Read NFFC's Spring 2013 newsletter here.

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Equity Must Be the Rule in the Farm Bill. NFFC and organizations around the country joined together to push this message as the House and Senate take up their respective Farm Bill proposals. Read the call for a Full and Fair Farm BIll here, then let your legislators know you support these important proposals.

NFFC and allied groups wrote to Members of the House Agriculture Committee to urge their rejection of the Conaway GIPSA amendment. The amendment would greatly limit the authority of USDA to address deceptive, fraudulent, retaliatory, and anti-competitive practices by meatpackers and poultry companies in their dealings with livestock and poultry farmers and ranchers. Read the letter here.

In a letter to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, NFFC urges Congress to take action to change dairy policy so that dairy farmers recover their cost of production. Read the letter here.

NFFC and allied farmer and consumer groups reiterated support for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) in letters to the House Agriculture Committee and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. Read the letters here.

A coalition of 229 farm, rural, faith, consumer, and environmental organizations from 45 states delivered a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect the integrity of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for meat products. Read the letter here.

In response to the Senate Appropriations Continuing Resolution, NFFC and others raise our strong objections to legislative provisions affecting GIPSA. Read our letter here.

NFFC and allies encourage Rep. Peterson and Congressional leaders to consider the potential impact on dairy farmers of TPP negotiations. Read the letter here.

Dairy Farmers Deserve Their Fair Share - Please take a minute to sign and share this petition to the Land O' Lakes Agricultural and Dairy Board of Directors - it's a start to breaking down the corporate hold over our food system. Click here.

Understand the Foodopoly - learn about an important new book from NFFC friend Wenonah Hauter and find a book event near you here.

Download an informative flyer about Dicamba and 2,4-D Resistant Crops: What You Need to Know, here.

NFFC signed on with nearly 140 organizations to a letter in support of the efforts of the Agriculture Committees to reform and update Farm Bill Programs and to work towards policies that will cultivate an equitable and sustainable food system. Read the letter here.

Land Monitor - Help us document land grabs! Are you a family farmer or ally? Check out NFFC’s new Farmland Monitor website, a farmer-powered hub for information on investments practices that are undermining family farmers’ ability to stay on their land.

TIAA-CREF and land grabs - Pension funds and other institutional investors like TIAA-CREF are grabbing U.S. farmland. Learn more here.

NFFC and organizations, business', and allies signed a letter to Members of Congress calling for a better solution to the crisis facing dairy farmers. Read the letter here.

Food and Water Watch reports on the economic cost of food monopolies, here.

USDA Farm Service Agency - Farmers and Ranchers Urged to Record Losses from Hurricane Sandy, here.

Basu: Farmers rejecting biotech ought to be heard, DesMoinesRegister here.

Donna Hall, Progressive Agriculture writes about "The Ingredient Haunting our Candy" - milk protein concentrate here.

In Dairy Industry Consolidation, Lush Paydays , NYTimes here.

Gretchen Maine, a New York dairy farmer is interviewed by Susan Youmans of What's for Dinner? on CyberStationUSA. Hear the broadcast here. Maine also wrote a letter to Congress outlining the basic problems faced by dairy producers today - prices they receive for their milk do not cover the costs for producing it. The entire letter may be read here.

Dairy Farmers urge all supporters to submit this petition to Agriculture Secretary Vilsack calling for Dairy Hearings. Print and fax or mail this petition here.

Coalition Letter to Congress supporting GIPSA regulations here.

League of Conservation Voters, HeadCount, the band Wilco, and Patagonia have joined together this year to elevate Vote the Environment 2012. We are encouraging people to register to vote, get educated about their candidates’ environmental voting records, and share their stories about the places, wildlife, and outdoor activities they love. Ultimately, we’ll be bringing our environmental values to the voting booth on November 6. Download the Vote the Environment Tool Kit here.

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2012 FARM BILL NEWS AND UPDATES

Read NFFC's latest updates on the Senate and House Farm Bill versions

NFFC dairy farmers push for a fair pricing scheme in the 2012 Farm Bill. Read the Country Today article here.

Hear NFFC President Ben Burkett and Watershed Media's Dan Imhoff discuss the 2012 Farm Bill and its impact on farmers, consumers, and the environment. Click here.

NFFC Statement on Senate Farm Bill: June 29 statement by NFFC available here.

SENATE DEBATES AMENDMENTS: In a letter to Senators we urge support for key amendments to make this Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Bill fairer. Letter here.

NFFC and 108 groups write in support of the Grassley (R-Iowa)/Conrad (D-North Dakota) Packer Ban amendment to the Farm Bill. Read the letter here.

SENATE Farm Bill goes to the Floor: NFFC and allies press Senators to make creating jobs in rural America and ensuring the success of the next generation of farmers a
national priority. Read the letter here.

"National Milk Producers Federation does not speak for me." Read dairy farmer Brenda Cochran's letter to the House Agriculture Committee on the needs of dairy farmers in the 2012 Farm Bill.

U.S. Farmland: The Next Big Land Grab? Read our new backgrounder on the conditions that American small farmers are facing and why it may be indicative of impending U.S. land grabs.

New letter to the USDA opposing GE, 2,4-D-resistant corn signed by 147 organizations, farms, and businesses that oppose the deregulation of 2,4-D corn. Dow AgroSciences wants the USDA to deregulate its genetically engineered (GE), 2,4-D-resistant corn, which is projected to substantially increase the use of 2,3-D, an herbicide that was an active ingredient in Agent Orange. A group of 36 health professionals sent a letter warning against the deregulation, citing evidence that increased levels of 2,4-D in our food system would likely have detrimental effects on human health. Read the full press release here.

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APRIL NEWS AND EVENTS:

April 15 - WASHINGTON, DC - NFFC, Student Farmworker Alliance/Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Food First will present a discussion of Food Movements Unite! at Busboys and Poets with Eric Holt-Gimenez, Ben Burkett and others.

April 15 - LANDOVER, MD -NFFC, Student Farmworker Alliance, Coalition of Immokalee Workers and allies will lead an educational theater piece and lively picket line at Giant's HQ in Landover, MD, starting at 4 pm. Buses from the New Carrollton Metro Station (Orange Line) will shuttle people there starting at 3:30 pm.

April 17-18 - CHICAGO, IL - Family Farm Defenders with Stand Up Chicago - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (5pm Tuesday and 12-1pm Wednesday); Jane Addams Hull House Museum (Tuesday 7pm) for potluck dinner and food sovereignty discussion.

April 17-23 -' You Wanted To Be A Farmer: A Discussion Of Scale' film screenings:*

April 17 - RURAL VERMONT - ‘You Wanted To Be A Farmer”:
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Upper Valley Co-op, 7 pm, free and open to the public
MONTPELIER, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 6 pm, free and open to the public
Neighborhood Screenings in: Newport, Chester, Wheelock, Fairfield, Burlington, Shelburn, Poultney, Peacham, Wells, St. Albans, and Ripton

April 17 - GLENDIVE, MT - Northern Plains Resource Council - Screening and discussion

April 23 - COLUMBIA, MO - Missouri Rural Crisis Center - Screening with discussion and local foods potluck at Café Berlin

*Food for Maine's Future hopes to achieve 100 showings nationwide of this new documentary about small farmer challenges throughout the week. Contact 207-244-0908 or foodformainesfuture207@gmail.com to show this film; a DVD and discussion materials will be provided.

April 24 - NEW YORK, NY - Join in solidarity with food justice activists, Environmental ORGs, OWS groups, African students and communities to protest land grabs at the Global AgInvesting conference at the Waldorf Astoria at 10:30 am.

On April 4, the day that biotech giant Monsanto released its second quarter earnings, a new report (click here) by La Via Campesina, Friends of the Earth International and Combat Monsanto shows that around the world small-holder and organic farmers, local communities and social movements are increasingly resisting and rejecting Monsanto, and the agro-industrial model that it represents.

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MARCH NEWS AND EVENTS:

A March 30 letter (click here) to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA Appropriations was signed by 38 organizations in support of continued funding and protection for programs and offices specific to sustainable agriculture, beginning, socially disadvantaged and veteran producers, and farmworkers. Many of these 2008 farm bill programs will end on September 30 if additional funding is not secured. This underscored the needs defined in the February 14 letter to Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees signed by 132 organizations.

Competition/COOL letter: A letter (click here) supporting competition in livestock markets, the GIPSA rule and country of origin labeling signed by 164 organizations was sent to Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Agriculture and Judiciary Committees on March 29, 2012. The letter was delivered to each Senate office.

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FEBRUARY NEWS AND EVENTS:

Twenty-four organizations signed a February 9 letter(click here) to the Senate in support of an emergency floor price of $20/CWT for dairy farmers. NFFC has also posted a petition in support of fair dairy pricing at: change.org/petitions/want-safe-fresh-milk-support-your-local-farmer

Susan Youmans has interviewed a number of NFFC leaders on her radio program, What's for Dinner? They can be heard and downloaded here.

Jim Goodman, Wisconsin dairy farmer and member of Family Farm Defenders, and Kathy Ozer traveled to NYC to participate in Occupy the Food System events on Sunday December 4th. Jim presented a strong statement at Zuccotti Park (see NFFC newsletter above for articles and links). Jim's oped is being circulated nationally by Otherwords. It is posted on Commondreams here.

SUPPORT NFFC THROUGH THE COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN #16371 - For the first time it is now possible to give contributions to NFFC through this important program, known as CFC. Through it, members of the federal government workforce can elect to support our work throughout the year. Sharing our unique ID - #16371 - with everyone you know who might participate will be a great way to help keep NFFC strong.

Listen here to Melinda Hemmelgarn, of radio station KOPN, interview George Naylor, Iowa farmer and NFFC past president, as they discuss the historical and present day challenges of family farming and offer suggestions for our new Farm Bill.

America's Dairy Crisis

America has lost over half its dairy farmers in the past sixteen years while prices for dairy farmers have crashed below 1970 prices. Dairy farmers are in crisis, largely due to a broken pricing system and rampant corruption in the dairy industry.

Visit NFFC's Dairy page for press releases, interviews, & articles.