By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy In Fiscal Year 2016, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) issued 29,602 direct loans to farmers and ranchers totaling $2.39 billion. … Read More
Access to Capital: FSA Loan Servicing
Beginning Farmers
Access to Capital: FSA Loans
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern As noted in prior Beginning Farmer Forum posts, beginning farmers often times have smaller operations, which means less land and capital. Consequently, they may require … Read More
Access To Markets: Food Safety Education
By Barbara Patterson, NFU Director of Government Relations Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2010. It will require many producers to comply with new regulations if they … Read More
Access to Efficiency: Small Business Innovation Research Program
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) found that the percentage of U.S. farms operated by women farmers almost … Read More
Access to Efficiency: Environmental Quality Incentives Program
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy In NFU’s Climate Column, we’ve discussed a number of practices, including cover crops and no-till, that can build soil fertility with … Read More
Access to Efficiency: USDA Programs and Services Benefit New and Beginning Producers
By James Tillman, Acting Associate Chief for Conservation, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Are you interested in protecting the soil, water, plants, and air and achieving economic sustainability on your … Read More
Access to Capital: Kiva Microloans
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern Access to capital is one of the toughest hurdles a beginning farmer will overcome. Beginning producers frequently don’t have collateral to offer lenders. And it … Read More
Access to Efficiency: Conserving Water Q&A With Blake Osborn
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern Blake Osborn is a water resources specialist at Colorado State University (CSU) Extension in Pueblo, CO. On Tuesday, June 20, we had the opportunity to … Read More
Access to Efficiency: Climate Change & Water
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern Farmers and ranchers who are feeding a growing population often think about more. The more crops planted and the more they yield, the more mouths … Read More
Access to Land: Conservation Reserve Program Transition Incentives Program
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy Administered by the Farm Service Agency, (FSA) the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) awards producers rental payments for taking environmentally sensitive land … Read More