USDA

Petition for Rulemaking Related to USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program

The following petition was sent on July 10, 2024 to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. Dear Secretary Vilsack,

Comment to USDA on Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Program

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Land Stewardship Project, Missouri Rural Crisis Center, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Food and Water Watch and the National Family Farm Coalition welcome the opportunity to respond to the USDA’s request for information for a proposed Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Program.

MinneAg Network named one of 10 recipients of USDA Regional Food System Partnership grant

Minneapolis—The MinneAg Network is pleased to announce its selection as one of the recipients of the 2023 Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) grant, presented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service.

Waste and water woes

This report examines 2022 EQIP spending and finds that a sizable chunk of EQIP dollars are spent on expensive practices that are not resilient and may in fact make the climate crisis worse.

USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program disproportionality funds industrial agriculture practices over real conservation practices

MINNEAPOLIS—A new report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) sheds light on how one U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), allocates funds and highlights the disproportionate level of funding received by industrial agriculture practices.

Despite Improvements, Three in Four Farmers Turned Away from Federal Conservation Programs

MINNEAPOLIS—A new report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) finds that roughly three in four farmers who applied to access critical government conservation programs in 2022

Still Closed Out

More progress needed to connect farmers with federal conservation programs. There has been some positive development for conservation agriculture policy in the U.S. since 2021, but USDA still rejects more than three in four farmer applications to CSP. 

IATP Comments on Implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act

IATP submitted the following comment to the Natural Resources Conservation Service on implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).