September is Hunger Action Month, and an advocacy group is working to get legislation expanded to provide more healthy foods to people in rural Arkansas.

Some 41% of Arkansans live in rural counties.

Florence French Fagan, senior regional organizer for the nonprofit Bread For The World, said they are focused on part of the Farm Bill known as the GusNIP Expansion Act. It would improve and expand the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, enabling people who receive SNAP benefits to get an additional monthly amount for fresh produce. French Fagan said Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., is a key sponsor.

"We have a one in five-year opportunity to address the inequity that exists in communities to access fresh fruits and vegetables," French Fagan emphasized. "This marker bill, as well as other marker bills, have been introduced to address different things. So, we are really grateful to Rep. Crawford for introducing this bill."

French Fagan pointed out a major goal of GusNIP is to increase people's consumption of foods to lower the risk of chronic medical conditions. In turn, it increases the demand for locally grown produce, which helps the local economy.

French Fagan stressed a lack of transportation is often an issue for people in rural areas. She noted GusNIP is managed by nonprofit organizations, which help in many rural communities without a grocer or a farmers market nearby.

"What this bill does is it expands the program, gives these organizations an opportunity to put programs where they don't exist," French Fagan explained. "This would give a rural community the opportunity to maybe have a farmstand, to maybe have a grocer set up a business there."

She added rural organizations have to be creative. Grant funding recently allowed a church in Fayetteville to place food lockers at its pantry for low-income families. The food is free and the lockers can hold both cold and hot foods people can sign up for online and pick up at their convenience.


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The growing season is winding down in New Mexico and experts want to make sure the people preserving green chile for the colder months are doing it right.

Amber Benson, Bernalillo County extension agent, said four food preservation techniques will be highlighted during online training workshops next month for the native New Mexico chile. They include drying, freezing, freeze-drying and pressure-cooking. She noted the presentations are free and participants may attend one or all.

"There's an increasing interest in home food preservation, with the cost of food, and during COVID we learned that our food supply chain obviously had some weak points," Benson recounted. "It's just a really great way for people to empower themselves over their own food."

She explained freeze-drying dehydrates food by freezing it and is different from older methods of food preservation. New Mexico State University will hold online training workshops on four Tuesday mornings in October. Capacity is limited to 50 people per session and advance registration is required.

Benson noted green chile can refer both to a plant and a prepared dish, which can vary in consistency from a thick, pork-laden stew to salsa. The series of classes on green chile preservation is the first of its kind, with extension agents in five different counties participating.

"Particularly in New Mexico, we're buying roasted green chile most of the time," Benson observed. "People need to know, 'Oh, do we take the tops off? Do we keep the seeds in? Will it get hotter over time?' People have tons of questions about freezing and drying, so we'll definitely cover both of those."

She added several extension offices across the state have freeze dryers available for the public to use. Last year, New Mexico lawmakers and the governor attracted loads of national attention for approving legislation that declared the smell of roasting green chile the state's aroma, the first state in the nation to adopt an official aroma.


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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering new rules, seeking to level the playing field for independent farmers in Iowa and across the country.

Food price gouging has become a campaign issue in the Midwest, where the election could be won or lost.

Berleen Wobeter and her husband Pete raise cattle on about 300 in central Iowa. She said family farmers want Congress to strengthen the century-old Packers and Stockyards Act, address alleged food price gouging and fix the lack of competition in the beef industry, where four companies control 85% of the market.

"That's not going to happen the more consolidated it is," Wobeter pointed out. "Then if there isn't a market for all of our beef, then I guess some of us need to get out. But it needs to be fair."

The Biden administration has proposed a new rule designed to update the Packers and Stockyards Act, which was signed in 1921. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking public commentthrough Sept. 11.

Congress is considering restoring mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef in the next Farm Bill, which would allow domestic producers to charge higher prices for beef grown in the U.S.

Wobeter said despite being in a highly consolidated industry among large corporate ag producers, she and Pete have continued to succeed on their 300 acres near Toledo.

"I think that has been my husband's approach to things," Wobeter explained. "In the '80s, when it was 'go big or get out' he said no, that's not the way he was raised. You just kind of stay steady, stay within your budget, don't overspend, and it's worked for us."

The 2023 Farm Bill, which has already been extended until the end of this month, remains on hold in Washington.


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Practical Farmers of Iowa is looking for landowners who want to help restore natural habitat on their property, and get help doing it.

It's part of a larger effort to help farmers become more environmentally friendly.

PFI's Habitat Incentive program offers farmers a financial incentive to plant prairie strips on their land, for example.

PFI's Senior Habitat Viability Coordinator Grace Yi said those strips restore habitat for native species while at the same time reducing soil erosion.

"All of these practices are going to have multiple benefits," said Yi. "So they are going to be good for soil health, good for water-quality improvement, and also provide habitat for wildlife. "

In addition to the prairie strip portion of the Habitat Incentive Program, PFI is also making incentives available to do precision conservation analysis on their land - which helps farmers make use of unproductive acres.

Yi said the end goal of the program is different for most of the farmers who apply.

For some it might be reducing soil erosion and runoff into nearby waterways. For others it night be finding a productive way to use other acres.

"For some farmers it might be that corner of the farm is low yielding," said Yi, "it's difficult to farm with because it's steep in slope or it has weird turnarounds, so they can't easily round out the field. "

In order to be eligible for the program, at least 50% of the area the farmer plans to change has to be unprofitable. The incentive, funded by federal and state sources, is capped at $10,000.