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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Tel. 347.563.6408

Release: Senate Bill Aims to Strengthen USDA Support for Urban and Innovative Farmers

Washington, DC, May 4, 2026 – Late last week, Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) introduced the Supporting Urban and Innovative Farming Act S.4470. This bill provides programmatic improvements and resources for the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production to address the growing program demand and equip the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Centers with tools to support the unique needs of urban and innovative operations. Specifically, it would promote the delivery of conservation planning and business technical assistance, enable subawards in existing grants to deliver more resources to farmers, and direct …

Comment: NSAC Responds to House Farm Bill Passage

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Tel. 347.563.6408

Comment: NSAC Responds to House Farm Bill Passage

Washington, DC, April 30, 2026 – Today, the US House of Representatives approved the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (HR 7567), 224-200. In response, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) released the following comment, attributable to Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director.

“NSAC appreciates the House of Representatives’ persistent pursuit of a new bill; a new farm bill, already more than two and a half years delayed, is desperately needed. NSAC thanks Members on both sides of the aisle who fought to make this a better bill for all farmers and stakeholders, including those who supported the removal of a provision that would have limited existing state and local authority to regulate pesticides. Yet, for the

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Release: More than 300 Farm Groups Urge Congress to Reject House Farm Bill

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Tel. 347.563.6408

Release: More than 300 Farm Groups Urge Congress to Reject House Farm Bill

Washington, DC, April 24, 2026 – Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), along with hundreds of farmer‑serving, farmworker, farms, and other stakeholders engaged in the future of American agriculture and food, urged House leaders to reject the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) and return to the table to craft a farm bill that truly serves all farmers and communities.

“The farm bill can and should be a vehicle for the stability and prosperity of all of American agriculture. This letter from hundreds of farmers and the organizations that serve them shows that the House farm bill has fallen well short of that mark. Amidst rising farm bankruptcies and

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GAO Reports on the Mixed Success of Food Safety Rules

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In 2010, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law, initiating a shift in the US food safety landscape. FSMA spurred an array of regulations intended to reduce contamination, mitigate foodborne illness, and make it easier to halt and track foodborne illness or chemical contamination. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) engaged heavily in this rulemaking process in support of scale-appropriate regulation, guidelines for diversified farm and food operations, and further training resources to make sure that smaller food businesses, farms, and those using sustainable agriculture practices would not be disproportionately burdened by these new requirements.

In the decade and a half since FSMA became the law of the land, the Food and Drug Administration has finalized some of the required regulations; however, many of these new regulations have been mired by delays. Some of these delays have …

Unpacking the House Farm Bill: Part 4

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Editor’s Note: This is the fourth and final post in a four-part blog series analyzing the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, which was reported out of the House Agriculture Committee on March 5. The first post provides an overview of the markup process and the bill as a whole. The second post provides a deep dive analysis of the bill’s potential impacts on local and regional food systems. The third post offers an analysis of its impacts on the farm safety net, farms’ ability to access land and capital, and fair competition. This post covers conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable and organic research.

The past eleven years have been the hottest on record, and for American farmers and ranchers, the effects of climate change continue to pose a severe, even existential, threat. Farmers and farmworkers continue …

Release: FY2027 USDA Budget Proposal is a Historic Setback for Farmers and Rural Communities

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For Immediate Release

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Release: FY2027 USDA Budget Proposal is a Historic Setback for Farmers and Rural Communities

Washington, DC, April 3, 2026 – Today, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) responded to the Trump Administration’s release of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget Proposal. The Administration’s FY2027 discretionary funding request for USDA is more than $ 2 billion below the Administration’s FY2026 USDA request.

“The Administration’s USDA budget proposes one of the most staggering disinvestments from farmers and rural communities in recent memory. Amidst rising farm bankruptcies and unprecedented instability in American agriculture, this budget proposal would double down on the damage and radically reduce USDA’s ability to serve farmers. The budget entirely eliminates funding for farmer-led agriculture research, conservation support that helps farmers build productivity

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Comment: NSAC Condemns USDA’s Withdrawal of Support For Next Generation Farmers

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For Immediate Release

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Comment: NSAC Condemns USDA’s Withdrawal of Support For Next Generation Farmers

Washington, DC, April 1, 2026 – The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) issued the following comment, attributable to Nick Rossi, NSAC Policy Specialist, in response to the termination of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (ILCMA) Program.

“Reliable access to land, capital, and markets is among the biggest challenges facing beginning and other underserved farmers. USDA’s summary termination of investments to expand access to these crucial resources not only undercuts years of locally-led work to support the next generation of farmers, but entirely contradicts the administration’s stated goal of supporting American family farms and rural communities. Farmer-serving organizations have spent years hiring staff, building partnerships, and recruiting farmers, only to have their funding cut just as projects

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Unpacking the House Farm Bill: Part 1

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Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a four-part blog series analyzing the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, which was reported out of the House Agriculture Committee on March 5. This post provides an overview of the markup process and the bill as a whole, as well as its likely (or unlikely) path to becoming law. Subsequent posts provide a deep dive analysis of the bill’s potential impacts on the farm safety net, local and regional food systems, and conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable and organic research.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, March 5, 2026, the House Committee on Agriculture favorably reported the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (FFNSA, H.R. 7567) out of committee by a vote of 34-17. FFNSA arrives at an undeniable crossroads for American food and agriculture. …