Ferd Hoefner Honored and More Sust. Ag. News

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Taylor in Farming Resources, News, Politics, Poultry, Sustainable Agriculture // 0 Comments

The latest news from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition includes a prestegious award for longtime Policy Director Ferd Hoefner, Top Ten Reasons to Reject the House Farm Bill, and updates on Lending to Female Farmers and Farmers of Color.

NSAC’s Ferd Hoefner Honored

NSAC’s Ferd Hoefner, who is one of my personal heroes, and the person responsible for getting my ideas for beginning farmer programs for veterans inserted into the 2008 Farm Bill has been given the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award. Ferd Hoefner has been honored for being actively engaged in federal farm and food advocacy for over 40 years and tirelessly making sure the voices of family farmers and the sustainable agriculture movement are heard on Capitol Hill. Please check out the article about his tireless work for sustainable agriculture, and the important contributions he has made to changing the way American farms from the James Beard Foundation at https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2018-leadership-award-winner-ferd-hoefner

FARM BILL NEWS

Top Ten Reasons to Reject the House Farm Bill

The House Farm Bill undermines decades of work by farmers and advocates to advance sustainable agriculture and food systems in the U.S. It helps the big get bigger and rich get richer, cripples conservation programs, promotes more hungry and food insecure families, decreases local food, threatens rural communities, decreases incentives for beginning farmers, maintains inequities for farmers of color, underinvests in public research and seed breeding, fails to improve risk management options, and provides few resources for food safety.

USDA NEWS

FSA Lending to Female Farmers and Farmers of Color Continues to Fall

In fiscal year (FY) 2017, FSA administered over 8,700 operating and ownership loans to SDA farmers and ranchers, helping them to start and sustain businesses by defraying the cost of farm-related real estate purchases and annual operating costs. While FSA has certainly made progress over the years in improving and increasing its level of service to SDA farmers, their outreach has so far has not been adequate to keep up with the growing demand.

Learn more about farm policy and agricultural politics from beginningfarmers.org at https://www.beginningfarmers.org/farm-policy-agricultural-politics/