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Appealing for Relief: A New Report About Farmers’ Experiences with Farm Loan Decisions
A new report about the Farm Service Agency’s appeals division has been published by the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law and Graduate School in partnership with Farm Aid and RAFI, a member of our coalition. The report finds that farmers who had been denied federal loans by the FSA won only 17% ...
Court bans popular but controversial pesticide
Former NFFC board president and Iowa farmer George Naylor recently shared his concerns about dicamba herbicides for Public News Service. A federal court has banned the use of a highly controversial but popular pesticide in the Midwest. Advocates for sustainable agriculture said the ruling is long overdue. The Environmental Protection Agency first approved dicamba in 2017 for spraying on genetically engineered corn and ...
Making history, Virginia legislators pass minimum wage for farmworkers
For the first time in history, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation to extend minimum wage protections to the state’s farmworkers and migrant workers. The bill’s fate will now be determined by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. NFFC’s senior policy adviser, Antonio Tovar, was recently interviewed on this topic by Blue Virginia. NFFC has long advocated for living ...
Campaign for Contract Agriculture Reform: “Protect poultry transparency”
NFFC recently appeared in Lancaster Farming on behalf of the Campaign for Contract Agriculture Reform (CCAR). Our national alliance of farmers and ranchers urges Congress to ensure a fair and equitable system between growers and poultry companies. On Feb. 12, USDA’s final rule on poultry transparency went into effect. This is the first of several important rules ...
Court ruling overturns EPA’s approval of Dicamba pesticides
RFD-TV reported on our lawsuit against the EPA over its approval of over-the-top applications for three dicamba products. A federal court in Arizona ruled in our favor and revoked the EPA’s approval of the extremely volatile, weed-killing pesticide dicamba. Roger A. McEowen notes that “while the timing of the court’s decision was awful, the result is good ...
NFFC’s Antonio Tovar interviewed about the Farm Bill by ag podcast
NFFC senior policy associate, Antonio Tovar, was recently interviewed by the Agriculture of America podcast. He discussed NFFC’s work and policy priorities. Listen to the full episode here.
NFFC staffer Jordan Treakle was recently interviewed by Financial Times about the concerning spike in farmland value, spurred by record amounts of investment. The average age of an American farmer is 58, according to the USDA. This means that about 400mn acres of farmland is set to change hands in the next decade or so, said ...
Today’s Trade Agreements Put Profits Before People
NFFC president Jim Goodman appeared in The Progressive recently, advocating for a global food economy that protects local food producers and consumers. The current U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement enriches multinational corporations at the expense of farmers and fisher folk. It is no secret that those agreements, negotiated between governments, are heavily influenced by corporate lobbyists to ensure that the ...
U.S. farmers and allies could find inspiration from Europe protests
Anthony Pahnke from Family Farm Defenders recently appeared on Common Dreams. What Does the US Farm Bill Debate Need? Rotten Eggs! To take on the harmful free trade policies that govern much of agriculture, U.S. farmers and their allies could find inspiration from what is taking place in Europe, perhaps going to D.C. to make their voices ...
Ag, Environmentalists Oppose Koch Industries Purchase of Iowa Fertilizer Plant
A recent article from Progressive Farmer reported on a letter signed by NFFC along with seventeen of our allies to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. We urged the FTC and DOJ to thoroughly investigate the Koch Industries’ purchase of an Iowa fertilizer plant. Agriculture and environmental groups have asked the federal government ...
Our perspectives and voices of our members in selected national and local media in the last year.