Farm Bill Politics 5: #farmbillnow
The 2014 Farm Bill has been expired since October 1st. What does this mean for young farmers and ranchers and the USDA programs they rely on? This week, we catch up with Andrew Bahrenburg, our National Policy Director and guy on the ground in DC, about the effects of the expiration and fate of these […]
Farm bill expires, stranding young farmers
At midnight on October 1, the 2014 Farm Bill expired. Not only did it expire, but Congress has left D.C. without passing a temporary extension to fund key programs while the final bill is being negotiated. Without a farm bill or an extension in place, many federal farm programs now simply cease to exist until […]
What's at stake for the new farm bill? The next generation of farmers
Thanks to our friends at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition for letting us repost this well-written piece about a few of the most important beginning farmer programs at the USDA. Last fall, Congress allowed the farm bill to expire without a new bill to take its place. Instead, Congressional leaders cobbled together an awful and […]
Another step toward a farm bill as the clock ticks down
Well, we’ve been focusing the past couple weeks on the proposed food safety regulations that are turning a lot of heads in the farming communities, but let’s take a quick moment to check out what Congress is up to on the Farm Bill. Congress has only a couple weeks left before the September 30th expiration […]
Thank you for speaking up! Reporting back on Farmer Programs in the Senate
First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who took the time last week to sign the petition, make calls, tell friends, etc. about the Senate’s budget vote. As a refresher, there were three big pushes we had: to push funding for the beginning farmer programs that had been left high and dry in […]
Action Alert – Fund Beginning Farmer Programs in the new C.R.
Hey all-We want to give out a huge Thank You! to the intrepid young farmers who came from the four corners of the country to speak with Senators and Representatives earlier this week about the importance of beginning farmer programs in the USDA budget. (Stay tuned to the blog for a reportback on that adventure […]