Direct Aid to Farmers, Grants, and More

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Taylor in Business, Farming Resources, Funding, Policy, Politics // 0 Comments

Farming organizations across the country are advocating for direct aid to farmers who rely on local and regional markets. Other news from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) includes Conservation Innovation Grants, Spring 2020 Funding Opportunities, National Cover Crop Farmer Survey, and Virtual D.C. Advocacy Fly-In.

NSAC Joins With More Than 750 Organizations Calling on USDA to Provide Direct Aid to Farmers Who Rely on Local and Regional Markets

NSAC and more than 750 farm and food system organizations from all across the country joined their voices in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue calling on USDA to work with urgency and creativity to provide direct aid to farmers and other agricultural producers in a manner that redresses economic harm, advances equity, and fosters resilience in our farm and food system. “Many farmers are struggling now, and all deserve aid, but none have been more affected than those that have seen their local and regional markets evaporate overnight,” said Eric Deeble, Policy Director at NSAC. “This letter makes a series of recommendations to help USDA structure a simple, accessible payment program.” READ MORE

$25 Million Available for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Grants

Last month, the Natural Resources Conservation Service announced the availability of $25 million in funding to advance the adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation practices on agricultural lands. The funding is for on-farm trials, a sub-program of the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. On-Farm Trials provide funding directly to partners, who can then offer technical assistance and payments to producers interested in implementing innovative conservation practices on their land. Out of the $25 million, $10 million will be awarded to entities applying for the Soil Health Demonstration Trail component of the program. Applications must be submitted by May 11, 2020 via grants.gov. READ MORE

RFA Roundup: Spring 2020 Funding Opportunities

This blog post is meant to help readers cut through the chaos and keep track of the deadlines that matter to food and farm businesses and organizations. NSAC has put together a summary of currently active Request for Applications (RFA) as part of our ongoing efforts to help farmers and advocates stay up to date with federal policy and funding opportunities. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, several deadlines have been extended. This post has been updated with extended deadlines and additional programs with active RFAs. Additionally, you can find information on administrative flexibilities issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) here. This is a key reference for anyone currently working under an active federal grant. READ MORE

National Cover Crop Farmer Survey Now Underway!

After decades of research, cover crops have been widely shown to be beneficial to crop yields, soil health, and farmers’ bottom lines. However, many obstacles to cover crop adoption still remain. USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program is now circulating their sixth national cover crop survey to better understand why and how farmers use cover crops, and why some don’t. Farmers have until April 12, 2020 to participate in the survey, which can be completed online here. NSAC strongly encourages farmers to participate in this year’s survey. Survey results from the past four years have been extremely beneficial to informing research needs, policymaking, and outreach regarding cover crops. READ MORE

Additional Farmer Stories From NSAC’s First Virtual Fly-In

NSAC’s annual farmer fly-ins provide farmers the opportunity to speak directly with decision makers in Congress about the issues that most affect them. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all travel for NSAC-sponsored “agvocates” had to be halted. Even though Congress and farmers alike feel pulled in many different directions in response to this crisis, the appropriations process for FY21 continues. In response to the crisis and the need to continue advocacy efforts, NSAC hosted its very first “virtual” farmer fly-in. This blog post is the second in a two-part series featuring farmer advocates. Read our post to learn about the farmers who called their Members of Congress, the programs they advocated for, and the suggestions made to support farmers and local food systems during this crisis. READ MORE