A roundup of blog posts from our partners at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

More Funding Available for Fruits and Veggies through Specialty Crop Grant

March 11, 2016 | The term “specialty crop” is a bit of a misnomer. A specialty crop is not some kind of exotic plant, not an obscure herb or flower, specialty crops are quite simply the fruits and vegetables that are (or should be) a staple of most diets. Even though specialty crops consist of some of the healthiest […]

Final Rule Released for Conservation Stewardship Program

March 10, 2016 | USDA today released the final rule for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), which makes changes to CSP as required by the 2014 Farm Bill. The release of this final rule follows the publication of the Interim Final Rule (IFR) in November 2014. CSP is a comprehensive working lands conservation program designed to help farmers and […]

New Funding Available for Local and Regional Food Systems

March 10, 2016 | Local and regional food systems are expanding nationwide. These systems create new economic opportunities for small and mid-sized family farmers, increase consumer access to fresh and healthy food, and improve rural livelihoods. Over the past decade, local and regional food systems have experienced tremendous growth. Since 2006 farmers markets have shot up by 180 percent, […]

USDA Commits $20 Million to Reward Conservation Innovation

March 9, 2016 | Every day farmers and ranchers are developing creative ways to conserve the air, water, and soil on their lands. […]

New Outreach and Education Tools Available to Support to Organic Certification

March 8, 2016 | New resources for transitioning organic producers are now available through the Agriculture Marketing Service’s National Organic Program (NOP). Through the Sound and Sensible initiative, NOP aims to makes organic certification more “accessible, affordable, and attainable” by helping transitioning farmers on a wide array of issues including record keeping and documentation, preventative practices, and much more. Utilizing […]