Ask your Representative to Support the Young Farmer Agenda
By enacting the Young Farmer Agenda, Congress can inspire and support an entire generation of young producers, protect the resources they steward, strengthen the communities they feed, and revitalize the rural economies they underpin. Will you call your Member of Congress today to ask them to support the Young Farmer Agenda?
News from the West
The end of summer brought both bounty and hardship to Western farmers and ranchers. From hurricanes to fire, flood to drought, many have struggled with serious impacts to both their operations and their communities. But as farmers do, you are rebuilding, pitching in, and standing together. Times like these remind us how important it is […]
Convention recap: Is there a farming platform?
By Eric Hansen, NYFC Policy Analyst Agriculture was conspicuously absent from the conversation at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. We already noted in The Hill the missed opportunity this presented for the RNC. Unfortunately the Democrats did an equally poor job speaking to farmers. For Republicans, highlighting agriculture should be a no-brainer. Rural America […]
FSMA Update: FDA Finalizes the Produce Rule
By Eric Hansen, NYFC Policy Analyst This is what we have all been waiting for, at least those of us with a stake in farm policy. On November 13 , the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the final version of Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption, commonly […]
Young farmers visit Capitol Hill and USDA
Last Wednesday farmers from six states converged on Washington, D.C. for a whirl-wind round of meetings on Capitol Hill and at USDA. The event, known as a “fly-in,” was organized by the National Young Farmers Coalition to give young farmers a chance to advocate in person for the #FarmingIsPublicService campaign, which asks Congress to add […]
2016 Agriculture Appropriations: An Update
By Eric Hansen, NYFC Policy Analyst Earlier this month, Congress reached a major milestone in its annual appropriations process, which funds the federal government. Both the relevant committees in the House and the Senate passed funding bills for the Department of Agriculture. These bills set spending levels for conservation programs and farm loans and include […]
New NYFC report finds student loan debt is exacerbating farmer shortage
Today NYFC released a new report, Farming Is Public Service: A Case for Adding Farmers to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which shows that student loan debt is one of the key barriers preventing more would-be farmers and ranchers from entering agriculture. Read the full report here. The report contains data from a new survey of […]
"The Girl with Grit" – Reposted from the USDA Blog
Starting a farm is no easy path, and overcoming financial obstacles is a huge part of the high risk of failure. New farmers often come up against high costs of land and equipment, just a couple of the many barriers to entry. If our generation is to successfully continue the American agricultural legacy, we need to […]
Food Safety Comments Due at Midnight Tonight – Read NFYC's Here
Tonight is the deadline for Food Safety comments! This is the final day in a two-year long process, and you’ve got only one final night to get your comment in! We’ve been working with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and dozens of farmers throughout the NYFC network to analyze this new draft from the FDA and […]
Student Loans are Next on the Agenda!
Young people shouldn’t have to choose between a career in farming and paying off their student loan debt. But we’ve heard it again and again—student loan debt is keeping young people from succeeding in agriculture. Now NYFC is taking this challenge head on. Last week, we launched a new campaign to tackle the student loan […]