Latest
“Farmers Need Better Policy, Not To Export More”
Anthony Pahnke from Family Farm Defenders writes: Our legislators shouldn’t pit our country’s farmers against their counterparts on the other side of the border. In 2018, Wisconsin farmers showed considerable interest in partnering with Canadian producers to implement their supply management system, which stabilizes prices for dairy farmers by controlling production and coordinating supply with demand. And while ...
Boom or bubble? High Missouri farmland prices encourage investors, concern farmers
Missouri Independent recently reported on the steep rise in farmland prices. Agricultural land has almost always been seen as a “good” investment, with some economists in the past labeling the asset as “inflation proof” because of its generally reliable profits and the industry’s steady support from lawmakers. In recent years, land prices have continued to see steep ...
Strawberry Case Study: What if Farmers Had to Pay for Water?
NFFC’s national program coordinator, Jordan Treakle, was quoted by the New York Times. The article takes a look at groundwater management in California’s Pajaro Valley. In the central California valley’s Westlands water district, where many farmers fought the groundwater-management law, the board of directors will soon vote on a plan that would allow growers to pay ...
‘They just need land’: young farmers struggle to find affordable acreage
Across the country, the cost of farmland is the highest it has been since the 1970s. From 2021 to 2022 alone, value per acre increased by 12.4% and it now costs on average $3,800 an acre, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In some states it’s even higher. According to a survey conducted by the National ...
NFFC, Allies Ask Court to Strike Down Dicamba
April 13, 2023 – From a Center for Food Safety press release: In 2016 Monsanto opened the floodgates to massive spraying of dicamba during farming season by genetically engineering soybeans and cotton to withstand “over-the-top” spraying of dicamba. The results have been devastating, as millions of acres of farmers’ crops have been “damaged and sometimes destroyed ...
Congress Wants to Block Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland. Is This a Red Herring?
As this new Ambrook Research article reports, members of Congress have recently introduced legislation that would prevent international investment in farmland, stoking fears about Chinese investments in particular. While internationally-based US land investment is a definite concern, the real risk to US farmland comes from within our own borders. As our National Program Coordinator, Jordan Treakle, ...
New Report Details Three Decades of Dairy Devastation
This Food and Power article highlights a new report by Food & Water Watch, NFFC’s longtime ally fighting corporate consolidation in the food and farm system, particularly the dairy sector. Like Food & Water Watch, Sarah Lloyd – Wisconsin dairy farmer and NFFC/Family Farm Defenders member – scolds the US approach of encouraging and exporting ...
What is the Real Threat to US Farmers Owning Farmland?
Based on research by NFFC and Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS), “the real threat to our food security…. is broader corporate ownership and consolidation of American farmland — including by domestic investors”. NFFC appreciates Lela Nargi’s dive into this question for Ambrook Research which highlights our four reports on land ...
Senators Propose Eliminating Tax Liability for IRA-Assisted Farmers
NFFC joined a number of members and allies endorsing Senators Booker (D-NJ), Stabenow (D-MI), Warnock (D-GA), and Smith (D-MN) Family Farmer and Rancher Tax Fairness Act, which would remove the tax liability for distressed farmers and ranchers who received assistance from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. This IRA, passed in August and signed ...
Women Must Be At the Table
This article in Ms. Magazine stated: “That’s triggered another old American tradition: land grabs. The National Family Farm Coalition has partnered with Vermont Law School to create four reports on state and federal laws overseeing land access with that history in mind. If you picture your local farmer as a guy with a green John Deere ...
Our perspectives and voices of our members in selected national and local media in the last year.