The Latest on Farming
A day after the Senate Agriculture committee passed its version of the 2013 farm bill, the House committee did the same.
Read MoreReps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Tom Petri (R-Wis.) today introduced the Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures Act (AFFIRM), common sense legislation that will reform the heavily subsidized crop insurance system in order to level the playing field for family farmers, improve transparency for taxpayers and protect the environment for future generations.
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Two out of every five farmers who seek assistance in reducing water pollution from their fields or the amount of pesticides and antibiotics they use are being turned away because USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service lacks sufficient
Read MoreThe farm bill draft released today by the Senate Agriculture Committee contains the same flawed provisions as the 2012 Senate-passed bill that increase unlimited crop insurance subsidies to the largest and most successful farm businesses.
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Environmental Working Group (EWG) applauds Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and the other co-sponsors of the Balancing Food, Farm and the Environment Act for recognizing that our land, our food, and our farms are all worth protecting.
Read MoreToday, Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a new analysis that underscores the need to reform the nation’s primary land restoration program for long-term protection of wetlands, prairies and other lands that protect drinking water and wildlife habitat.
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A new analysis by Environmental Working Group underscores the need to reform the nation’s primary land restoration program for long-term protection of wetlands, prairies and other lands that protect drinking water and wildlife habitat.
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The reality is that the nation’s primary prairie and wetlands protection program – the USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) – was not designed to meet the environmental challenges being created by record prices for farm commodities. Because the majority of the land in the program is taken out of agricultural production under 10- and 15-year rental agreements with the owners, cropland that had been “restored” with grasses and trees is increasingly being plowed under to grow crops again as soon as these agreements expire. As a result, the benefits of taxpayers’ investment in these short-term agreements have proved to be fleeting.
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Dick and Linda Grotberg began their transition to sustainable farming largely by accident.
Read MoreSix former chiefs of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service today (May 7) urged the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to once again require farmers to adopt basic conservation practices in exchange for crop insurance su
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Today, on the eve of farm bill consideration by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, EWG is launching an unprecedented campaign to remind Congress that our land, our food, our families, and our farms are all worth protecting.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group (EWG) today launched the Worth Protecting social media and advocacy campaign to underscore the need for federal farm bill reforms that protect public health and the environment and support future generations of family farmers.
Read MoreEnvironmental Working Group (EWG) today launched the Worth Protecting social media and advocacy campaign to underscore the need for federal farm bill reforms that protect public health and the environment and support future generations of family farmers.
Read MoreAs Congress gets ready to mark up the federal farm bill, chef Tom Colicchio and EWG will launch the “Worth Protecting” initiative tomorrow (May 7) to push lawmakers for serious reforms.
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A smart man learns from his mistakes, Terry Ingram likes to say, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.
Read MoreThere were two reasons that Environmental Working Group (EWG) commissioned agricultural economist Bruce Babcock of Iowa State University to analyze how the heavily subsidized federal crop insurance program performed during the Corn Belt drought of 2012. The 2012 drought drastically cut crop yields across several states and Congress is about to take up the farm bill again under serious pressure to cut spending.
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