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Tuesday, March 5, 2024 - 7:45am

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the finalization of Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The final rule will be effective 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024 - 12:00am
The latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer reveals a modest increase in farmer sentiment compared to the previous month, though concerns remain regarding farm financial performance in the year ahead.
Tuesday, March 5, 2024 - 12:00am
Harnessing a pervasive type of cellular messenger shows early experimental promise as a routine way of sampling and monitoring the body’s response to prescription drug exposure. 
Monday, March 4, 2024 - 1:29pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net 

Tel. 347.563.6408

Comment: NSAC Welcomes FY24 Agriculture Appropriations Bill 

Washington, DC, March 4, 2024 – Yesterday afternoon, Congressional leaders released the text of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Agriculture Appropriations bill. The bill would fund the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at a total of just over $26 billion through September 30, 2024.

“NSAC members are relieved to have in hand a final FY2024 bill that will at last bring stability. Under tremendous constraints, appropriators delivered a bill that has some bright spots alongside painful cuts. Importantly, the bill rejects harmful policy riders, including those that would have stifled fair competition and hampered USDA’s ability to respond to emergent agricultural needs. While the bill protects the Organic Transition Research Program at $7.5 million, it also slashes the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) by nearly 30%, Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) by 3.5%, the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program (SARE) by 4%, and the Office of Urban Agriculture & Innovative Production (OUAIP) by 18% compared to FY2023. These cuts are disappointing even considering the fiscal constraints. We encourage Congress to swiftly approve this bill and look ahead to FY2025,” said Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director.

“Going forward, it is essential for the stability and success of our farms and communities that Congress begin the critical work of drafting and passing responsible FY2025 legislation on time. This starts with ensuring that the agriculture bill receives a fair allocation to meet demand and counteract the impacts of reduced funding for many important programs for FY24 ​​,” Lavender added. 

For more detailed information about the FY24 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, see our updated 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 Comment: NSAC Welcomes FY24 Agriculture Appropriations Bill  appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Monday, March 4, 2024 - 9:00am

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2024 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that four school districts in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and Ohio received awards for their trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for their students. This announcement was made in front of nearly 850 school nutrition professionals at the School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference during National School Breakfast Week.

Friday, March 1, 2024 - 5:45pm

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that low-income California residents recovering from severe storms and power outages beginning January 21, 2024, could be eligible for a helping hand from the USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP).

Friday, March 1, 2024 - 4:10pm

Maputo, Mozambique, March 1, 2024 – Today U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small visited Mungazine Primary School in Mozambique, a USDA-supported school and school garden through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024 - 9:32am

I am the director of agriculture programs at the University of Arizona Yuma (UAZ Yuma), a regional Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) that offers tailored degree programs that meet regional workforce's needs. The student population is approximately 70% Hispanic and first generation.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 - 11:55am

Funding for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and three other federal departments, is set to expire at midnight this Friday, March 1, absent congressional approval of a Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) appropriations bill, or an extension of current funding. Amidst final-hour congressional negotiations to fend off a government shutdown, several policy “riders” have emerged as sticking points in reaching a deal on agriculture spending in particular. A “rider” refers to a non-germane legislative provision tacked onto a must-pass appropriations bill.

The House of Representatives’ FY24 Agriculture Appropriations bill – initially unveiled almost a year ago, in early spring 2023 – includes a number of harmful policy riders on top of deep funding cuts. This post briefly examines several proposed policy riders as Congress seeks to conclude FY24 appropriations negotiations. 

Limiting Fair Competition

One such policy rider, related to the implementation of rules associated with the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&SA), would effectively prevent the USDA from promoting fair market competition for livestock and poultry growers, both now and in the future. The P&SA was passed in 1921 to combat anticompetitive practices in the livestock and poultry industries as corporate meatpackers and processors (also known as integrators) consolidated and amassed substantial power over producers. Enforcement waned over time and in 2019, almost a century later, just four companies processed 85 percent of beef, 67 percent of pork, 53 percent of chicken, and 55 percent of turkey. 

Congress directed USDA to modernize the P&SA in recognition of this unprecedented market consolidation in the 2008 Farm Bill. But for 15 years, each attempt by any Administration to act on this mandate has stalled. Members of Congress opposed to P&SA reform consistently included riders to annual appropriations bills that obstructed USDA’s ability to make progress.

In 2021, the Biden Administration announced a renewed directive for USDA to strengthen the P&SA in alignment with an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. USDA announced a final rule on promoting transparency for contract poultry growers in 2023 and is expected to soon finalize a proposed rule that protects producers from anticompetitive discriminatory and predatory practices.  

Now, some members of Congress have revived a decade-old strategy to oppose modernization of the P&SA that would promote fair market competition for livestock and poultry growers. Active riders to the FY24 appropriations bill in the House would not just undo USDA’s recent and ongoing rulemaking. They would also prevent USDA from strengthening the P&SA in the future. This would be a devastating blow to the many livestock and contract poultry growers trapped in an anticompetitive industry or in hostile arrangements with integrators.  

Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Representative Andy Harris (R-MD-01), has made the inclusion of this rider a top priority to advance the spending bill to the House floor. The National Farmers Union delivered a joint letter to the House Appropriations Committee leadership earlier this month in opposition to these riders. NSAC and a number of member and allied organizations were signatories to the letter. In addition, Senators Grassley (R-IA) and Tester (D-MT), both farmers, recently penned a letter to colleagues lauding the importance of a stronger P&SA to protect farmers and ranchers and urged members of Congress to oppose any such riders. 

Hampered Response to Emergent Agricultural Needs

Another proposed rider seeks to restrict USDA’s ability to direct Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) resources toward emergent agricultural needs. This in turn could deal significant blows, both now or in the future, to initiatives such as the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, the Organic Market Development Grants, the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, and the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities.

The CCC is the mandatory funding mechanism for many federal agricultural programs.  A wholly owned corporation of the United States government, the CCC was created during the New Deal and put into its current statutory framework in 1948.  The CCC is used to fund commodity, conservation, bioenergy, and trade programs included in the periodically re-authorized federal farm bill. 

The House’s FY2024 Agriculture Appropriations bill proposed a restriction on the discretionary use of the CCC, and depending on the precise policy language, this rider could significantly hamper USDA’s ability to respond to emerging agricultural needs. Ultimately, the bottom line is that any inclusion of language that would hinder the Secretary of Agriculture’s flexibility to respond to emerging needs, such as the fracturing of supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic, has the potential to impact the continued delivery of programs that address acute regional and nationwide needs. 

For example, the USDA made additional funding available to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA) in November 2022 to maintain and improve regional agricultural supply chains. Through cooperative agreements with States, Tribal governments, and territories, LFPA strategically leverages CCC funds to create economic opportunity for local producers and underserved farmers, build local food supply chains, and address food insecurity. This additional funding offers an opportunity to build on the program’s initial success, with projected estimates of more than $1.5 billion in local economic impact. 

Recently, 153 regional LFPA implementers and stakeholders across the nation delivered a letter to Congressional leadership to express their strong opposition to any rider that restricts the Secretary’s current authority to utilize CCC funds. 

Other Threats 

Beyond these threats, the House bill also includes several riders that would block USDA from carrying out a variety of its racial equity-focused initiatives, including anything related to Executive Orders 13985, 14035, and 14091, or the creation and establishment of an Office of the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. This rider, like the others, is counter to NSAC’s mission and vision.

As Congress seeks to resolve FY24 Appropriations negotiations in the coming days, numerous riders – each of which carries their unique negative impacts – continue to be debated. NSAC believes including any of the aforementioned riders would lead to a less just and resilient food and farm system. Consequently, Congress should pass a clean FY2024 agriculture appropriations bill by keeping these and other riders out of any final deal. 

The post Riders in the Night: Harmful Provisions in the House Spending Bill appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 - 10:00am

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2024 – Today, the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the report, Intent to Establish the Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Program (PDF, 248 KB), authorized under the Growing Climate Solutions Act (GCSA). The GCSA was signed into law on December 29, 2022, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.

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