Urban producers, public invited to attend February meeting of federal advisory committee for urban agriculture and innovative production

NASHVILLE, January 30, 2023 – The USDA encourages urban producers, innovative producers and other stakeholders to virtually attend the fourth public meeting of the federal advisory committee for urban agriculture and innovative production committee from 3:30-6 p.m. ET on Feb. 23, 2023.

“Since last year, the Federal Advisory Committee has been a source of valuable, on the ground information and recommendations for USDA,” said NRCS Chief Terry Cosby, “This meeting will help us better serve urban and innovative producers and their communities.”   

The committee is part of USDA’s efforts to support urban and innovative agriculture, creating a network for feedback. Members include agricultural producers, and representatives from the areas of higher education or extension programs, non-profits, business and economic development, supply chains and financing. Three public meetings of the committee were held in 2022.

The virtual meeting will address previous public comments and include topics such as subcommittee and committee deliberations, and a public forum. Please click here to register. 

Written comments for the meeting must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 9 through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Docket #2022-24020.   

For special accommodations, contact Markus Holliday at  UrbanAgricultureFederalAdvisoryCommittee@usda.gov.  

USDA will share the agenda between 24 to 48 hours prior to the meeting on https://www.usda.gov/partnerships/federal-advisory-committee-urban-ag. Additionally, other resources include the Federal Register notice and the Committee’s webpage.  

Learn more at usda.gov/urban. For additional resources available to producers, download the Urban Agriculture at a Glance brochure or visit farmers.gov/urban. 

Please visit the new NRCS Tennessee website here. 

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.   

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.