Sustainability | Environment.org

Release: Hundreds Call for Strong Investments in Farmer-Led Research, Urban Agriculture, and Conservation in FY2027 Appropriations

No Comments

| Sustainability

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Tel. 347.563.6408

Release: Hundreds Call for Strong Investments in Farmer-Led Research, Urban Agriculture, and Conservation in FY2027 Appropriations

Washington, DC, April 16, 2026 – Yesterday, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), alongside hundreds of organizations, delivered letters calling for strong investments in Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Agriculture Appropriations legislation. The letters, which focused on the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP), and Conservation Operations and Conservation Technical Assistance, arrive as Congressional Appropriators are drafting spending legislation, and several weeks after the Administration released its own FY2027 budget proposal.

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program is the only regionally based, farmer driven, and outcome-oriented competitive research program that involves farmers and ranchers directly as the primary investigators in research …

Inside the House’s FY27 Agriculture Spending Bill

No Comments

| Sustainability

Credit: Jonathan P. Larsen/Diadem Images

On April 29, the House Appropriations Committee approved, by a 35-25 vote, the fiscal year (FY) 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The markup lasted nearly 6 hours, covering a wide range of issues – from staffing shortages at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), to cuts to conservation programs, to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The House bill sets FY27 USDA spending at $ 22.5 billion, which is $ 675 million below FY26 levels. These funding reductions come at the expense of many programs popular among farmers, which are detailed below. In addition, the bill includes harmful policy riders that would prevent implementation of rules designed to promote fair competition for livestock …

Release: Transparency and Oversight Needed to Ensure New USDA Reorganization Avoids Disrupted Services for Farmers, Processors, and the Public

No Comments

| Sustainability

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Tel. 347.563.6408

Release: Transparency and Oversight Needed to Ensure New USDA Reorganization Avoids Disrupted Services for Farmers, Processors, and the Public

Washington, DC, April 23, 2026 – Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the reorganization of the Research, Education, and Extension (REE) and Food Safety mission areas. This reorganization will move over 200 technical and administrative staff from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) out of the National Capital Region (NCR), relocate staff from the Economic Research Service (ERS), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and the National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) staff to St. Louis or Kansas City, and close one of USDA’s historic research centers, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC).

While the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) supports USDA’s stated goals …

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

No Comments

| Sustainability

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

No Comments

| Sustainability

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

…

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

No Comments

| Sustainability

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

…

GAO Reports on the Mixed Success of Food Safety Rules

No Comments

| Sustainability

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

No Comments

| Sustainability

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 …