies continue to advance this multi-billion dollar industry, at times with funding from the federal government. The National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently announced over $20 million in research investments to support organic farmers […]

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

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

FY 2020 Budget Update – What’s at Stake?

May 10, 2019

Congress is back from their April recess with an extensive to-do list of urgent items to be addressed. Several agenda items are tied to the annual appropriations process for fiscal year (FY) 2020, including coming to agreement on a new budget deal (no small feat!). Whether or not Congress is able to come together to […]

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, General Interest

RFA Roundup: Bonanza of Spring Funding Opportunities

May 2, 2019

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 […]

Filed Under: Grants and Programs

Organic Research Funding Opportunities Released

March 29, 2019

Family farmers, researchers, and advocates like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) helped to achieve historic victories for the organic and research communities in the 2018 Farm Bill. Of particular significance was the establishment of permanent, mandatory funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) over the next five years. This funding increase […]

Filed Under: Grants and Programs, Organic

2018 Farm Bill Drilldown: Research and Plant Breeding

December 14, 2018

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth 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 crop insurance and commodity subsidies; previous posts focused on local and regional food and beginning/socially disadvantaged farmers, organic agriculture, and conservation. The bill was […]

Filed Under: Farm Bill, Research, Education & Extension

Organic Research Programs Award Last Round of 2014 Farm Bill Funds

October 19, 2018

When Congress allowed the 2014 Farm Bill to expire on September 30, 2018, a host of important food and farm programs lost their authority to operate, their funding, or both. Among the programs thrown into farm bill limbo by this delay are two competitive organic research grant programs that recently announced what could be their […]

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

What’s at Stake: Organic Agriculture

September 20, 2018

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 […]

Filed Under: Farm Bill, Grants and Programs, Organic

Draft Senate Farm Bill: Organic Agriculture

June 9, 2018

This is the third post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the draft farm bill released on June 7, 2018 by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Subsequent posts focus on: local/regional food systems and rural development, crop insurance and commodity subsidies, and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. The bill will be considered and “marked-up” (aka amended) by the full […]

Filed Under: Farm Bill, Organic

RELEASE: Senators Introduce Organic Agriculture Research Act of 2018

February 8, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net Senators Introduce Organic Agriculture Research Act of 2018 National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Applauds Senate Support for Organic Research Washington, DC, February 8, 2018 – The Organic Agriculture Research Act of 2018, a bipartisan bill that works to increase funding for the Organic Agriculture […]

Filed Under: Farm Bill, Organic, Press Releases, Research, Education & Extension

RFA Roundup: Funding Opportunities in the New Year

January 4, 2018

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 […]

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Conservation, Energy & Environment, Grants and Programs, Local & Regional Food Systems, Marketing and Labeling, Research, Education & Extension, Rural Development

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