Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Letter Signals Senate Floor Amendment to Cap Insurance Subsidies Per Farm
May 11th, 2012
On Tuesday, May 8, Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders in support of reforming the federal crop insurance program by placing caps on the amount of taxpayer subsidies any one farm could receive annually. The letter represents a first step toward an amendment to the 2012 Read the Rest…
Guest Blog: “Local Foods, Local Profits” Hill Briefings
May 11th, 2012
We want to thank Justin Tatham from NSAC member, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), for his contribution. Justin is the Senior Washington Representative for the Food & Environment program at UCS, specializing in agriculture, food, and farm bill policy. NSAC Policy Associate Helen Dombalis and Farmer Jack Hedin Earlier this week, the Union of Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Holds Specialty Crop and Nutrition Hearing
May 11th, 2012
Tuesday, May 8th, the House Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture held its fourth of eight hearings in preparation for a 2012 Farm Bill. The hearing consisted of two panels, the first of which discussed specialty crop programs and the second, nutrition assistance. Rep. Pingree and Russell Libby Chairwoman Jean Schmidt (R-OH) opened the Read the Rest…
What really matters to you?
May 11th, 2012
Dear Supporter, See that photo below? It’s of Mississippi farmers John and Ora Carpenter, meeting with Representative Alan Nunnelee’s office this spring here in Washington, DC. The Carpenters shared stories about how their farm is an integral part of their community, and how federal programs have helped them expand their business and grow a diverse Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Credit Hearing
May 10th, 2012
The House Agriculture Subcommittee held a hearing today, Thursday May 10th, to examine federal credit programs as they take up writing the 2012 Farm Bill. In addition to Chairman Fortenberry (R-NE-1) and Ranking Member Fudge (D-OH-11), Reps. King (R-IA-5), Crawford (R-AR-1), Baca (D-CA-43), and Pingree (D-ME-1) were also in attendance. The panel of witnesses were Read the Rest…
New NRCS National Water Quality Initiative Targets Impaired Watersheds
May 10th, 2012
On Tuesday, May 8, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has launched a new National Water Quality Initiative with $33 million in FY2012 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding. The Initiative is targeted at improving water quality in small watersheds impaired by agricultural use that are listed on a Read the Rest…
USDA Announces Funding for SNAP EBT Equipment at Farmers Markets
May 9th, 2012
On Wednesday, May 9, USDA announced $4 million in funding to expand EBT capacity at farmers markets across the U.S. as part of the Agency’s larger mission to improve healthy food access in low-income communities. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, provides benefits to recipients through an Electronic Benefit Transfer Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Farm State Editorials Call for Re-linking Conservation Compliance and Crop Insurance Subsidy
May 8th, 2012
Changes in the 2012 Farm Bill coming out of the Senate Agriculture Committee are set to expand the role of crop insurance as the single largest crop subsidy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that federal crop insurance subsidies under current law will total $90 billion over the next decade. The Senate Committee-passed bill further increases Read the Rest…
House Budget Committee Adjusts Spending Cap
May 7th, 2012
In a quirky turn of events, the House Budget Committee on Monday modified its decision to use $1.028 trillion as the top-line discretionary spending cap for the House for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Instead, the Committee temporarily adjusted the spending cap to $1.047 for the first three months of the 2013 fiscal year (Oct.-Dec. 2012), Read the Rest…
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Commodity and Crop Insurance Subsidy Provisions
May 4th, 2012
Note to Readers: This is the tenth in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. Commodity Title The main storyline of the commodity title emerging from Senate Agriculture Committee markup of the 2012 Farm Bill is the elimination of direct payments and counter-cyclical Read the Rest…
