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Wednesday, September 17, 2025 - 4:47pm

Washington, DC, September 17, 2025 – This week, Representatives Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10), Alma Adams (D-NC-12),  and Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) reintroduced the Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act in the House and the Senate.  

The Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act directs the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to develop a multi-year operating loan pilot for beginning farmers to finance initial assets and the development of production and management systems. These expenditures can include intangible business infrastructure for crop records, payroll, and regulatory compliance, investments to increase soil fertility, and more. 

“The Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act provides necessary support for the next generation of farmers and ranchers, who face high-start up costs and too often struggle to repay loans within their first year of operation. This practical and balanced pilot program would alleviate challenges with limited access to more flexible capital, and open opportunities to invest in key start-up capacities that will benefit their farm for years to come,” said Duncan Orlander, Policy Specialist at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Specifically, the terms of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Loan Pilot Program authorized in the Act would include:

  • Direct and guaranteed FSA loans with a repayment term between 3 and 10 years;
  • A loan limit of $100,000 for both direct and guaranteed development loans;
  • Reduced collateral requirements of not greater than 100% loan-to-value;
  • Reduced interest rate between zero and 3%, as determined by the Secretary; 
  • Flexible principal repayment as determined by FSA, but not less than 1% of the remaining balance annually;
  • Robust technical assistance for development loan borrowers; and
  • Evaluation and reporting that measure pilot program success.

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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: https://sustainableagriculture.net/

The post Release: NSAC Welcomes the Reintroduction of the Bicameral Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025 - 12:18pm
US Capitol Building Photo credit: Louis Velazquez

When Congress returned from its August recess, it faced a long to-do list and little time to act.

On the September list is to fund the government by September 30, when current funding expires for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and across the federal government. A failure to fund the government by September 30 would result in a government shutdown, significantly impacting USDA’s ability to serve farmers, ranchers, and stakeholders nationwide.

Meanwhile, Congress is now nearly 7 years removed from passing a full farm bill. Earlier this year, President Trump signed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB, P.L. 119-21) into law, which slashed SNAP benefits by nearly $186 billion and directly reinvested more than $50 billion of that to further increase farm subsidies to the largest, wealthiest farmers, while programs that support the vast majority of farmers and rural communities were excluded from the bill entirely. The inclusion of a handful of traditional farm bill programs in budget reconciliation has severely diminished the likelihood that Congress will pass a comprehensive and fair farm bill this year, or at all this Congress.

With all this in mind, this blog post analyzes fiscal year (FY) 2026 agriculture appropriations proposals in both the House and Senate, the prospects of a government shutdown at the end of September, and whether a farm bill may move later this year.

FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations

On June 23, 2025, the House Appropriations Committee approved – in a 35-27 party-line vote – its fiscal year (FY) 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Meanwhile, on August 1, 2025 the full Senate passed its version of the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations bill with strong bipartisan support, 87-9.

At a high level, the Senate bill sets FY26 Agriculture spending at just over $27 billion and maintains level funding for numerous NSAC priorities. Meanwhile, the House bill sets FY26 Agriculture spending at $25.5 billion, reducing funding for critical programs that serve farmers and their communities. The House bill also includes harmful policy riders that would prevent implementation of three rules designed to promote fair competition for livestock farmers under the Packers and Stockyards Act, as well as any similar rulemaking effort (Section 729), and prevents any funding for efforts related to Executive Order 13985, which seeks to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the USDA (Sec. 755). 

Both the Senate and House bills include language relevant to the proposed USDA reorganization. In Sec. 746 of the House bill and Sec. 750 of the Senate bill, the following language appears:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds available to the Department of Agriculture may be used to move any staff office or any agency from the mission area in which it was located on August 1, 2018, to any other mission area or office within the Department in the absence of the enactment of specific legislation affirming such move.

Separately, during the full Senate’s consideration of its bill, Senators voted on an amendment led by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) that would have prevented the reorganization until USDA had: collected public input from stakeholders on the reorganization; conducted and made public a benefit-cost analysis; and required a report on how USDA would maintain staff expertise throughout the reorganization. While many members of Congress have spoken out with concerns about the USDA reorganization, the amendment ultimately failed 42-53 along party lines, with the exception of two Senators from Colorado joining all Republicans in opposing the amendment.

Conservation, Energy and Environment

One of the most notable areas where the House and Senate FY26 appropriations bills diverge in funding is for Conservation Technical Assistance. In the Senate, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Operations account – 85% of which funds NRCS staff capacity and partnerships with third party conservation organizations through the Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) program – comes in at $895.75 million. The bill reserves $775.495 million of the Conservation Operations funding for CTA. Conservation Operations saw a $26 million cut in overall funding from FY23 to FY24, and the proposed FY25 Senate funding level would bring Conservation Operations funding well above its FY23 levels, but still well below the $1.2 billion that NSAC and dozens of other conservation organizations requested

The Senate bill reserves $10 million from the CTA funding pool for the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI), maintaining its current funding level. GLCI – which promotes high quality livestock grazing techniques – was funded at $10 million in FY2024 and FY2025. The Senate’s number of $10 million is an important counter to the House proposal, which has zeroed-out funding for GLCI the past several fiscal years, and NSAC is thrilled to see support for such a valuable program. We hope that continued leadership in the Senate can lead to a restoration of GLCI funding in future years to its historic levels of nearly $30 million.

The House bill, on the other hand, funds Conservation Operations at $850 million, more than $45 million below both current funding levels and the Senate proposal. It also rescinds an additional $50 million of unspent funding allocated in previous fiscal years through a rider (Sec. 765). Funding for CTA in the House bill is $705 million, a nearly $70 million cut from current funding levels, showing that the majority of funding cuts by House appropriators for Conservation Operations are directed at CTA. As noted above, the House continues to attempt to zero out funding for GLCI in FY25, despite the growing popularity of grass-based systems among new farmers and ranchers.

Research and Organics

The House and Senate bills do not differ significantly on sustainable and organic research, though there are noticeable differences in the report language accompanying the bills, including the Senate’s emphasis on the important role sustainable and organic research programs play in building agricultural resilience.   

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) receives $48 million in funding in the Senate’s proposal, level with FY24’s enacted level but still below SARE’s funding of $50 million in FY23. While NSAC is pleased to see no further funding cuts to SARE in the Senate proposal, we are disappointed that the Senate bill did not restore SARE’s funding to FY23 levels. The failure to restore SARE’s funding has a compounding impact as applicants continue to be turned away from the program for lack of sufficient funding. 

SARE provides farmers and researchers with vital opportunities to better understand agricultural systems and increase profitability.The current demand for sustainable agriculture solutions far outweighs available resources. According to SARE’s most recent 2023-2024 Biennial Report From the Field, less than 40% of Farmer Rancher Grant proposals were able to receive funding between 2022-2023. The Committee also included report language on SARE regarding its important work on soil health:

“The Committee appreciates the work SARE has done to improve soil health through cutting edge research, education, and extension on cover crops, diversified rotations, and managed grazing. The Committee expects the funding provided to be focused on increasing agricultural resilience, including, where appropriate, interdisciplinary systems research and education, farmer and rancher research and demonstration grants, and graduate student research grants.”

Elsewhere within the purview of USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area, a number of priorities important to NSAC members received level funding in the Senate bill. The Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) did not receive any discretionary funding on top of its mandatory authorization level of $50 million, continuing a trend in recent years. The Organic Transitions Program (ORG) received level funding of $7.5 million. The Committee included report language highlighting the importance of organic research and the need for more organic research across USDA REE. 

“Organic Research.—USDA’s National Organic Standards Board [NOSB] has identified key organic research priorities, many of which would help to address challenges that have limited the growth in organic production in this country. The Committee encourages NIFA to give strong consideration to the NOSB organic research priorities when crafting the fiscal year 2026 Request for Applications for AFRI and the Organic Transition Program. Given the growing demand for organic products, the Committee also encourages USDA to increase the number of organic research projects funded under AFRI and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.”

The Senate bill does not provide any additional discretionary funding for the Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach Grant Program (FOTO), which includes both the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (Sec. 2501). While FOTO receives $50 million in mandatory funding that is unaffected by annual appropriations, the program has also received additional discretionary appropriations each year between FY20 – FY23, which NSAC members have strongly supported.

As opposed to the Senate’s approach to mostly level-fund key sustainable and organic research and education programs, NSAC is disappointed to see SARE receive $40 million in funding through the House proposal, an $8 million cut to FY24’s enacted level. Over the past several years the House has continuously worked to cut funding for SARE, despite the program’s wide popularity among farmers and ranchers. In House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris’ (R-MD-1) home state of Maryland alone, over 7,000 farmers have participated in SARE since 2020

Similar to past years, the House bill attempts to remove funding for USDA’s Climate Hubs. The House bill also treats OREI and ORG the same as the Senate, and includes some report language recognizing the value of organic research:

“Organic Agriculture Research.—The Committee encourages NIFA to consider the USDA National Organic Standards Board organic research priorities when crafting future AFRI Requests for Applications. Given the growing demand for organic products, the Committee also encourages NIFA to continue organic research projects funded under AFRI.

Similar to the Senate, the House bill does not provide any additional funding for FOTO.

Local and Regional Food Systems

The Senate and the House continue to prioritize funding for local and regional food systems at different levels. 

The Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP), created in the 2018 Farm Bill, is USDA’s primary funding source for local and regional food system initiatives across the country. LAMP is a combination of the Value-Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG), the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP), and the Regional Food System Partnership Program. Combined, they invest in processing, distribution, and marketing of local foods. 

The Senate and the House have consistently funded FMLFPP; both provide the maximum authorization of $7.4 million to be split between the two programs, which is level funding from FY25. While the Senate maintains strong support for producer grants, authorizing $11.5 million for VAPG, the House proposes a significantly lower level of $5 million. The House’s sizable proposed cut in funding for the program is a new trend; they proposed the same in FY25. A decrease in funding for VAPG would have a greater impact this year compared to previous due to the increase in popularity of the program. Earlier this year, VAPG implemented a new grant application process that seeks to remove barriers for producer applicants. It is demonstrating initial success; Rural Development staff shared that the number of applicants nearly doubled. 

The Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) is another impactful program addressing community food security through local producer networks in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Since OUAIP received its first appropriation in 2020, it has invested over $85 million in 199 grants and 146 cooperative agreements to increase the capacity of agricultural production and municipal composting initiatives in local communities across 43 states and Puerto Rico. Yet, the office remains unable to meet its full potential due to Congress continuously underfunding it. While authorized at $25 million annually, the Senate includes only $6 million – a decrease from $7M in FY25; and an even greater decrease from $8.5 in FY23. The House includes $4 million, as a result of Congressman Mark Alford (R-MO-4) including an amendment during markup, after initially being completely left out of the bill with zero funding. These levels are simply insufficient to meet program demand. We recommend significant increases to fund more than 14% of projects – the cumulative award average as of last year.

Government Shutdown

Despite a decent amount of progress – albeit behind schedule – on FY2026 agriculture appropriations, there nevertheless remains a significant possibility of a government shutdown beginning October 1, 2025.

Negotiations on government funding beyond September 30 are developing by the minute and as of posting this blog, it appears possible – though not certain – that the federal government will shutdown for an undetermined period of time beginning October 1. So what, exactly, would a government shutdown mean for agriculture?

Capitol building in the fall. Photo credit: NSAC

Each agency and department throughout the federal government, including USDA, is required to develop a government shutdown contingency plan, available here

While USDA will need to keep a number of employees working to handle critical functions, non-essential programs will be forced to a halt. In the past, essential activities have included but were not limited to: food safety inspections, wildfire suppression, nutrition assistance programs, and monitoring imports for pests and diseases. The number of employees that will be furloughed will depend on how long the shutdown lasts. 

In particular, we anticipate that a shutdown would adversely impact farmers and ranchers who rely on county-level USDA offices of the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. These local offices – many of which are already strapped due to the ongoing USDA staffing crisis – would close, and while the impact from the closures may not be felt immediately, the longer the shutdown runs, the more acutely farmers and stakeholders will feel the impact.

Farm Bill

As many of our readers will know, Congress has not passed a full farm bill since December 2018. While OBBB – which was signed into law in July 2025 – included some components of a traditional full farm bill, it excluded many programs that support the vast majority of farmers and rural communities. This calculated move effectively ended a decades-long era in which federal farm bills were passed by coupling nutrition assistance and farm programs, raising legitimate questions of how, or even whether, future farm bills might pass Congress.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA-15) has indicated that he would like the House to approve a farm bill this fall, yet there is no clear path to accomplish that goal in the House of Representatives let alone Congress as a whole, nor has there been concrete evidence of a timeline or commitment to enacting a bipartisan farm bill anytime soon. On the other side of the US Capitol, there has yet been no indication that the Senate has the capacity or appetite to advance a new farm bill this fall.

Even amidst this uncertainty, some truths remain constant. Congress must pass an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill by September 30, 2025 or December 31, 2025 at the very latest, in order to prevent critical programs’ lapsing authorization. More broadly, for a farm bill to become law this year, it must meet the high bar of a good farm bill. The bill should move our food and farm system forward by meaningfully supporting family farmers and their communities while addressing OBBB’s impact on families and individuals.

The post September in Washington, DC: FY26 Appropriations, Shutdown, and Farm Bill appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025 - 6:21am

On July 24, 2025, Secretary Rollins released a memo (SM-1078-015) describing the planned reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff, drafted without any consultation with farmers or other stakeholders. USDA has already lost more than 20,000 staff since January 2025 and if the reorganization moves forward as planned, it will result in the likely loss of thousands more staff. This is the second post in a series discussing the loss of USDA staff since January 2025 and the expected impacts of the proposed USDA reorganization across issue areas. This post examines staffing losses and planned cuts across the research agencies at USDA and their devastating impacts on agricultural research and innovation. Our previous post describes the staffing losses across the USDA and states. 

USDA’s research agencies – the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS), Economic Research Service (ERS), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) –  have been hit particularly hard by recent staff losses and have significant cuts planned in the reorganization. These research staff and sites provide the human capital and infrastructure for agricultural research as well as data collection and analysis for commodities and rural communities. Unfortunately, recent history has shown that staff losses in these agencies leads directly to reduced productivity and support for stakeholders. In this post, we examine the toll of staffing declines and proposed cutbacks in USDA research agencies, and what they mean for the future of agricultural knowledge and innovation.

After widespread concerns about the proposed reorganization, USDA opened an adhoc public comment opportunity. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) encourages organizations and individuals to submit their comments, questions, and concerns regarding the reorganization to USDA at reorganization@usda.gov by September 30, 2025. NSAC remains  concerned about the lack of transparency involved in this comment period, given that the opportunity for public comment has not been formally provided through the Federal Register, as is standard practice for proposals of this scope.

Research Staff Have Been Gutted

The four major research agencies of USDA have already lost approximately 23% of their staff since January 2025. 1,600 employees left the research agencies through DOGE’s Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). DRP offered federal employees fully paid administrative leave through September 2025 if employees voluntarily resigned their positions. 351 research agency staff accepted the DRP in the first round beginning in January 2025 and an additional 1,249 research staff accepted the second round of DRP in April 2025.

Figure 1: Research Staff Losses

According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), approximately 370 additional staff separated from the research agencies between January and March 2025. Separations include staff who retired (voluntary, early, or for disability), quit, had their contracts expired or terminated, were fired, transferred to a different agency, or otherwise separated from employment.

Table 1: Research Staff Losses by Agency

NASS, the internal statistical branch of the USDA, has lost the highest percentage of staff since January 2025 among research agencies, losing approximately 30% of their staff to DRP and 4% additional staff who separated from the agency. NASS collects hundreds of surveys on agriculture and food and prepares a wide range of reports on virtually every component of American agriculture. They administer the Census of Agriculture every five years, the only dataset that provides information on every American county and farm over time. They also collect and analyze data on every commodity and market in American agriculture. NASS provides essential unbiased data on US agriculture that undergirds farmers’ decisions and the decisions of policymakers. 

ARS, the internal in-house scientific research agency of the USDA, has lost the largest number of employees since January 2025 among research agencies. ARS lost 1,225 employees to DRP and an additional 298 staff who separated from the agency between January and March 2025. ARS’s mission is to “deliver scientific solutions to national and global agricultural challenges” and they employ a wide range of scientists and staff at a network of research sites throughout the country, often in partnership with universities and private sector companies. The loss of ARS staff undermines the ability of the agency to fulfill its mission and provide the research needed by American farmers and ranchers. ARS researchers, in particular, are highly specialized scientists with skills that are very difficult to replace

The loss of ARS scientists means that several research projects vital to the resilience of American agriculture have already stopped. In an interview with Wyoming Public Radio, two former ARS researchers talked about the losses caused by the loss of staff such as themselves. According to one scientist: “I worked directly with a lot of farmers, visiting farms, going to meetings of farmers, and making sure that they had the most up-to-date research to inform their management decisions. Also listening to what challenges they were facing, and making sure that those challenges were being reflected in the research that the Agricultural Research Service was doing [and] bringing those concerns back to the researchers.” The scientist further shared: “All my projects revolved around helping smaller farmers deal with the impacts of drought in this region and all of those projects have been cancelled.”

The nearly 2,000 employees lost from USDA research agencies directly hinder the ability of the department to fulfill its mission to “advance scientific knowledge related to agriculture.” These staffing losses and administrative setbacks have already led to significant disruptions including delaying or deferring several NIFA research programs for fiscal year 2025. The Foundational and Applied Science Program, for example, was delayed so significantly that the fiscal year 2025 program was skipped altogether and the request for applications is now for fiscal year 2026. 

The Reorganization Will Further Degrade Research Agencies

USDA research agencies are already experiencing significant losses in their ability to serve stakeholders and the planned reorganization will cause further damage. 

ARS is hit particularly hard by the planned reorganization. The reorganization includes a plan to close the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), located in Beltsville, Maryland. BARC has operated since 1910. Comprising approximately 6,000 acres of agricultural research fields and facilities, BARC is the largest ARS research facility and hosts research on food animal production, animal health, entomology, food safety, water management, soil quality, air quality, rangeland systems, sustainable agriculture, plant genetics, plant diseases, crop protection, crop production and virtually every aspect of agricultural production systems. 

BARC has produced impactful research for over a century, benefiting American farmers and agriculture. For example, BARC researchers developed and licensed a patented antibody designed for wide-spectrum identification of potyviruses, a major group of plant viruses with high economic impact. These anti-viral technologies are now widely developed and sold by Agdia to detect and prevent potyviruses in a variety of crops such as beans, potatoes, and industrial hemp and prevent billions in lost productivity every year.

Photo by Kaitlan Balsam on Unsplash

Closing and relocating the Beltsville facility will be extremely difficult and costly and will cause unavoidable damage to research productivity. Long-term field studies are particularly important to agricultural research to understand the long-term functioning of agricultural systems such as soil health and pest burden. The long-term field research at Beltsville cannot simply be relocated, and losing these field sites means losing irreplaceable scientific knowledge. Relocating facilities such as the Electron and Confocal Microscopy Unit (ECMU) would be extremely difficult and expensive, if possible at all. While the USDA reorganization plans to close and relocate BARC over several years to minimize research disruptions, experts are highly doubtful that the closure would be able to do so or would generate any cost savings. 

Despite claiming to want to move the Department closer to farmers, the reorganization also calls for the closure of ARS Area Offices. ARS is currently divided into five geographic areas: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Plains, and Pacific West. Each area has an Area Office that oversees the facilities and staff in that region, ensuring that the research addresses regionally significant topics and problems. Closing Area Offices would undermine the ability to prioritize regional issues and weaken connections to farmers and stakeholders in the region. It would also mean administrative processes such as hiring and facilities management would be funneled through a single national office, creating delays and inefficiencies and would undermine the important regional partnerships and networks with collaborators such as land-grant universities. Closing ARS Area Offices will not “streamline” services, it will weaken local accountability and slow down work.

Likewise, the reorganization calls for the closure of NASS regional field offices to be replaced with offices in five new USDA hubs. NASS has twelve regional field offices in the country, each responsible for the statistical work in that region. These field offices oversee the data collection and management in the states of their region and provide the data and statistics for those states. The field offices are essential to maintaining stakeholder relationships and making sure that farmers and ranchers in every state and region are adequately represented in national statistics. Consolidating NASS offices to the newly proposed hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah would leave large swaths of the country unrepresented. Farmers and ranchers in the Northeast  and West Coast, in particular, would have inadequate representation to ensure they are adequately included in agricultural statistics. 

NASS regional offices are essential to improving farmers’ trust of the agency and to boosting survey response rates from farmers. Ensuring every farmer is counted in national statistics is essential and regional offices are vital to that effort.

The Deterioration Continues: Staff Losses at ERS and NIFA Since 2019 Relocations

Despite significant public outcry, ERS and NIFA were relocated to Kansas City, Missouri in 2019 during the previous Trump Administration. ERS provides research on economics and agriculture, producing research on future commodity price projections, farm income, and essentially all aspects of American agriculture and rural communities. The economic reports and research generated by ERS are used by farmers, policymakers, and other stakeholders as they make major decisions for the agricultural economy such as changes to commodity programs or loans. NIFA oversees the department’s competitive grant programs, investing in research, education, and extension programs for American agriculture. NIFA funds universities and other partners to advance agricultural science, innovation, and education nationwide.

This relocation of ERS and NIFA led to hard-learned lessons concerning how destructive relocations can be. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), these staff losses reduced the number of reports and articles generated by ERS staff in half and led to the loss or delay of several vital industry reports. The loss of these publications and reports meant that farmers and other stakeholders had to make risky decisions with less information. Within NIFA, the relocation led to delays and suspensions of several grant programs and payments. For example, land grant universities across the country struggled as NIFA’s Capacity Grants that support basic research facilities were delayed by more than a fiscal quarter, undermining the research and services of those universities. When NIFA grants are delayed or suspended, vital research is threatened and American farmers and the agricultural sector suffer. 

It has taken years for ERS and NIFA to rebuild their capacity following the relocation and attempt to replace the lost institutional knowledge needed to serve American agriculture and stakeholders. But both agencies are again being decimated by staff losses. ERS has lost 27% of their staff to DRP and an additional 2% to other separations. NIFA has also experienced widespread staffing losses since January 2025. NIFA lost 11% of their staff to DRP and an additional 8% to other separations. These staffing losses have already led to delayed and deferred grant programs and will, we can infer based on recent history, lead to further losses in research productivity and delays that undermine American agriculture. 

USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics mission area that houses ARS, ERS, NASS, and NIFA is tasked with providing reliable scientific research, data, and analysis for America’s farmers, ranchers, rural communities, and stakeholders. The staff in these agencies are highly skilled and specialized workers who are dedicated to public service. Each of the four agencies have already lost overwhelming numbers of staff and the planned USDA reorganization will further compromise their ability to fulfill their missions. 

The post USDA Staffing Crisis: Research Agencies Face Steep Losses as Reorganization Advances  appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Monday, September 15, 2025 - 4:30pm

(Washington, D.C., September 15, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today issued a new memorandum to modernize and strengthen America's wildfire prevention and response system. This policy direction enacts common-sense reforms that modernize and streamline federal wildfire system. Concurrently, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum issued his own memorandum to streamline capabilities and strengthen federal, state, and local partnerships.

Monday, September 15, 2025 - 10:00am

We hope you will join us on December 5 for the 2025 New York Small Farms Summit! This is an opportunity to meet other farmers and ag supporters, learn about research and education projects, and set priorities for future efforts to grow small farm success. 

Small farms are managed by diverse people integrating multiple enterprises to meet personal, local, environmental, and food systems goals. The Cornell Small Farms Program is dedicated to uplifting small-scale farming as a dignified and viable livelihood by providing intentional, innovative, and inclusive services. We envision a future where small farms are valued, respected, and supported for the vital role they play in creating a stronger and more resilient food system. 

We often host listening sessions to hear directly from farmers about their challenges and needs. The NY Small Farms Summits create regional gatherings of small-scale farmers and service providers who work together to analyze challenges and prioritize responses to improve small farm success. 

This one-day Summit will bring together farmers, extension educators, university faculty, and other service providers at multiple sites across the state. A few locations will focus on different topics, including specialty mushrooms (New York City) and veterans in agriculture (Central NY). Each summit site will connect virtually in the morning to hear from agricultural leaders in the state. Subsequent in-person conversations will explore topics on small farm entrepreneurship, resilience, support networks, and priorities moving forward.

Interested in joining us? Use the form below to sign up for more information and be alerted when registration opens. A more detailed agenda and map of summit locations will be shared this fall. 

We look forward to conversations focused on how we can be strong together as we build small farm success. 

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Name* First Last Email* Country*AfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCabo VerdeCambodiaCameroonCanadaCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzechiaCôte d'IvoireDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEswatiniEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and McDonald IslandsHoly SeeHondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People's Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesiaMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorth MacedoniaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestine, State ofPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRomaniaRussian FederationRwandaRéunionSaint BarthélemySaint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwedenSwitzerlandSyria Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, the United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluTürkiyeUS Minor Outlying IslandsUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuelaViet NamVirgin Islands, BritishVirgin Islands, U.S.Wallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweÅland IslandsState*Select A StateAlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthern Mariana IslandsOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahU.S. Virgin IslandsVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingArmed Forces AmericasArmed Forces EuropeArmed Forces PacificZip Code*County*AlbanyAlleganyBronxBroomeCattaraugusCayugaChautauquaChemungChenangoClintonColumbiaCortlandDelawareDutchessErieEssexFranklinFultonGeneseeGreeneHamiltonHerkimerJeffersonKingsLewisLivingstonMadisonMonroeMontgomeryNassauNew YorkNiagaraOneidaOnondagaOntarioOrangeOrleansOswegoOtsegoPutnamQueensRensselaerRichmondRocklandSaint LawrenceSaratogaSchenectadySchoharieSchuylerSenecaSteubenSuffolkSullivanTiogaTompkinsUlsterWarrenWashingtonWayneWestchesterWyomingYatesAre you affiliated with Cornell University?* Alum or Current Student Faculty Staff Cooperative Extension Staff No Affiliation If you are retired from Cornell University or Cooperative Extension, please select your former appointment.Are you a military veteran or currently serving?* Yes No We anticipate that different Small Farms Summit locations will focus on different topics. Which of these would interest you most? Beginning Farms Small Farms Topics (e.g. all commodities, business, marketing, production) Specialty Mushrooms & Urban Ag Veterans in Agriculture This is for us to assess interest and does not commit you to a specific session.X/TwitterThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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The post Save the Date: New York Small Farms Summit This December appeared first on Cornell Small Farms.

Friday, September 12, 2025 - 10:00am

(Washington, D.C., September 12, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced eligible livestock producers will receive disaster recovery assistance through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire (ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW) to help offset increased supplemental feed costs due to a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire in calendar years 2023 and 2024. The program is expected to provide approximately $1 billion in recovery benefits. Sign-up begins on Monday, September 15.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - 2:03pm

While global supply chains have brought year-round abundance to families at the grocery store, it has come at a cost, particularly for small and mid-sized farmers right here at home. Consolidation of food distribution and retail has forced farmers to consider higher volume sales at lower prices, which can be difficult to consider while maintaining profits for small and mid-sized operations. However, with recent federal investments and local leadership, there has been a clear and growing desire among schools and food pantries to purchase fresh, nutritious foods from those very farms in their own backyards.  

The concept of purchasing food locally with government funding is not new. However, a series of investments – beginning with the Farmers to Families Food Box Program – have spurred the development of regional food supply chains both within state borders and across state lines. This development has created stability and opened market opportunities for local businesses while bringing fresh, wholesome food to local communities. Understandably, this success has grabbed the attention of participating farmers, businesses, and food system stakeholders, in addition to the press, and most recently Congress. 

Different bills, similar outcomes

In July 2025, two bipartisan bills introduced in the Senate and the House outline pathways to codify immensely popular and successful local food programs. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Jim Justice (R-WV) introduced the Strengthening Local Food Security Act (S. 2338), and Representative Robert Bresnahan (R-PA-8), along with 10 of his colleagues, introduced the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act (H.R. 4782) the following week. 

Each bill directs the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into cooperative agreements with state agencies, Tribal governments, and US territories, to provide them with funding to purchase and distribute local food to communities in need. While each program would funnel wholesome foods into food-insecure communities, the primary focus of each is to expand economic opportunities for small- and mid-sized farms, beginning and veteran farmers, while strengthening regional food networks. 

The critical element of each of these bills’ potential successes is the cooperative agreement model. By empowering local and state entities to make the purchasing decisions:

  • Farmers of all sizes can readily participate.
  • Food dollars remain in the state, reaching areas often underrepresented in federal funding. 
  • Families receive fresh food that directly reflects their preferences and needs. 

The two bills largely accomplish the same goal with slight variations in implementation directives. These differences are described below. 

The Strengthening Local Food Security Act 

The Senate bill would make non-competitive awards to States, Tribes, or territories based on need within the state, with Tribes first receiving 10% of total program funding. The eligible government agencies would be required to submit plans to USDA detailing partners responsible for implementation and the ways in which the program would grow the local food system while promoting food security. Agencies would be required to purchase all foods from local sources and at least 51% of foods from the target producers, which are defined as small and mid-size producers, beginning farmers or ranchers, veteran farmers and ranchers, and other underserved producers. These foods can be distributed to either food assistance programs or in school settings. In order to effectively administer programs, agencies could use up to 25% for program administration and technical assistance to producers, which includes supporting food safety compliance among producers. At least half of federal funding is made available to the agency before implementation, and the remainder at the midpoint of the agreement. 

The Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act

Identical to the Senate bill, the House bill would make non-competitive awards to States, Tribes, or territories based on need within the state, with Tribes first receiving 10% of total program funding. Agencies would be required to purchase only local, unprocessed, or minimally processed foods with at least 25% of those foods from small and mid-size producers, beginning farmers or ranchers, and veteran farmers and ranchers. These foods would be distributed to local food organizations to improve access to healthy and nutritious foods in communities. In the House bill, agencies would also have access to no more than 25% of their funding for program administration and technical assistance to producers, which includes supporting food safety compliance among producers, and to grow the local agricultural value chain. If program elements are not specified, it would be up to the discretion of USDA on implementation. 

If either of these bills is included in a future Farm Bill, differences between them would need to be addressed by Agriculture Committee leadership.

Maple Wind Farm Richmond, Vermont Locally Tested and Approved

For more than 25 years, USDA has directed numerous pilot projects, created statutorily-directed local food programs, and explored ways to strengthen market channels between farms and kitchen tables. Each of them has had various forms of success, but none that could be assessed at a national scale.  

One of USDA’s latest initiatives, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, utilized a cooperative agreement model, providing funding directly to states, Tribes, and territories to purchase local food for nutrition and food assistance programs. While the cooperative agreement model is not a new approach, to date, most federal nutrition programs provide foods to communities via USDA’s commodity procurement and distribution network. 

By instead supporting localities and stakeholders on the ground to manage all food purchases, states and local communities have achieved undeniable success and significant economic impact: 

  • By December 2024, localities had purchased more than $400 million in new direct food purchases, which generated $747 million in economic activity. 
  • Local program design meant significantly fewer barriers for participation, compared to food purchases being made by USDA. Nearly 10,000 unique farmers – big and small- were able to participate. Localities purchased a wide variety of locally produced foods, such as fresh produce, meat, dairy, eggs, fish, and more.
  • Many participating farmers were small, mid-size, or beginning farmers, and purchases allowed them to scale their operations, which led to hiring new employees and on-farm investments, such as cold storage, high tunnels, and other infrastructure. 

Hamid Pezeshkian, the owner and operator of Flametree Farms in Vista, CA, shared “Thanks to reliable local purchasing agreements, we’ve been able to reinvest into improving our irrigation system, and planting a few new fruit trees; we’ve also been able to get the entire orchard covered with fresh native mulch which should help in organically improving the soil fertility and fruit quality this season.”

Sharifa Tomlinson, the owner of Arrowrock Farm in Ohio, explained the magnitude of their ability to scale, “The reason why Ohio CAN is a great source for us and for us financially is one, we can sell a lot of chickens at one time which brings us in a little bit more financial support and a stream of revenue. Because of CAN, I was able to grow my operation. We started off with raising 30 meat chickens a year…and this year we’re up to 400 at any given time.”

Securing the future of local food systems

The local food programs laid out in the Strengthening Local Food Security Act and the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act would create new, reliable markets for farmers while better connecting them with consumers and families in their communities. These investments will catalyze and strengthen a burgeoning local food sector that can expand beyond federal nutrition programs. 

But in order to succeed, Congress must adequately invest in local food economies, and not just commodity markets. Congressional members need to hear how local foods are important to your business, health, and community well-being. 

Click here to ask for your Congressional Member’s Support

The post Congress Wants Local Food Back on the Menu appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - 1:55pm

(Washington, D.C., September 10, 2025) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is delivering on its commitment to support child health and American agriculture by opening applications for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants. Through this grant opportunity, USDA will invest up to $18 million in farm to school projects that connect farmers to USDA’s child nutrition programs through local food procurement, agricultural education, school gardens, and more.

Tuesday, September 9, 2025 - 2:58pm

(Washington, September 9, 2025) – The Make America Healthy Again Commission today released the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy, a sweeping plan with more than 120 initiatives to reverse the failed policies that fueled America’s childhood chronic disease epidemic. The strategy outlines targeted executive actions to advance gold-standard science, realign incentives, increase public awareness, and strengthen private-sector collaboration.

Monday, September 8, 2025 - 10:00am

Interested in improving your technical and business knowledge? Enroll now for Cornell Small Farms Program online courses to gain valuable skills on countless topics, including finances, cattle, pigs, mushrooms, land health, and stress management. Live webinars for our first block of courses will begin next week.

Our online courses are designed to be flexible and user-friendly. All course materials are stored on our single, easy-to-use web platform, which you can access for life after enrolling in a course. Tune in to weekly webinars to hear from experts and ask questions in real time, and complete all other course reading and assignments when it works for you. 

One new addition to our suite of courses this year is the new self-paced course on Foundations of Beef Production. This new mini-course covers the most basic beef knowledge you need, from breeds to terminology to production systems. It is led by expert educators Betsy Hicks and Abbey Birchenough, and includes two free additional office hour sessions with them. If you are starting from zero, we recommend taking this mini-course and then enrolling in the live-instructed Beef Cattle Production and Management, which begins on Wednesday, September 24.

Registration is open now for all courses. Make sure to enroll for our first block of classes, which will run for six weeks beginning the week of September 22. 

BF 101: Starting at Square One

Mondays from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET

So you’re thinking about starting a farm, but feeling overwhelmed by all the decisions? Have your online searches turned up piles of information, but you still feel a bit lost? This course is designed to assist new and aspiring farmers in taking the first steps in thinking through farm start-up (whether you already have land access or not).

 

BF 112: Reading the Land

Mondays from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET

There is only one guarantee in agriculture or other land-based businesses: “When we improve land health we realize improvements in production, profitability, and social well-being.” This course will teach farmers how to measure improved land health through reading the land as we walk across it, as well as conducting various biological monitoring practices, from simple to more complex.

 

BF 101: Cómo Iniciar su Negocio Agrícola

Martes, de 6:30 p.m. a 8 p.m., hora del este

¿Está pensando en comenzar un negocio agrícola propio, pero se siente confundido por todas las decisiones que esto involucra? ¿Sus búsquedas en línea han arrojado mucha información, pero todavía se siente un poco perdido? Este curso está diseñado para ayudar a todas las personas que desean iniciar o son agricultores nuevos a dar los primeros pasos para iniciar su propio negocio agrícola (finca, rancho, granja), ya sea que tenga acceso a la tierra o no. Este curso es 100% en Español.

 

BF 149: Identifying and Partnering with Mushrooms in Farms, Gardens and Forests

Tuesdays from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET

Mushrooms are a fascinating set of organisms that are quickly gaining popularity for a wide range of applications from food to medicine to cleaning up toxic pollutants. This course offers an overview of foundational knowledge needed to understand how mushrooms might play a role in your farm and/or greater community. Learn the basic biology and life cycle, proper harvest and identification, and examples of how humans are using mushrooms.

 

BF 204: QuickBooks for Farmers

Tuesdays from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET

This course is an introduction to QuickBooks, designed to provide an overview of the QuickBooks Pro software application. It will cover the basic features, such as sales tax, inventory, invoicing, adjustments, and year-end procedures. Students will gain hands-on experience in the concepts presented, as well as guidance on applying the concepts to their own farm bookkeeping.

 

BF 233: Beef Cattle Management

Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET

Having a successful cattle business is about much more than just buying a few head and putting them in a field. If you want to turn a profit, you need to think carefully about your goals, marketing strategies, appropriate breeds, and many more details. Over this six-week course, you’ll get a much clearer idea of what is involved, whether it’s the right fit for you, and if it is, what steps you need to take to get started. Now also available as a bundle with our new self-paced Foundations of Beef Production course.

 

BF 210: Stress Reduction for Farmers

Wednesdays from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET

Interested in creating a farm that runs smoothly, having time for off-farm interests, and reducing your overall stress? In this course, farmer Allyson Angelini shares Holistic Management tools that will help you approach farming with intention, an eye for efficiency, and in ways that are more self-supportive. Learn to conduct an annual review, establish priorities, create an achievable plan, and connect with peers for support and encouragement.

 

BF 138: Getting Started with Pastured Pigs

Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET

Pigs can function as a profitable stand-alone enterprise or can be integrated into your existing farm structure to provide a variety of products and utilize marginal lands that would otherwise go unused. This course will guide beginning farmers through the production and marketing of pigs raised in pasture settings.

In our ongoing commitment to equitable access to education, we have maintained tiered pricing for our courses based on household size and income. We also offer scholarships for eligible farmers in New York who face an entry barrier to farming, and for military veterans in New York State.

In recent years we added “Growing Uncommon Fruit,” which will help you determine whether incorporating uncommon fruit into your operation is the right decision for you, “Goat Production,” which will guide beginning farmers through the production and marketing of goats for dairy, meat and fiber, and “Identifying and Partnering with Mushrooms in Farms, Gardens and Forests” to teach you basic ID, species, life cycle, and potential applications of mushrooms to solve community-level challenges. Other newer additions include “Stress Reduction for Farmers,” which offers strategies for streamlining your farm; “Access to Capital” for anyone seeking funding for a farm enterprise; “Cut Flower Production” on the business of flower farming; a course on “Beef Cattle Management;” a primer on “Social Media & Online Marketing” for your farm business; and a 4-week intensive in how “Reading the Land” can help you monitor its health.

You can browse all of our course offerings on our website. You can learn more about our courses, including answers to common questions, on our course FAQ.

The post From Business to Beef, Learn New Skills with Our Online Courses appeared first on Cornell Small Farms.

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