Other Ag News:

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 - 12:00am
A unique culinary destination will be coming to the Discovery Park District at Purdue with the Cunningham Restaurant Group (CRG) announcement of a new, farm-to-table restaurant that will be housed in a historic barn slated to be revitalized as a future community hub.
Wednesday, March 13, 2024 - 12:00am
Most U.S. consumers surveyed in February 2024 predicted that they would see an increase in food prices over the next 12 months. Sixty-four percent of respondents predict food prices to rise in the next year, and the average predicted increase is 3.7%, according to the February Consumer Food Insights Report.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024 - 12:30pm

LAS VEGAS, March 12, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is making investments to provide clean drinking water, sanitary wastewater systems and affordable high-speed internet to people in Tribal communities. A portion of today’s funding will improve water infrastructure for the Yomba Shoshone Tribe in Nevada, which is part of USDA’s Rural Partners Network.

Monday, March 11, 2024 - 4:30pm

The Biden-Harris Administration today released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025. Following historic progress made since the President took office—with nearly 15 million jobs created and inflation down two-thirds—the Budget protects and builds on this progress by lowering costs for working families, protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, investing in America and the American people, and reducing the deficit by cracking down on fraud, cutting wasteful spending, and making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.

Monday, March 11, 2024 - 3:32pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net 

Tel. 347.563.6408

Release: President Releases Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025 Agriculture Spending

Washington, DC, March 11, 2024 – Today, the Biden-Harris Administration released the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25). The proposal for FY25 (October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025) outlines the Administration’s spending priorities for the coming fiscal year and requests $29.2 billion in discretionary budget authority for USDA in FY25, roughly $900 million less than the Administration’s FY24 request.

“This year’s total USDA Budget Request comes in nearly $1 billion lower than last year’s request, and while the budget would provide important and necessary increases for key sustainable agriculture programs, other vital programs would be left shortchanged,” said Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director. “The Budget would increase funding for Conservation Technical Assistance (+8.5%) and the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (+77%) compared to the FY2023 enacted level, while maintaining funding for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program at $50 million.”

“The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) applauds the Administration for these much-needed increases, particularly for the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP). Since OUAIP received its first appropriation in 2020, it has invested over $73 million through 182 grants and 119 cooperative agreements across 43 states and Puerto Rico. Yet due to limited funding, OUAIP has only been able to fulfill 22% of requests since 2020. In FY25, it’s essential that Congressional appropriators meet the growing nationwide demand for this popular program.”

“Unfortunately, despite some advances, the proposal is not perfect. The FY25 USDA Budget request calls for just $50 million for SARE, backtracking from the FY24 request which called for $60 million. NSAC is also disappointed to see a relatively significant cut in funding for the Organic Transition Research Program (-53%), alongside USDA’s persistent call to reduce the beginning farmer and rancher set-aside by revising beginning farmer lending targets,” Lavender added.

For more detailed information about the President’s Budget Request for FY2025, see our FY25 appropriations chart.   

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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more and get involved at: https://sustainableagriculture.net

The post Release: President Releases Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025 Agriculture Spending appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Monday, March 11, 2024 - 12:00pm

Phoenix, Ariz., March 11, 2024 – Today, at the National Farmers Union Annual Convention, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the finalization of a rule to align the voluntary “Product of USA” label claim with consumer understanding of what the claim means.

Monday, March 11, 2024 - 10:00am

In the latest episode of the podcast “Growing Good” from the Hobby Farms Magazine,  the Cornell Small Farms Program’s director, Anu Rangarajan, discussed the importance of supporting farmers on and off the farm to build and sustain farming communities.

This episode centered around social sustainability as a complement to the economic and environmental aspects of a successful farming operation, as well as Rangarajan’s own background as a student, researcher, and strawberry farmer.

Building community has been key to success in the decades of the Small Farms Program’s work. On the podcast, Rangarajan reflected on the program’s strides to directly embrace social sustainability in agriculture using our social and resource network.

“I feel like we really are trying to build [a] giant collective hug … a way that our spirits are nurtured and nourished in this work,” Rangarajan said.

Reminiscing on her experiences as a woman of color in agriculture, Rangarajan emphasized the importance of community support in her innovations and successes. Looking forward, she shared the program’s goal of cultivating diversity as we invest in social sustainability and agricultural education.

“There’s many different communities of farmers where they don’t necessarily have the supportive spaces needed … as a program, we’re super committed to building trusting relationships with different communities to do this work, and to actually show up.”

Listen to the “Growing Good” episode, including show notes and various listening options, at Hobby Farms Magazine.

The post In the News: Our Director Featured in “Growing Good” Podcast appeared first on Cornell Small Farms.

Friday, March 8, 2024 - 1:00pm

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2024 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced nearly $66 million to improve water quality, roads, trails, bridges and fish habitat on national forests and grasslands nationwide.

Friday, March 8, 2024 - 12:11pm

When Green Technologies, LLC began operations in 1999, sustainability was an early concept in the agricultural industry. Still, the company remained dedicated to growing as a market leader in sustainability and innovation. Now, as the company celebrates 25 years, there is a push from all sides of the industry to adopt sustainable practices and provide more eco-friendly options to consumers.

Friday, March 8, 2024 - 11:00am

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2024 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is honoring the second annual National Biobased Products Day, a celebration to raise public awareness of biobased products, their benefits and their contributions to the U.S. economy and rural communities. Biobased products offer opportunities for more revenue streams for small and mid-sized farmers while giving consumers more in-demand, clean options for everyday items.

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