Stories from our members across the country and from the road on the America the Bountiful Tour, as well as a tribute to Mr. Ralph Paige.
Family Farmers: New Trade Deal Is More of the Same
National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) is disappointed that the renegotiation of the trilateral North American trade deal now known as the US-Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) has again put the financial interests of multi-national corporations ahead of family farmers, workers, and the environment.
Family Farmers Urge New Direction for Farm Bill
National coalition praises details, criticizes big picture as conference committee begins deliberations.
Letter to 2018 Farm Bill Conference Committee
Neither the House or Senate version of the farm bill goes nearly far enough to truly improve the lives and livelihoods of family farmers and rural communities.
Farmers Need Fair Prices, Not NAFTA-Lite and Meager Tariff Aid
Trump Administration measures announced this week will not return prosperity to rural America.
Comments on USDA Milk Purchasing Program
In response to USDA’s announcement of a new program to purchase fluid milk for distribution to The Emergency Food Assistance Program, National Family Farm Coalition sent a letter to USDA and Congressional agriculture leaders that included a Section 32 milk purchasing initiative among a list of suggested actions to address the urgent dairy crisis. NFFC applauds the agency’s decision to establish this purchasing program. It will provide a much-needed market for some of the surplus milk contributing to low farmer prices while putting wholesome dairy products into the hands and stomachs of people in need. However, NFFC’s proposal of the program was intended as a temporary measure, and we hope that USDA and Congress will take the additional steps outlined in our letter.
NFFC Statement on $12 Billion Trade Bailout
Family Farmers and Ranchers Seek Economic Empowerment, not Taxpayer Bailout
NFFC Requests DOJ Reconsider Monsanto-Bayer Approval
The National Family Farm Coalition is extremely disappointed that the US Department of Justice has approved the Monsanto-Bayer merger and kindly requests that you reconsider your decision. Representing approximately 70,000 family farmers and ranchers throughout the US, our members have raised fears since the merger was first announced in 2016, and several were among the majority (90-plus percent) of farmers who opposed the merger in a recent survey by Friends of the Earth US.
On Fair Trade – Ralph Paige, Trade Summits at the Conventions, 2004
Ralph Paige passed on June 28, 2018. We recall his words from 2004 advocating for a government that is accountable to its constituents, promotes food safety and food security, and enters trade arrangements that respect growers’ need for a fair price and their customers recognition of the value of their products.
Stories of hope from Missouri to Montana
It’s easy to feel discouraged when listening to stories defining the problems facing farmers and ranchers across the midwest and northern plains. Everyone, it seems, is fighting some sort of behemoth – Smithfield, Monsanto, Walmart, oil and gas corporations, water shortages, shamefully beholden politicians, low farmgate prices, rising land prices, feelings of isolation, pesticide drift, long-gone infrastructure, soil infertility, or high energy costs.
False Solutions
How the Myth of Bioenergy Exploits Rural Communities and Harms Forests, Farmland, and the Climate
House Farm Bill Passes, Will Fail Rural America
National Family Farm Coalition is extremely disappointed in the passage of the House farm bill yesterday. This draconian measure does little to help family farmers, while proposing punitive work requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), making detrimental changes to conservation, and cutting funding for important programs that support local food systems. At a moment when farm income is projected at a 12-year low and dairy farmers are going out of business by the week, Congress must provide real solutions for struggling farmers, not play politics with the future of rural America.