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 →
USDA
USDA Invests $550 Million to Assist Underserved Producers: Funding Seeks to Increase Access to Land, Capital, and Markets and to Train the Next Generation of Agricultural Professionals
USDA is making a historic new investment to fund and direct action to help underserved producers with the resources, tools, programs, and technical assistance they need to succeed in agriculture. With funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Section 1006, as amended by Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act, USDA will make available $550 million for projects that enable underserved producers to access land, capital, and markets, as well as train the next generation of agricultural professionals…. Read More →
Release: New USDA Proposed Rule to Give Livestock and Poultry Growers Fair Shake
Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition applauded Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for the publication of a new proposed rule to modernize the century-old Packers and Stockyards Act: “Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act.” This is the second of three expected rules first announced in President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy and arrives on the heels of a proposed rule to bring transparency to the poultry tournament system published in June.
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USDA Accepting Proposals for Regional Food Business Centers
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently announced the availability of $360 million to establish at least six new Regional Food Business Centers, envisioned to provide “coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building support to small and mid-sized farm and food businesses, with the goal of creating a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system.” Applications are due November 22, 2022…. Read More →
$300 Million Invested into New Organic Transition Initiative
The Organic Transition Initiative (OTI) is USDA’s recent program aimed at helping “build new and better markets and streams of income” for organic farmers and producers, by providing producers with technical assistance, including farmer-to-farmer mentoring, financial assistance for conservation and crop insurance, and support developing markets. … Read More →
Comment: NSAC Applauds USDA Announcement of Regional Food Business Centers
NSAC applauds USDA’s announcement of $400 million to establish Regional Food Business Centers. NSAC is pleased to see that USDA is structuring this critical investment in a way that builds on existing partnerships and initiatives and prioritizes resources where they are most needed. … Read More →
RCPP Grants: A New Take on Alternative Funding
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 →
Comment: NSAC Applauds USDA Investment in New Organic Transition Initiative
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) issued a comment applauding today’s announcement of an up to $300 million investment into the new Organic Transition Initiative. … Read More →
Release: Biden Signs Historic Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
Today, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a far-reaching $750 billion health care, tax, and climate bill, into law. The bill makes historic investments in federal programs to address the climate crisis and aims to reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030. … Read More →
Managed Grazing Champions Celebrate Funding Announcement for GLCI
This guest blog post by Margaret Krome, Policy Program Director at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, an NSAC member based in East Troy, WI, details the recent announcement of $12 million for cooperative agreements under this year’s request for applications for the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI).
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Release: NSAC Celebrates GLCI Funding Announcement
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 →
$25 MILLION AVAILABLE FOR ON-FARM CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANTS
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…. Read More →
CLEAR30 Sign-Up Open Now!
On April 1, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) opened enrollment for the Conservation Reserve Program’s (CRP) CLEAR30 subprogram – an important component of the larger Continuous Conservation Reserve Program. With both programs taking applications, NSAC offers a quick review of how these essential conservation tools function and shares key information for producers interested in applying…. Read More →
RELEASE: Mike Lavender, Sophia Kruszewski Join National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Today the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) announced the addition of two new senior members to the Coalition’s policy team: Mike Lavender as Interim Policy Director and Sophia Kruszewski as Deputy Policy Director. … Read More →
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program: Between Farm Bills
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. … Read More →
Comment: NSAC Responds to House Passage of FY 2023 Agriculture Spending Bill
“The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) applauds the House Appropriations Committee members for voting to support robust funding for Conservation Operations and a significant increase in Conservation Technical Assistance that farmers and ranchers need to adopt new conservation practices that improve the sustainability and profitability of their family farms.”… Read More →
Release: NSAC Applauds Proposed Rule to Reform Poultry Tournament Payment System
Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition applauded Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for the publication of a long-awaited proposed rule regarding “Transparency in Poultry Growing Contracts and Tournaments.” This is the first of several expected rules to strengthen the century-old Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) announced in President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. … Read More →
Climate and Agriculture Legislation Roundup
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.
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COMMENT: NSAC Lauds USDA Framework to Transform the Food System Announced Today by Secretary Vilsack
Today, Wednesday, June 1, 2022 the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) issued a comment lauding the announcement made by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack regarding the USDA Framework to Transform the Food System. … Read More →
CRP Signup: Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel
For more than 35 years, the Farm Bill’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has paid farmers and landowners to take highly erodible and other environmentally sensitive lands out of crop production and enroll them in conserving practices instead. Through CRP, USDA pays farmers to set aside land for grass or tree cover for a period of 10 or 15 years. This May, the Farm Service Agency announced that it had accepted over 2 million new acres into the FY22 CRP General Signup. This included more than 1.75 million re-enrolled acres, over 85% of the total accepted…. Read More →
What’s in the President’s Budget Request for Sustainable Agriculture?
The Biden-Harris Administration released the President’s Budget Request (PBR) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 on March 28, 2022. The $5.8 trillion budget request comes several months late and includes the President’s discretionary spending plans and builds on the PBR FY 2022. NSAC outlines the Administration’s proposed budget as it pertains to the sustainable agriculture community and specifically: climate and conservation, research and food safety, local food and rural development, and farm loans and beginning and socially disadvantaged producers. … Read More →
New $25 Million Funding Opportunity to Provide Technical Assistance to Underserved Farmers Closes Soon
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 →
THE FUTURE OF CONSERVATION AND THE GRAZING REVOLUTION: FARMERS AND RANCHERS ASK CONGRESS TO FUND THE GRAZING LANDS CONSERVATION INITIATIVE (GLCI)
Graziers, or producers who utilize systematic grazing management in raising livestock, are making the case for the widespread adoption of pasture based practices that demonstrate synchronous benefits for both local food systems and ecosystems. The Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) enters the landscape provides local and regional resources for farmers and ranchers – both established and beginning – who are interested in understanding and utilizing grazing management practices…. Read More →
162 Organizations Criticize Congress’ Move to Rescind USDA Funding Ahead of a Global Food Crisis
Farm Action, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Rural Coalition, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and 157 signing organizations criticized a move by Congress to rescind between $1.6 and $1.65 billion of USDA funding. … Read More →