Farm Bill
On pause for now – but keep in touch with your legislators
With the approach of a Presidential election already full of unprecedented developments, little has happened with the Farm bill since the June e-newsletter update, and it is now likely that it will be completed and passed in 2025. Yet, it remains important to stay in touch with our US Senators and Representatives regarding what we want to see in the new Farm Bill, what proposals in the House and Senate versions we would like to keep and which should be eliminated or changed to protect our farms, local food systems, resources and climate.
In brief, our current Farm Bill advocacy focuses on:
- Strengthening the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), increasing funding (the program is so oversubscribed that only 30% of applicants receive contracts).
- Maintaining the climate mitigation and resilience focus of the Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding.
- Increasing funding for research, especially organic research programs and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
- Eliminating House Farm Bill provisions that increase subsidies for large scale farms, slash food assistance (SNAP), and prevent the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) from responding promptly to farmer needs during crises.
Watch for updates at https://sustainableagriculture.net/.
Funding Opportunities for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture
Scroll down and read through the whole list – there is something here for everyone!
Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)
USDA accepting applications through Oct 31, 2024.
If you are a USDA certified organic farmer or handler and you have incurred or will incur expenses related to organic certification during Fiscal Year 2024 (October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024), you are eligible for a reimbursement of 75% of your certification costs up to $750 for each certification category. These categories include crops, livestock, wild crops, and processing/handling. You can receive reimbursement for application fees, inspection costs including inspector travel expenses, costs related to equivalency agreements and sales assessments, and postage.
To apply for OCCSP, contact the Farm Services Agency (FSA) through your local USDA Service Center, provide documentation of your organic certification and receipts for eligible expenses. Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) may also be able to help you with submitting an application to OCCSP.
Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities is Seeking Participants
30 projects reaching out to Virginia farmers
In 2023, USDA awarded a total of $3.1 billion to support 141 projects in the Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities (PCSC), of which 30 projects (total funding $937 million) include partners and producers in Virginia. Projects are recruiting farmers at this time, offering technical and financial assistance to implement climate-friendly, soil health-enhancing practices. PCSC projects also aim to develop practical, reliable, and affordable methods to monitor and quantify net greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and carbon sequestration, and to open new market opportunities for farmers to market their products as climate smart.
Check out this summary of PCSC in Virginia and this complete listing and description of the 30 PCSC projects recruiting Virginia farmers. Projects that may be of special interest to VABF member farmers include:
- An agroforestry project for underserved producers led by Tuskegee University and including Virginia State University as a major partner (page 23 in the listing of projects)
- Building soil, building equity in a regenerative farming movement in Appalachia and the Southeast including agroforestry and a wide range of crops and livestock, with emphasis on farmers of color and other underserved groups (page 2).
- A Rodale Institute project on organic vegetables in which VABF is a partner (page 16)
- A nationwide Organic Valley project focused on organic dairy and eggs (page 7)
- A Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture project on organic dairy, livestock, grain, and specialty crops for the East Coast from Maine to South Carolina (page 14)
- A nationwide project to support transition to climate smart beef, dairy, grain, and specialty crops that includes several organic organizations as partners (page 21).
- A project that utilizes biochar to enhance carbon sequestration in vegetable and fruit production (page 24).
Apply Now for Fiscal Year 2025 NRCS Conservation Contracts
Deadline October 11, 2024
The Virginia Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State office in Richmond, VA has announced Oct. 11, 2024, close of business, as the batching date by which all Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 applications for all NRCS financial assistance programs must be received by the local NRCS Service Center. The programs are:
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
- Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
- Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
- Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)
Additionally, to be considered for funding in FY25, the applicants above, must be 100% eligible by close of business on Dec. 13, 2024. Inquire at your local NRCS Service Center to see if you need to complete any additional forms to be fully eligible.
EQIP provides 75% cost-share for a wide range of practices applied to working lands (cropland, orchard, pasture, etc) to address specific resource and environmental concerns. These include climate-smart and soil health-enhancing practices such as Cover Crop, Conservation Crop Rotation, No-till, Reduced Tillage, Nutrient Management, Soil Carbon Amendment, Grazing Management, and agroforestry practices such as Alley Cropping, Forest Farming, Windbreak, Silvopasture, and Riparian Forest Buffer. All of these can enhance the soil, climate, water quality, and economic outcomes for your organic or regenerative farming operation, and all have enhanced support at this time through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) conservation funding.
CSP pays farmers who already maintain a substantial level of resource conservation to implement more advanced levels of soil, water, ecological, and climate stewardship on working lands through whole-farm planning and “enhancements” on conservation practices such as cover crops, rotations, and advanced grazing management.
RCPP establishes public-private partnerships with organizations to fund collaborative efforts by multiple farmers to address specific resource concerns within a region or watershed. Click here for more on RCPP or inquire at your local NRCS service center about RCPP opportunities in your locale.
ACEP offers easements to protect cropland and grassland from development, and to protect and restore wetlands that have been degraded by agricultural activities.
A special note: the initial application, due Oct 11, 2024 for the 2025 Fiscal Year ranking cycle, is fairly easy to complete and does not require you to have all details of your conservation activities worked out. If your application for a contract is approved, NRCS field staff will work with you on conservation planning and any other needed paperwork. Submit your application now to open opportunities for enhancing resource conservation and soil / agroecosystem health on your farm. In addition, the more demand for these programs the stronger our hand will be in urging Congress to increase conservation funding in the 2025 Farm Bill.
Mini-Grant Application Opens for Urban Agriculture in Virginia
Application Deadline August 19, 2024
The Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia State University’s (VSU) Small Farm Outreach Program, and partners are excited to announce the opening of applications for 2024-2025 mini-grants aimed at enhancing urban agriculture in Virginia. As a key component of the “Advancing Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems” Initiative, the goal of the mini-grant funding is to build the capacity of existing urban agriculture work in Virginia. This funding opportunity aligns with the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) to define urban agriculture broadly to include farming and growing activity in an urban area. Grants will range from $5,000 to $15,000, with a project period of up to 12 months. These funds are aimed to assist those individuals, tribal entities, organizations, and/or community-based groups already active in urban agriculture. Successful projects must fill a perceived need and also align with the aims of the Advancing Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems Initiative in Virginia with priority given to proposals that focus on underserved farmers in urban communities.
Please read the Request for Proposals (RFP) information page for all the details needed about the mini-grants and submission process: Virginia Urban Agriculture Mini Grant RFP Information
Key Dates:
- Application Opens: Monday, June 17, 2024
- Application Deadline: Monday, August 19, 2024, by 5:00 PM ET
- Award Notification: Tuesday, October 1, 2024
- Funding aims:
- Increase capacity for growing food, expanding operations, implementing climate-friendly practices, and enhancing on-farm sustainability.
- Provide technical support to underserved farmers for supplying healthy food to their local urban communities.
- Improve community capacity in urban agriculture to achieve equity goals.
- Advance current agricultural activities in Virginia’s urban areas.
For More Information:
- For eligibility criteria, to register for the webinar, ask questions, and to learn how to apply, please visit our website at https://foodsystems.centers.vt.edu/projects11/UrbanAgVirginia.html
- For technical assistance, please contact Steph Zhu at: stephaniejzhu@vt.edu
The “Advancing Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems in Virginia” Initiative is co-led by Virginia Tech and Virginia State University with funding provided by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Urban and Innovative Agriculture Community-Based Organization Fund.
Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm and Happily Natural Day are community-based project partners leading programming in Petersburg and Richmond, VA.
The Project Team and Advisory Group of the “Advancing Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems in Virginia” Initiative guided the creation of the Mini-Grant Request for Proposals.
RAFI Infrastructure Grants for Historically Underserved Farmers
Application deadline August 9
The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) is now accepting applications for its Infrastructure Grants for 2024, the fifth year of this program. Grants of up to $10,000 each will be awarded to historically underserved farmers who have been actively farming for over three years. Grants are offered to producers throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southern regions, including the states of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington DC as well as Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. For more information and application instructions click here.
James River Buffer Program
Designs and installs riparian forest buffer at no cost to you
If your farm is located within the James River watershed and you would like to plant a forested buffer to protect water quality, provide wildlife habitat, and improve farm biodiversity, check out the James River Buffer Program. The James River Association, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation are working with farmers and landowners across the middle and upper James River watershed to restore or create forest buffers that improve the quality of local waterways. The program works with you to select tree species, plants the buffer, and provides maintenance for the first three years at no cost to you. Plantings can include income generating species such as sugar maple for syrup production.
Perennial plantings will play a vital role in addressing the climate crisis by enhancing resilience, sequestering carbon, and intercepting nutrients.
Upcoming Events in Sustainable Agriculture
Forest Farming Series
Organic Growers School is hosting its annual Forest Farming Series this September and October in Western NC. The series helps farmers or aspiring farmers understand forest farming as a means of land stewardship and a possible farm revenue stream. Tours and workshops will teach the Indigenous history of growing forest botanicals and woodland products and demonstrate the site selection and management systems for cultivating crops or raising livestock under a forest canopy. Learn more and register here for the following events:
- September 1 in Marion, NC: Integrating Trees and Livestock in a Silvopasture System with Wild East Farm and RAFI
- October 6 in Marshall, NC: Encouraging Mushroom Production within a Forest Ecosystem with Forest Farmacy
Farm Aid 2024
Saratoga Springs, NY – Saturday, September 21
Pre-festival events Thursday and Friday September 19-20
The annual Farm Aid festival will take place Saturday, September 21, 2024, at Broadview Stage at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, located in the beautiful foothills of the Adirondacks. Farm Aid is a celebration of farmers and ranchers, as well as eaters and artists coming together for change.
We’ll kick off Farm Aid 2024 with a series of pre-festival events on Thursday, September 19 and Friday, September 20, including farm tours, our annual Farmer Fellowship Supper, and a Farmer Forum. Check the Farm Aid website for more details in the coming weeks.
