Archives for November, 2008
Obama’s USDA Transition Team Announced
Friday, November 21st, 2008
USDA Transition Team Announced: Early this week the headquarters of President-elect Obama’s Transition Team announced the members of the Agriculture Transition Team:
Agriculture Transition Team Co-chairs:
Carole Jett – most recently served as deputy chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) at USDA where she also served as the agency’s Farm Bill Coordinator. Jett was the point person for implementation of the 2002 Farm Bill Conservation Title and was previously on staff for the House Agricultural Committee.
Bart Chilton – formerly deputy chief of staff for Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and staffer for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Most recently, Chilton was a commissioner for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2007.
Agriculture Transition Team Members:
Douglas Jake Caldwell – Director of Agriculture, Trade, and Energy at the Center for American Progress. Formerly Trade and Environment project manager for the National Wildlife Federation
David Lazarus – former legislative assistant to Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois)
Mary McNeil – Director of Native American Programs at USDA during the Clinton administration; member of Nebraska’s Winnebago tribe
Karen Stuck – recently retired from her post as Assistant Administrator for International Affairs at USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Michael Taylor – research professor of health policy at the George Washington University; former Deputy Commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration; former Acting Undersecretary for Food Safety at USDA and administrator at FSIS; and Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto
Dallas Tonsager – member of the Farm Credit Administration Board, former Executive Director of the South Dakota Value-Added Agriculture Development Center; USDA State Rural Development Director in South Dakota and past president of the South Dakota Farmers Union
Christopher Wood – Chief Operating Officer at Trout Unlimited, Senior Policy and Communications Advisor to Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck during the Clinton Administration
Weekly Update – November 14, 2008
Monday, November 17th, 2008
URGENT ACTION NEEDED
Tell Congress to Support Emergency Funding for WIC, Rural Development, and Farm Credit in the Stimulus Bill! On Monday, November 17, the lame duck session of Congress will convene. During the short window of time they have left in Washington D.C., Members of Congress may take up a new economic stimulus bill. It is important that the stimulus package include funding for three major issues: 1) emergency funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, 2) increased program funding for both direct and guaranteed farm operating loans, and 3) direct and targeted support for rural economic development. Please click here for a full action alert with background information. Calls should be made next week!
THIS WEEK
Transition Teams Named: On Thursday, the incoming Obama Administration named a 13-member agency review working group with members who will oversee transition work for a cluster of agencies. Covering agriculture, environment, energy, and interior will be David J. Hayes, a noted environmental lawyer with the law firm Latham & Watkins who served as the number two person at Interior during the Clinton Administration. Hayes has associations with both World Wildlife Fund and American Rivers. Also named on Thursday were the transition team chairs for Treasury, State, and Defense.
The USDA Transition Team has not yet been named, although we expect it to be released very soon. Rumors may be circulating, but we will have to just wait and see when it is released.
Plum Book Published: The so-called Plum Book, published every four years and providing a comprehensive listing of all the political appointed positions in the government, was issued on Thursday. The 209-page book lists over 8,000 federal jobs which can be appointed by the incoming Administration. The book includes the name and salary of the existing office holder for the outgoing Administration, and thus also serves as a way for any incoming Administration to determine who it wants to move out of or leave in current positions. The book can be browsed or purchased here.
“Notes from the Field” – Conservation Stewardship Program Field Day in Wisconsin
Monday, November 10th, 2008
This is the first in a series of posts “Notes from the Field” written by staff of SAC member organizations or farmers about how the federal sustainable agriculture programs that SAC fights for and wins make a difference on the ground.
This past August, Katie Wied received a M.A. in Sustainable Development with an emphasis on Public Policy from the School of International Training. Returning back to her home state of Wisconsin, Katie is now the Policy Organizer for Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, a member organization of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
“This program encourages me to maintain my conservation practices and research others.”
-Farmer from Gilman, WI who participates in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
As the Policy Organizer for Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, I have the role of educating farmers about the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). I love this program because within the world of large commodity payments, it is the first governmental program that provides “green payments” to farmers. In other words, CSP provides payments to farmers and ranchers to maintain and manage existing conservation practices and implement additional conservation activities on land in agricultural production.
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Katie Wied, Policy Organizer for Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, at CSP Field Day
Katie Wied, Policy Organizer for Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, at CSP Field Day
Farmers can be allotted up to $40,000 per year for conducting conservation practices that improve soil, water or air quality, soil and water conservation, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, as well as energy conservation. CSP has been greatly improved in the 2008 Farm Bill and now with improved access to the program, any farmer will now be able to apply for a CSP grant. This brings good news to the sustainable agriculture movement, and like any piece of good news we want to spread it far and wide.
With some newfound momentum I organized various CSP field days throughout Wisconsin. Field days are used to unite farmers by having them gather at a farm for food, education, and good conversation. I decided to reach out to farmers who utilize grazing practices on their farms. Letting cows graze on the land instead of keeping them confined is not only healthier for the cows, but also for the land. I contacted several people from GrassWorks, an amazing grazing network. This Wisconsin-based organization serves as a central point for grazing communities to network and share resources. With their help I was able to arrange short CSP presentations on several of their farms.
Weekly Update – November 7, 2008
Friday, November 7th, 2008
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Presidential Transition Team Project: The Presidential Elections are over! Now is the time to prepare for the Obama Administration so that our key agricultural issues are considered and acted upon in the first term.
SAC is taking the lead in putting together a briefing book with a set of recommendations and key policy proposals for the presidential transition team. Please download this form with more information about the project and send your top recommendations to the SAC staff by November 14.
This week, Jim Worstell of SAC member group, Delta, Land, and Community, submitted a recommendation regarding the appointed Rural Development Directors for each state. We have posted Jim’s idea on the SAC blog, entitled Transforming Rural Development in the Obama Administration. Check it out and send us comments!
THIS WEEK
2008 ELECTION ANALYSIS!
Obama Administration: With Tuesday’s historic election over, attention is turning to the Presidential Transition Team and what an Obama Administration will mean for U.S. agriculture. According to President-elect Obama’s website and the rural agenda laid out on the new Transition Team website, President-elect Obama has seven main priorities – many of which have been long-standing priorities of SAC and were included in our 2008 Farm Bill platform: a $250,000 limit on commodity payments and closing of loopholes; a ban on packer ownership of livestock; strict regulations on pollution from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs); expansion of organic certification cost share, reform of crop insurance so that it does not penalize organic farmers, and promotion of regional food systems; training programs and tax incentives for beginning farmers and ranchers; greater incentives for sustainable agriculture and protection of wetlands, grasslands, and forests; and implementation of mandatory country-of-origin-labeling (COOL).
Transition Team Project: Transforming Rural Development in the Obama Administration
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
The following is the first in a series of posts about potential policy recommendations for the Obama Administration to act upon during its first year. These policy recommendation ideas are born out of SAC members’ extensive on-the-ground experience with what is and is not working in American agriculture and federal farm policy. In December SAC members will discuss the potential policy recommendations and vote on a final set which will be included in a briefing book for the Obama Administration Transition Team.
Jim Worstell has helped farmer groups develop locally-owned, value-added enterprises in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta and many other third world areas. He was a member of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development during the Clinton Administration and has been Director of SAC member group Delta Land & Community since 1995.
Tuesday’s election of Barack Obama provides an unprecedented opportunity to transform USDA/Rural Development. Never before have we been blessed with a President with a community organizing background.
A good dose of community organizing could transform USDA/Rural Development into an organization which actually accomplishes sustainable rural development in America.
The perfect way to start achieving that goal is revamping the hiring, training and evaluation of USDA/Rural Development staff.
Election Results – What it Means for Agriculture Committees
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
With the elections now over, we’re turning our attention to recommendations for the new Administration. Over the next several weeks we’ll feature some of the ideas that are percolating within SAC’s membership about recommendations—part of SAC’s Presidential Transition Team Project. Before we kick that off, however, here’s a quick analysis of the impact of election results on incumbent seats on the Agriculture Committee and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
Quick snapshot – the numbers for the Agriculture Committee:
- 2 incumbent Democrat Senate seats (Harkin, Baucus)– defended
- 3 incumbent Republican Senate seats (Cochran, McConnell, Roberts) – defended
- 2 incumbent Republican Senate seat (Chambliss, Coleman) – in a tossup
- 4 incumbent Democrat House seats (Kagen, Space, Walz, Gillibrand) – defended
- 3 incumbent Democrat House seats (Boyda, Lampson, Mahoney) – lost
- 2 incumbent Republican House seats (Hayes, Musgrave) – lost
Quick snapshot – the numbers for the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee:
- No change. Four incumbent Democrat Senate seats were defended (Harkin, Durbin, Johnson, and Reed) and two incumbent Republican Senate seats were defended (Cochran, McConnell). The only change on the House Subcommittee is the retirement of Ray LaHood (R-Illinois).
Weekly Update – October 31, 2008
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Presidential Transition Team Project: The Presidential Elections are right around the corner! As people get ready to cast their votes, this is an important time to prepare for the next Administration so that our key agricultural issues are considered and acted upon in the first term.
SAC is taking the lead in putting together a briefing book with a set of recommendations and key policy proposals for the presidential transition team. Please email Aimee Witteman for more information about the project and to send your top recommendations to the SAC staff by November 14.
THIS WEEK
Update on Economic Stimulus Package: The potential supplemental appropriations measure that has been discussed in Congress this month moved closer to reality this week. House Democrats appear to plan to bring an approximately $100 billion economic stimulus package to the floor during a lame duck session the week of Nov. 17. Leaders discussed federal matching funds for Medicaid, an extension of unemployment benefits, expanded food stamp spending, and money for infrastructure projects focused on creating “green” jobs and alternative energy sources. No specifics regarding agricultural or rural development have been released, nor were any details immediately available concerning emergency funding for the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program.