Stewarding Our Water: Opportunities to Uplift the Leadership of Young Farmers
Water is essential to farmers’ success, and it does not just impact farmers—access to clean water impacts everyone, everywhere. Water stewardship in agriculture must involve far more than water conservation, it must involve holistic approaches to soil health, grazing, rangeland and forest management, watershed health, and the centering of Indigenous knowledge, also known as Traditional […]
Press Release: Young Farmer Success Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jessica Manly, National Young Farmers Coalition press@youngfarmers.org , 518-643-3564 ext. 722 Washington, D.C. (April 25, 2023) The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) applauds Representatives Joe Courtney (CT-02), Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15), Monica De La Cruz (TX-15), and Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) for coming together to introduce the Young Farmer Success Act, an important bill that could incentivize young people to enter agricultural professions by […]
Making Conservation Programs Accessible to Young and BIPOC Farmers: Joseluis Ortiz y Muniz
This morning, April 20th, New Mexico Water Fellow Joseluis Ortiz y Muniz travelled to Washington, D.C. to testify at the Senate Agriculture Committee’s hearing on farm bill conservation programs. He spoke to Congress about how to make these programs that can be instrumental in combatting climate change more accessible to young and BIPOC farmers. Below […]
Young Farmers Appropriations Priorities for the 2024 Fiscal Year
By Yahaira Cáceres Each year, the National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) participates in the appropriations process by submitting letters to Members of Congress. The appropriations process refers to how Congress allocates funding each year to different federal agencies and programs. By submitting letters to Members of Congress, stakeholders in the agriculture industry (including farmers, […]
The Largest Young Farmer Fly-In in History Calls for a 2023 Farm Bill that Equitably Invests in the Next Generation in Agriculture
Young and BIPOC farmers need land access NOW. Across the country, land prices are soaring, putting land access out of reach for many young farmers. As a result, many young and BIPOC farmers are leaving agriculture. That is why we launched our One Million Acres for the Future campaign and brought over 100 farmer leaders […]
Senate Agriculture Committee Hearing on 2023 Farm Bill Conservation and Forestry Programs
In early March, we submitted a letter for the record for a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on 2023 Farm Bill conservation and forestry programs. As climate change continues to be an increasing and persistent threat to agriculture, farm bill conservation programs are tools that can assist farmers in conservation and building climate resiliency. According to […]
As SCOTUS hears arguments on student loan debt relief, Young Farmers weighs in
As the Supreme Court of the United States hears cases made for and against the Biden Administration’s student debt cancellation program, many of the farmers in our network are anxiously awaiting the relief that they have been promised. Farmers want to be able to get on with the yearly budgeting and planning processes that will […]
CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF YOUNG FARMERS’ ONE MILLION ACRES FOR THE FUTURE CAMPAIGN
Since launching our One Million Acres for the Future campaign in November 2021 with the support of Chipotle, the Young Farmers’ team has been working hard to build power for our farmer leaders and to change federal policy—and we have started to see this work pay off! After a year of organizing and advocating for policy change […]
Celebrating our rapid response to the USDA Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program
USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program was a historic funding opportunity for community-led land access initiatives across the country. The National Young Farmers Coalition mobilized a rapid response effort to ensure organizations working on land access, particularly BIPOC-led and low-resource, knew about the funding opportunity and had support to apply. Between mid-September and […]
Digging into the Inflation Reduction Act and its impacts on the future of farming
On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. This $750 billion, once-in-a-generation bill makes critical investments in climate action and conservation, lowers healthcare costs, and amends the tax code. This is the largest single investment Congress has ever made in climate legislation! While we don’t yet know the full […]