By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy This week is Climate Week in New York City. Georgetown Climate Center invited me to represent National Farmers Union (NFU) to their Low-Carbon Transportation Policy Symposium, where I’ll discuss business opportunities in low-carbon transportation. Producers and rural communities will benefit from expanded use of biofuels … Read More
By Matt Perdue, NFU Government Relations Representative The harvest season is a special time of year for farmers. It’s their opportunity to, quite literally, reap the rewards of months spent working long hours in the fields, nervously tracking weather patterns, and precariously balancing finances. But for many farms across the drought-stricken Upper Great Plains, 2017 … Read More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 12, 2017 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 [email protected] WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union (NFU) proudly recognized 33 outstanding U.S. Senators and Representatives who have demonstrated leadership and support at the federal policymaking level for family farmers, ranchers and their rural communities. The Golden Triangle Award, the family farm organization’s highest legislative honor, … Read More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 11, 2017 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 [email protected] WASHINGTON – Today, 320 Farmers Union members gathered in the nation’s capital for National Farmers Union’s (NFU) Fall Legislative Fly-In. The annual event allows Farmers Union members from across the country to meet directly with lawmakers, USDA leaders and other administration officials to discuss … Read More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 8, 2017 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 [email protected] WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union’s (NFU) Beginning Farmer Institute (BFI) convened today in Washington, D.C., for the first of three learning sessions that will take place during the next year. Twenty beginning farmers, representing demographical, geographical and production diversity in agriculture, traveled to the … Read More
By Natalie Grote, NFU Intern Last week on the Beginning Farmer Forum, we discussed why microloans are a compelling alternative to traditional loans for beginning farmers and ranchers. However, for some producers, more traditional Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans may make sense. FSA offers a number of loan options, including direct farm operating loans and direct farm ownership loans, … Read More
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy Farmers and ranchers are in a unique position to help address climate change. Using practices like conservation tillage and forage management, farmers can help the soil they work and plants they grow take greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere, preventing them from interfering with the … Read More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 31, 2017 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 [email protected] WASHINGTON – For the past decade, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has been a boon to American-grown renewable energy development, thereby expanding markets for family farmers, creating jobs in rural communities, shoring up American energy independence, and cleaning up the environment. So when the … Read More
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy Farmers are the original conservationists, and no one knows the soil that sustains us better than the farmers who work it. Family farmers have a strong partner in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in supporting and coordinating efforts to protect our environment and shared … Read More
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), as a lender of first opportunity, has expanded its support of beginning farmers and farmers participating in emerging markets by offering microloans. These loans were first introduced in 2013 and were specifically authorized in the 2014 … Read More