Archives for June, 2009

Weekly Update – June 22-26, 2009

Monday, June 29th, 2009

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

VAPG NOSA Update:  A revised Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) has received upper-level USDA approval and we expect it to be published soon.  The new application will have a 90 day proposal period.  USDA will rescind the original NOSA and will be in touch with applicants who submitted proposals, not aware that the original grant application deadlines of June 22 and July 6 had been suspended, and their applications will still be considered.  NSAC and other groups were concerned the original NOSA did not fully implement 2008 Farm Bill provisions to support local food, mid-tier value chains, small and mid-scale farms, and beginning and minority farmers.

SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS REPORT

NSAC FY2010 Appropriations Chart:  Last week we reported on the House Committee-passed agriculture appropriations bill for FY 2010, but we held off sending our appropriations chart until the Committee report was made public and we could double check all the numbers.  Please click here to download a copy of our updated chart.

House Bill Weighs in on Variety of Topics:  Several topics that may be of interest to our readers are included in the report accompanying the House bill:

LAST WEEK

House Approves Climate Change Legislation:  On Friday, by a vote of 219 to 212 (with 3 not voting), the House voted to approve H.R. 2454 – the American Clean Energy and Security Act.  The Act is comprehensive legislation intended to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.  The bill totals more than 1,500 pages and includes provisions ordering major industrial sources of greenhouse gases to enter into a cap-and-trade program that requires a 17 percent cut in domestic emissions by 2020.  The bill also directs utilities to supply 15 percent of their power sales from renewable sources of electricity by 2020.

The bill that went to the floor for debate included significant revisions that resulted from negotiations between House leadership and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), Chair of the House Agriculture Committee.  Chariman Peterson had threatened to keep a core group of Democrats from voting for the bill unless it included changes giving USDA primary authority over the development of a carbon credit offset program for agriculture.

The extensive Peterson amendment includes sections on the definition of renewable biomass, an agricultural offset program to be run by USDA, and a USDA Advisory Committee on greenhouse gas reduction and sequestration.  The full text of the amendment is available on the House Agriculture Committee website.

Eight Republicans voted for the legislation and 44 Democrats votes against the bill.  Twelve of the 27 Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee voted against the bill, including Rep. Childers (MS), Costa (CA), Dahlkemper (PA), Ellsworth (IN), Herseth Sandlin (SD), Holden (PA), Kissell (NC), Marshall (GA), Massa (NY), McIntyre (NC), Minnick (ID), and Pomeroy (ND).  The full vote tally can be found here.

The bill now goes to the Senate.  Latest word on the Senate timeline is that Committee chairs with jurisdiction over the bill are expected to complete action on the bill by mid-September, with the debate on the Senate floor by October.

Senate Committee Markup of FY2010 Interior/EPA Appropriations Bill:  On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee in its markup of the FY2010 Interior/EPA appropriations bill rejected, by a vote of 18-12, an amendment offered by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) that would have prevented EPA from assessing the greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s largest concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).  The Committee Chair Senator Diane Feinstein, who opposed the amendment, read into the record a letter from environmental, conservation and sustainable agriculture organizations, including NSAC, which urged Senators on the Committee to reject the amendment.  A similar amendment may be offered when the bill goes to the Senate floor.

Meanwhile, the full House approved its version of the $32.3 billion Interior/EPA bill on Friday, June 26.  The EPA funding in the bill rises by an extraordinary $3 billion or 38 percent, from $7.6 billion this year to $10.6 billion next year.  The House bill would provide EPA with $84 million more than the President’s request.  Included in the total is nearly $4 billion for clean water projects through Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and State and Tribal Assistance Grants.

Unlike the Senate Committee action on CAFOs, the House bill bars EPA from requiring largest factory farms to report their greenhouse gas emissions.  That provision was introduced as an amendment by Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) and approved by the full Committee.

USDA NEWS

Office of Advocacy and Outreach:  Assistant Secretary for Departmental Administration Pearlie Reed brought together an advisory group on June 25 and 26 to discuss the function and structure of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach.  The new office, created by the 2008 Farm Bill, was designed to coordinate policy and programs for two broad areas: minority farmers and farmworkers, and small farms and beginning farmers.

The group that met for two days at USDA included eighteen USDA agency representatives (both from the field and headquarters), eight representatives of minority farmer organizations, two representatives of farm workers, and several university extension representatives.  NSAC’s Ferd Hoefner was also part of the group.

Assistant Secretary Reed and Deputy Assistant Secretary Alma Hobbs told the group the Department has decided to lodge the new Office within Departmental Administration.  This decision differs from the statutory placement of the office in the 2008 Farm Bill, which envisioned the Office as reporting directly to the Secretary and not under any of the USDA Under Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries.  How the difference between the statute and the new plan will be reconciled was not made clear.

Last month, NSAC joined with the Diversity Initiative in a letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack asking that the Office be established in accord with the Farm Bill.

The farm bill established two divisions within the Office, one for minority farmers and farmworkers and one for small farms and beginning farmers.  As tentatively envisioned by the Department, the Office might also include five other divisions, one each for the 1890 land grants, 1994 land grant tribal schools, Hispanic-serving institutions, rural development, and the USDA visitor’s center.

The advisory group members worked in small groups to develop a myriad of ideas of how each of these divisions might be structured and staffed.  Those ideas will be used by the Department as it refines its plans.

The House Committee-passed appropriations bill for FY 10 includes the $3 million requested by USDA to establish the new Office.  The Senate Subcommittee will be working on its bill after the July 4 recess.

ERS Local Food Study Workshop:  Representatives from non-profits, government, and industry gathered to discuss local food systems at a day-long workshop hosted by the Economic Research Service on Friday, June 26.  Researchers presented a number of case studies on the market performance of local foods and outlined the environmental, social, and economic impacts.  Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director of NSAC, served on a discussion panel highlighting policy opportunities and barriers to the development of local food systems.  The proceedings and video from the event will be posted on the ERS web site.

During the 2008 Farm Bill, NSAC worked with the offices of Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Feingold (D-WI), and Harkin (D-IA) on a bill instructing USDA to conduct a study on the economic and environmental impacts of local food systems.  The bill was withdrawn after ERS said that plans for such a study were already in the works.  NSAC would like to see specific policy recommendations come out of the forthcoming ERS report so that Congress can address some of the production and distribution barriers to local and regional food system development.

NOFA Issued for Rural Coop Development Grant Minority Set-Aside:  On Thursday, June 25, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service announced the availability of $1.463 million in grant funds for cooperatives or associations of coops to assist small, socially-disadvantaged agricultural producers.  This grant program is now known as the Small and Socially-Disadvantaged Producer Grant Program.  Applications may be submitted electronically or on paper by August 10, 2009.

USDA Recovery Act Website Launched:  On Friday, June 26, USDA launched a new website — www.usda.gov/recovery — to share information about implementation of the USDA portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (sometimes referred to as the stimulus bill).  USDA programs account for $28 billion of the recovery package.  When accounting for the value of loans and loan guarantees, the USDA recovery package totals $52 billion.

Of significance to NSAC, the new website does provide basic information for the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) program, the Rural Community Facilities program, and the Business and Industry (B&I) loan program.  However, the B&I section still fails to reference the Local and Regional Food Enterprise Guaranteed Loan program that NSAC helped secure in the farm bill and again in the stimulus bill.  Some $250 million in loan guarantees are available for local and regional food businesses and coops this year and next, but the Department has not yet fully implemented the program and has yet to promote it.

ERS Releases Study on Food Deserts and Their Consequences:  On Thursday, June 25, the Economic Research Service released a report entitled Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food — Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences:  Report to Congress.  The report includes findings from a national assessment of the characteristics and prevalence of food deserts, an analysis of their consequences and connections to diet-related diseases, and a discussion of options for how to alleviate the effects of food deserts through policy.  ERS found that nearly 6 percent of all households experience food access-related problems.  Congress requested in the 2008 Farm Bill that USDA conduct this study.

ERS Examines Manure:  On Thursday, June 25, the Economic Research Service also released a study examining manure use for fertilizer and energy production, also requested by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill.  The report found that just 5 percent of US cropland is currently fertilized with manure and corn ground accounts for over half of the total.

Tiny Fraction of Farmers Signing Up for ACRE:  At a hearing of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management on Thursday, USDA Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Jim Miller testified that only 946 farmers out of the 1.3 million farmers who participate in USDA crop commodity programs have signed up for the new average crop revenue election (ACRE).  ACRE gives farmers payments based on rolling market season average prices and state yields but to receive ACRE payments farmers must give up 20 percent of direct payments and 30 percent of marketing loan rate.  It was not clear if farmers did not understand ACRE, did not like ACRE, or were waiting to near the signup deadline of August 14, 2009 to decide whether to signup for ACRE.

2010 CRP General Sign-Up Now Undecided:  At the same hearing where ACRE was discussed, Under Secretary Jim Miller also testified that USDA is undecided on whether to hold a general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in 2010.  Earlier this year, Farm Service Agency Conservation Office Director Bob Stephenson had told the conservation subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee that there would be a 2010 general sign-up.

DULY NOTED

Minnesota Project Webinar on BCAP:  On Thursday, June 25, the Minnesota Project hosted a webinar on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP).  Speakers included Ryan Stockwell Manager, The Minnesota Project; Joel Tallaksen, Gasification Project Coordinator, University of Minnesota Morris; Gary Radloff, Director of Policy and Strategic Communications, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection; and Kelly Novak, Planning and Analysis, USDA Farm Service Agency.  The presentations and audio from the webinair, along with additional information will be posted here.

Where’s the Local Beef? New Report from Food and Water Watch:  Food and Water Watch has released a new study that documents changes in the livestock slaughter and processing industry across the country, including the disappearance of small processing plants, and examples of next generation processors as well as policy recommendations for rebuilding the small-scale processing sector.

New USGS Water Quality Report:  The US Geological Survey this week released Factors affecting water quality in selected carbonate aquifers in the United States.  USGS sampled for 151 chemical constituents or physical properties in wells and springs across 20 states, primarily ones that are drinking water sources.  Carbonate aquifers account for about a fifth of groundwater-supplied drinking water in the US.

While the study found these aquifers generally provide water acceptable for human use, it also found that nitrates from fertilizer, manure applications, and septic tanks was the most common containment and one that exceeded federal drinking water standards in 5 percent of wells sampled, primarily in agricultural areas.

Hypoxic Zone Large Again:  On Monday, June 22, Science Daily reported that the US Geological Survey found that spring nutrient delivery to the Gulf of Mexico is 23 percent lower than 2008, but still 11 percent above the 1979-2009 average and among the highest on record.  The amount of nutrients transported by the Mississippi River Basin to the Gulf during the spring is the major factor controlling the size of the hypoxic or dead zone that endangers important fisheries.  Nutrient runoff from farms is the largest single source, with total flow dependent in large part on the amount of precipitation and the resulting amount of non-point runoff and stream flow.

Click to share this article:
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • del.icio.us
  • email

Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Weekly Update – June 15-19, 2009

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

LAST WEEK

House Appropriations Passes 2010 Ag Spending Bill:  Late at night on Thursday, June 18, the House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote the Fiscal Year 2010 agricultural spending bill.  The bill will be on the House floor starting July 7 or soon thereafter.  The Senate appropriations subcommittee will get the Senate process started sometime after the July 4 recess.

Though approved, the House Committee-passed bill has not yet been filed and hence is not publicly available yet.  Nonetheless, based on remarks during the debate, information released by the Subcommittee, and information shared by congressional staff we can offer the following summary of results on key sustainable agriculture priorities.  Once the bill is released, we will place a new version of our appropriations bill tracking chart on the NSAC website.

As we reported last week, the bill provides $22.9 billion in discretionary funds for FY 10, an 11 percent increase over FY 09 levels, with the big winners in additional funding being the WIC program, food and drug safety, and international food aid.  No funding changes were made in full committee, hence what we reported last week about the bill remains true:

Conservation and Other Farm Bill Mandatory Programs:  The bill rejects all of the cuts to farm bill conservation programs proposed by President Obama except for a proposed $270 million cut to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.   All other farm bill conservation programs are fully funded.

As was the case with the House bill last year, though not the Senate bill, the new House bill contains no limitations or cuts to other farm bill mandatory programs.  Hence programs such as the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Outreach and Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers, Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, and Farmers Market Promotion Program are kept whole at their farm bill levels.

Marketing and Rural Development:  The bill rejects the President’s proposed increases of $22 million for the Rural Microenterpreneur Assistance Program and $3 million for the Value-Added Producer Grants program, leaving the programs with $4 million and $19 million, respectively.  The House bill includes some but not all of the President’s proposed increase for the Rural Coop Development Grants program, putting the program at $8.9 million or $3 million more than this year but $5 million less than the Obama proposal.  The ATTRA program is level funded at $2.6 million.  NSAC will be pressing for RMAP, VAPG and ATTRA increases in the Senate version of the bill.

The National Organic Program would receive the full $2.8 million increase requested by the Administration, bringing it to a total of $6.7 million.  The Farmers Market Nutrition Program would get a slight bump up to $20 million, while a brand new program – Hunger-Free Communities – would get first time funding of $5 million.  Hunger-Free Communities, authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, provides grants for, among other things, CSAs, community gardens, and local stores serving local farmers.  There is also report language in the bill urging USDA to aggressively carry out the Local and Regional Food Enterprise loan guarantee program and directing USDA to report on all aspects of procurement policy for local foods.

Research:  Increases are provided in the research and extension section of the bill for land grant formula funds, for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), and for Organic Transitions.  AFRI would increase by $9.5 million to $210 million.  Organic Transitions would increase by $3.2 million to $5 million.  Virtually no other research or extension program receives any increase, leaving the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program level funded at $19 million.  NSAC will pursue its proposal to increase SARE funding enough to get the SARE federal-state matching grant program started as the bill moves to the Senate for consideration.

Farm Credit:  The House bill would fund direct and guaranteed farm real estate and operating loans at the level requested by USDA.  Direct operating loans would receive sufficient appropriations for $700 million worth of loans and direct farm ownership loans would receive $393 million.  Both figures are greatly more than the FY 09 regular appropriations level but less than the total amount received for those programs this year from regular appropriations, stimulus bill, and supplemental appropriations combined, suggesting that more emergency spending may be needed next year if the financial climate is not much improved before then.

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Accounts pilot program is not funded.  The IDA program authorization was an NSAC 2008 farm bill priority and we hope to get the program funded in the Senate and then in the final House-Senate conference bill.

White House Releases Climate Change Paper Amid Congressional Negotiations on Legislation:  As part of an effort to drum up support for pending climate change legislation, on Tuesday June 16, the White House released a report entitled Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States.  The report precedes an expected debate on Capitol Hill next week on the American Clean Energy and Security Act reported out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has been negotiating with House Agriculture Committee Chair Colin Peterson (D-MN), who wants easier terms for agriculture in meeting criteria for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission offsets and wants USDA, not EPA in charge. Peterson also wants to eliminate indirect land use impacts from the assessment of GHG emissions from agriculture.  The EPA used indirect land use conversion in its pending proposal for revising the renewable biofuels standard, which is used to determine whether biofuels are eligible for tax incentives when blended with gasoline and other petroleum fuels under the renewable fuel standard of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Peterson has indicated that without these changes House Democrats on the Agriculture Committee and other farm state Democrats will vote against the climate change legislation.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has indicated she will not let climate change legislation go to the floor without the support of a significant number of Democratic farm state representatives.

Climate change also came up in House Appropriations Committee action on the Interior/EPA appropriations bill last week.  The Full Committee narrowly approved language offered by Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) that would prohibit the EPA from implementing a rule requiring extremely large livestock confinement facilities to report their GHG emissions as part of a national greenhouse gas inventory.  The bill also includes language that would prohibit EPA from promulgating a regulation to require Clean Air Act permits for emissions from biological processes associated with livestock production, essentially giving large-scale CAFOs a free walk on air emissions of ammonia (a source of the potent GHG nitrous oxide) as well as other CAFO pollutants.

The Committee did, however, by one vote, reject an amendment by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) that would have prohibited EPA from considering indirect land use impacts of biofuels in determining their full GHG impacts.

Food Safety Bill Passes Full Committee:  The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved a manager’s amendment to the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 at a mark-up session on Wednesday, June 17.  Incorporating a bipartisan compromise, the amendment lowers civil monetary penalties for unintentional violations and caps the penalty for an individual company in a single proceeding.  Other notable changes include adjusting the inspection frequency schedule, defining fisheries as “farms” in order to exempt seafood from traceability requirements when sold to direct markets, and exempting food, facilities, and farms that are already regulated by USDA from the new FDA regulations.

The amendment retains a flat $500 registration fee per facility, thus failing to incorporate a scaled fee system as proposed by several member organizations of NSAC and of the National Organic Coalition.  In addition, the bill fails to recognize how the regulations might affect on-farm processing operations.  The Committee has not yet indicated when the bill will go to the floor for a full House vote.  NSAC and NOC member groups remain in discussion with the Committee pursuing additional changes to the bill, while also discussing potential floor amendments with potential House champions for ensuring the legislation does not work against the interests of small and mid-sized family farms, conservation, and local and alternative food systems.

Clean Water Restoration Act:  On Thursday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee marked up and approved an amended version of the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787) which would restore jurisdiction of the Act over waters put in jeopardy by U.S. Supreme Court cases and Bush administration regulations.  The compromise amendment, introduced by Senators Baucus (D-MT) and Klobuchar (D-MN), adopts a statutory definition of “waters of the United States” and deletes the term “navigable” to clarify that congressional intent in the 1972 Clean Water Act was to protect waters from pollution, not just to protect navigation channels.

As amended, S.787 includes existing regulatory exemptions from the Clean Water Act for specific farming, ranching, mining, energy development and forestry activities.  Republicans on the Committee unanimously opposed the bill, offering many amendments that were not adopted including one to exempt agriculture and livestock production from the Clean Water Act.  Another would have taken specific waters out of the Act, including streams, prairie potholes, wet meadows and mudflats.

USDA NEWS

Ferrell Appointed Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing:  On Monday, June 15, USDA Secretary Vilsack named John Ferrell Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.  Ferrell most recently served as a majority staff member on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee under Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA).  During his eight years with the Committee, Ferrell oversaw implementation of the 2002 Farm Bill and helped develop the 2008 Farm Bill.  His priorities included improving organic research and transition assistance, providing new direct-to-consumer marketing opportunities, and strengthening livestock market competition laws, all of which were key NSAC priorities as well.

Ferrell was raised on a farm in Iowa that produced cattle, hogs, corn, and soybeans.  He received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural science and horticulture from Northwest Missouri State University and his Master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  Ferrell and Ann Wright are the two Deputy Under Secretaries for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.

APHIS GE Bioenergy Workshop:  On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Biotechnology Regulatory Services Branch of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) held a workshop on the Environmental Impacts of GE Bioenergy Crops.  The workshop included scientists from Agricultural Research Service centers around the country, academics including Alison Snow from Ohio State University, EPA staff working on agricultural issues, representatives from NGOs including NSAC staffer Martha Noble, and representatives from two biotech companies Ceres and Mendel.

The focus of the workshop was grasses and trees, including switchgrass, which the biotech industry is currently targeting to genetically engineer.  The purpose of the workshop was to give APHIS guidance on research on protocols and requirements for the introduction of GE bioenergy crops.  APHIS is preparing a summary of the workshop proceedings for release later this year.  For additional information on the workshop, contact Martha Noble at mnoble@sustainableagriculture.net.

USDA Announces Equivalency Agreement on Organics with Canada:  On Wednesday, July 17, Deputy Secretary Merrigan announced an agreement with Canada that establishes equivalency between USDA’s National Organic Program standards and the Canada Organic Product Regulation standards, which go into effect on June 30.  Under this agreement, organic-certified growers and processors in the US do not have to become certified separately under Canadian standards to sell products as organic in Canada, and the same applies to Canadian growers and processors selling in the US.  Deputy Secretary Merrigan hailed the agreement as an “important first step towards global harmonization of organic standards,” as well as an important step in expanding export markets for organic farmers and processors.

Organic Research Funds Available:  On Thursday, July 18, USDA-CSREES released the RFA for the Integrated Organic and Water Quality Program (IOWP).  IOWP combines the Organic Transitions and the National Integrated Water Quality Programs.  Approximately $2.5 million is available for projects that enhance water quality in organic systems or explore changes in water quantity and/or quality associated with organic farming.  The Program solicits research, education and extension projects of up to $220,000 per year (projects may last 1-3 years).  The application deadline is July 24.

Public Meeting on NAIS Scheduled in Omaha, NE:  The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has scheduled an additional public meeting to gather feedback on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).  The meeting will take place on June 30 in La Vista, NE.  APHIS is seeking comments on cost, impact on small farmers, privacy and confidentiality, liability, premises registration, animal identification, and animal tracing.  Additional information is provided in the Federal Register notice.  For news on the recent Missouri NAIS listening session, click here.

USDA National Farmers Market Survey:  On Thursday, June 11, the Agriculture Marketing Service published a report on the National Farmers Market Survey for 2006.  The report shows that average farmers market sales in 2005 were about $245,000, with average vendor sales of $7,108.  The report presents data from seven U.S. regions for 2005 including the number of vendors, number of customers, types of good sold and an analysis of what factors contribute to a market’s success.  The most common request market managers had was for assistance with advertising and publicity.

USDA Report on Emerging Markets for Small-Scale Producers:  On Tuesday, June 16, the Agricultural Marketing Service released Emerging Market Opportunities for Small-Scale Producers, a report based on the proceedings of a special session at the 2008 USDA Partners Meeting.  The report summarizes a panel discussion with industry insiders about how small-scale farmers can access institutional, restaurant, and retail markets, as well as an overview of the various market channels available to small-scale farmers.  The panel included Joe Fleischman, Executive Chef for Washington County Hospital in Maryland; Erik Brown, Produce Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic region of Whole Foods; and Roy Cargiulo, Sales Manager for Keany Produce, a produce distributor in the Chesapeake Bay region.

DULY NOTED

Monsanto Sues DuPont and Dupont Fights Back on Seed Patent Claims:  The two biggest players in the U.S. seed market, number one Monsanto and number two DuPont, have been locked in a legal battle for a month over patent rights.  Both companies are also major pesticide producers.  When DuPont sought to release a new soybean variety which combined resistance for a DuPont herbicide with Monsanto’s genetics for resistance to glyphosate (Round-up), Monsanto sued Dupont claiming patent infringement.

On Tuesday, Dupont counter-sued Monsanto, claiming that Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybean seed patents are invalid.  DuPont also claimed that Monsanto’s tactics in the seed market are a multi-faceted, anti-competitive scheme to unlawfully restrict competition.

Many farmers have been complaining for years that the concentration in the seed market is harmful to farmers’ interests.  It looks like one of the few remaining seed giants is also feeling the pain from Monsanto’s large hold over the seed market.  A chart on consolidation in the seed market prepared by Phil Howard, a professor at Michigan State University, is posted here.

Farming with Grass Online Book Available:  The proceedings of the “Farming with Grass Conference” held in 2008 in Oklahoma were published by the Soil and Water Conservation Society recently.  Farming with Grass: Achieving Sustainable Mixed Agricultural Landscapes is available online for a fee but contains several chapters which are free of charge.

New AMA Policy Supports Sustainable Agriculture:  On Wednesday, June 17, the American Medical Association (AMA) passed a policy resolution in support of a “healthy and ecologically sustainable food system” that produces foods of “naturally high nutritional quality.”  AMA recognizes that industrial agriculture can worsen public health by contributing to antibiotic resistance, air and water pollution, and climate change.  The resolution states that the AMA will “encourage the development of a healthier food system through the US Farm Bill and other federal legislation.”

Click to share this article:
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • del.icio.us
  • email

Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Weekly Update – June 8-12, 2009

Monday, June 15th, 2009

ACTION ALERT

Plan Now for August Recess! You don’t have to go all the way to Washington DC to meet with your Congressman, Senators or their staff. In August, your legislators will be coming to you!

During the August recess they’ll be heading for their home state or district to meet with constituents, to attend public events and generally reconnect with the locals. The House is in recess from August 3rd through September 3rd. The Senate is in recess from August 6th through September 3rd.

August recess is a great opportunity for NSAC member organizations and their farmers to meet with and get to know their members of Congress.  It’s an opportunity to educate them about your organization and our issues without the expense of a plane ticket or a DC hotel room.  In-district meetings can be just as effective as DC meetings and you’ll burn a lot less carbon in the process.

There are some pointers for planning an in-district meeting on our Take Action page.

And to be sure you are well primed for your meeting, two NSAC members — Adam Warthesen of the Land Stewardship Project and Frank James with Dakota Rural Action — will provide training on how to organize an in-district meeting at the NSAC summer meeting in Lawrence, Kansas, August 2 – 4.

LAST WEEK

House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY 10 Bill:   On Thursday, June 11, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee met to markup and vote on the agriculture appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2010.  The bill provides $22.9 billion in discretionary funds, an increase of approximately 11 percent over FY 09 levels but $79 million short of President Obama’s request.

The bulk of the increased funding in the bill goes for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and international food aid. Under the bill, the WIC program receives $7.54 billion, up $681 million or 10 percent from FY 09 but close to $240 million short of the President’s request and likely short of the funding level it will receive in the final FY 10 bill later this year. FDA receives $2.35 billion – an increase of $299 million – and this amount reaches $3 billion factoring in user fees. International food aid receives a $464 million increase to $1.7 billion, while the McGovern-Dole international school lunch program receives doubles in size to $200 million.

Since the bill has not yet been released publicly, we cannot report on how all sustainable agriculture priorities fared. Next week’s edition of the Update will include full information and an updated version of our appropriations tracking chart. We do know the following:

The Subcommittee approved the draft bill by voice vote without amendment. The full committee markup is expected to occur on Thursday, June 18.

Conferees Approve Supplemental Appropriations with Farm Loan Funds:   On Thursday, House and Senate appropriations conferees signed off on a $106 billion FY 2009 supplemental emergency appropriations measure containing critical funding for farmer loans. The bill, which has bogged down in recent weeks over disputes regarding the IMF, Guantanamo, and other controversial issues, is expected to go to the floor of the House on Tuesday with action in the Senate on Thursday.

While most of the measure provides supplemental funding to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it does contain important emergency funding for direct farm ownership and operating loans. USDA ran out of money to make loans to farmers in the last several months due to the economic and financial crisis and low prices in some segments of agriculture.  The conferees agreed on a supplemental measure that includes $360 million for direct farm ownership loans, $400 million in direct operating loans, and a little over $50 million in unsubsidized guaranteed operating loans, funding levels that NSAC and allies have been advocating for since early this year.

This is some really welcome relief. We expect USDA to quickly resume loan making, starting with the large backlog of loans already approved but awaiting funding, once the bill is signed into law.

In testimony before the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday, June 11, Farm Service Agency Administrator Doug Caruso noted that financial stress conditions together with farm bill changes have driven up demand for direct ownership loans by 132 percent, direct operating loans by 81 percent, and guaranteed operating loans by 31 percent.

Providing proof of the pay-off from years of NSAC advocacy to improve beginning farmer lending rules, Caruso’s testimony noted the beginning farmer direct loan caseload increased from 3,474 in 1995 to 18,785 in 2008. Though not in the testimony, FSA has also told us that over 800 beginning farmers have been approved for Down Payment Loans since the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill a year ago, a bill that included several NSAC-proposed improvements to the program that are now paying off. Many of those down payment borrowers are anxiously awaiting the funds from the supplemental appropriations in order to move forward with their farm purchase.

Food Safety Bill Passes Subcommittee: The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health unanimously approved a manager’s amendment to the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 at a mark-up session on June 10, 2009. The amendment, which serves as a replacement for the draft legislation, reduces the controversial yearly registration fee for all food facilities from $1,000 to $500. In addition, it includes language that takes into consideration the impact new regulations may have on small-scale and diversified farms, conservation practices, and organic production.

Some members expressed concern that the rigorous facility inspection schedule is unrealistic and that standardized electronic recordkeeping requirements will be a burden on small businesses. Representative Deal (R-GA) requested limits on FDA’s new authority to impose civil monetary penalties on food companies, especially in cases where violations are unintentional and harmless. Seven amendments were offered by the GOP, but each was withdrawn after Subcommittee Chairman Pallone (D-NJ) and Representative Dingell (D-MI) promised to work with their colleagues to assuage their concerns.

Committee Chairman Waxman (D-CA) indicated that the full committee will consider the measure on Wednesday, June 17. Several member organizations of NSAC and of the National Organic Coalition are resubmitting a proposed list of amendments to the full committee in advance of the markup.

House Agriculture Hearing on Waxman-Markey Climate Change Legislation:  On Thursday, June 11, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy & Security Act of 2009. Witnesses included USDA Secretary Vilsack and representatives from the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Corn Growers Association, National Milk Producers, The Fertilizer Institute, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and First Environment – a company that conducts greenhouse gas (GHG) offset verifications.

As reported out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month, H.R. 2454 does not include agriculture as a sector that would be required to reduce GHG emissions but does leave agriculture as sector that could provide offsets for other GHG emitters by reducing GHGs or sequestering carbon in agricultural operations. The major issue addressed at the hearing was whether EPA or USDA would determine what agriculture practices and systems could be used for offsets. Secretary Vilsack, who had previously stated that he favored USDA having full control over agriculture in climate change legislation, took the position at the hearing that responsibilities for agriculture should be shared by USDA, EPA and other agencies.

Later the same day, Energy and Commerce chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Agriculture chair Collin Peterson (D-MN) held face-to-face talks for 90 minutes that according to press reports yielded no firm agreement. Neither Peterson nor Ways and Means chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) have given a firm indication of whether their committees will mark up the bill by the June 19 deadline for committee action set by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Instead of separate mark ups, issues presented by Peterson or Rangel might be negotiated with Waxman and then included in a managers amendment on the House floor.

The congressional clock is ticking on climate change legislation, with House leaders indicating that legislation must come to the floor before the July 4th congressional recess because health care legislation will take over the agenda after the recess. On the Senate side, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has indicated that the Committee is preparing to take up climate change legislation the week of August 3, before the start of the August recess, if there is a House bill in play.

Letter to Congress on Organic Agriculture and Climate Change:  NSAC signed onto a letter to inform the debate on agriculture and climate change prepared by the National Organic Coalition. The letter was delivered on Wednesday to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House Agriculture Committee and the House Energy and Commerce committees.  The letter provides a summary of scientific studies demonstrating the benefits of conservation practices used in sustainable and organic agricultural production systems in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon. Much of the debate over agricultural offsets has focused narrowly on no-till farming, despite an increasing number of research studies questioning its soil carbon benefits.

NSAC Endorses Legislation to Limit Animal Antibiotic Use:   Last week NSAC joined a list of organizations endorsing H.R. 1549/S. 619 – the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act. The Act would preserve the effectiveness of medically important antibiotics used in the treatment of human and animal diseases by reviewing the safety of certain antibiotics used for nontherapeutic purposes in food-producing animals. Industrialized animal production uses large amounts of antibiotics for purposes such as growth promotion which leads to increased antibiotic resistance in pathogens that infect both humans and animals. If your organization would like to endorse the Act, please contact Brise Tencer of the Union of Concerned Scientists at btencer@ucsusa.org.

THIS WEEK

Two Full Committee Mark Ups Expected: On Wednesday, June 17, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will take up the food safety bill approved in Subcommittee last week. The next day, the full House Appropriations Committee is expected to mark up the FY 10 agriculture appropriations bill.

USDA NEWS

Upper Management Changes at USDA:  Homer Lee Wilkes, state conservationist in Mississippi, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the position of Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, citing personal reasons. No new nomination has been made yet by the White House. Also, there is still no news on the yet-to-be-named Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resource and Environment with responsibility for NRCS.

In another upper echelon USDA change, President Obama announced on Wednesday that he has nominated John Norris, Chief of Staff to Secretary Vilsak, as a commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  A new chief of staff will be named once the new appointment is confirmed. Norris’ wife Jackie recently switched from being Chief of Staff to the First Lady to become senior advisor for the Corporation for National and Community Service.

On Tuesday, June 9, Vilsack named Tammye Trevino the new Administrator for Housing and Community Facilities with the rural development mission area. Trevino is the CEO of FUTURO, a Texas housing and economic development non-profit. She has been on the receiving end of several USDA loan and grant programs, including the Intermediary Relending Program and Rural Business Enterprise Program. She is a native of Pearsall, Texas.

RMAP Stumbles:  We have received word that the Administration has decided not to issue a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) in FY 2009, despite the farm bill providing $4 million for the program for this year and despite the high priority placed on the program in the President’s budget request for FY 10.  The new plan appears to be to first issue an interim final rule for the program, projected to be completed by the end of calendar year 2009, with the first NOFA to follow. We are investigating this baffling story further and hopefully will have more to report soon.

Revised VAPG NOSA Soon:  In testimony for the House Subcommittee on Rural Development on Wednesday, June 10, USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager made official that the Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG) program’s Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) issued on May 6 has been withdrawn in response to concerns “raised by this Subcommittee.” The Department will reissue the NOSA as soon as it can, this time with a 90 application period, meaning that no awards will be made until October at the earliest.

NSAC had requested several critical changes to the first NOSA to bring it into compliance with the 2008 Farm Bill, particularly the provisions dealing with small and medium sized farms, local food systems, mid tier value chains, and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Similar concerns were raised by House and Senate Agriculture Committee staff.

In his testimony, Tonsager called VAPG “a very powerful, highly flexible, but yet underutilized tool” that has “proven itself to be effective, cost-efficient, and productive.”

The testimony did not make reference to the Local and Regional Food enterprise guaranteed loan program, part of the USDA Business and Industry (B&I) program that received $3 billion in additional funding in the economic recovery bill earlier this year, which translates into an additional $150 million for local food loans. In fact, the chart of recovery funding levels included in the testimony refers to the B&I funding level as “to be announced.”

NSAC Sends Recommendations on Livestock Title Regulations:  On Tuesday, June 9, NSAC delivered a letter with our recommendations on 2008 Farm Bill Livestock Title regulations to USDA Secretary Vilsack with copies to the new Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards (GIPSA) Administrator J. Dudley Butler and other USDA officials. Secretary Vilsack has affirmed that he wants USDA to promulgate regulations before the end of this year to prevent packers and processors from giving undue or unreasonable preferences to some livestock and poultry producers.  He also wants USDA to finalize in 2008 regulations that will increase protections for poultry growers in their relationship with large integrated poultry processors.

BCAP Environmental Review and NOFA: On Thursday, USDA’s Farm Service Agency issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for funding in 2009 for the portion of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) that provides payments for the collection, harvest, storage, and transportation (CHST) of material eligible under the program, including agricultural residues.

The only restriction on receiving payments for removal of residues on cropland is that removal “be consistent” with conservation plans for highly erodible land.   For pastureland and rangeland, there are no USDA-imposed safeguards for water quality, soil quality, wildlife habitat, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or any other environmental consideration. NSAC had urged USDA to provide for a limited NOFA for the entire BCAP program in 2009 but with strong conservation standards.   The first-ever NOFA for the program leaves much to be desired in terms of safeguards.

The NOFA takes effect immediately with FSA taking comments on the NOFA until August 10, 2009.

FSA is currently in the process of preparing an environmental impact assessment for an eventual regulation for BCAP which includes both the CHST and measures which provide funding for farmers and others to establish bioenergy crops and trees. The comment period on the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement for a regulation for the entire BCAP program closed on June 12. The contractor for the EIS has indicated that a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement will be available for comment in late July 2009, with the Final statement to be issued in October, 2009.  NSAC comments on the scope of the EIS are posted here.

NRCS Seeks Input on Conservation Practice Technical Assistance:  On Friday, June 12, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service announced in the Federal Register that it is seeking public input on how to improve conservation practice standards, including engineering design specifications, so that they are relevant to local agricultural, natural resource, and forestry needs, and are applicable to organic farming, specialty crops, bioenergy production, and pollinators. The comments are due on August 11, 2009. NSAC’s conservation committee will be considering responses this notice in the near future.

EPA NEWS

EPA Workshop on Lifecycle Modeling for Renewable Biofuels:  Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, EPA must assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of renewable biofuels relative to the emissions of petroleum fuels in 2005. In order to qualify for tax credits under the Act, the renewable biofuels must meet percentage reductions from the GHG level of petroleum fuels. The corn ethanol and soybean diesel industry raised a ruckus when EPA issued its proposed regulation for this assessment because corn ethanol and soy diesel performed poorly. EPA included GHGs both from indirect land conversion, including land conversion overseas, which could occur when land is converted to agriculture for food production to replace land used for biofuel production.

On Wednesday and Thursday, EPA conducted workshops with detailed presentations on the models used to determine the relative GHG emissions. This analysis also has relevance to pending federal climate change legislation.  The power point presentations from the workshop are currently posted here.

DULY NOTED

SAVE THE DATE! NSAC Workshop on State Technical Committee Workshops at July Clean Water Network Summit:  On July 20-21 in Minneapolis, NSAC will be hosting a workshop on NRCS State Technical Committees (STC) to coincide with the Clean Water Network’s Upper Mississippi River Basin Summit on July 21-22. The STC workshop will include an overview of Farm Bill conservation programs, with emphasis on how the programs can be used to protect water quality and aquatic habitat, detailed information on participation in NRCS State Technical Committees and the Local Working Group Subcommittees, and the opportunity to meet up and network with other conservation groups and sustainable agriculture groups that work for effective change for sustainable agriculture in farm bill conservation programs.  Contact Martha Noble at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, mnoble@sustainableagriculture.net, if you are interested in attending the State Technical Committee Workshop.

Sustainable Agriculture Education Conference:  Iowa State University will host the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association’s 3rd national conference, July 15-17 in Ames, Iowa. Speakers include Matt Liebman, the Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and Fred Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State.

Organic Initiative Progress Report: The first round of the special Organic Initiative under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is still in process, though for many states the sign-up period is now complete for this first ranking session. As of this past week, there have been 1,767 applications, including 837 from farmers wishing to convert to organic production and 930 from existing organic farmers wishing to expand their organic operation or improve their conservation performance. States with close to or over 100 applicants include California (163), Wisconsin (134), New York (133), Iowa (124), Washington (113), and Texas (99).

Click to share this article:
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • del.icio.us
  • email

Uncategorized | No Comments

Weekly Update – June 1-5, 2009

Monday, June 8th, 2009

GREAT NEWS!

Ann Wright Named Deputy Undersecretary: We are enormously happy and proud to report that Ann Wright, former Sustainable Agriculture Coalition advocate, was named this week by USDA Secretary Vilsack as Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP). MRP oversees the Agricultural Marketing Service, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, and Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration.

Until last week, Wright served as senior policy advisor on agriculture for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Prior to her work at SAC, Wright was a legislative assistant on agriculture for Senators Paul Simon (D-IL) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN). At SAC, Ann was the primary staff person for the Marketing and Rural Development Committee and led our efforts on such issues as farmers markets, value-added agriculture, and sustainable livestock meat label claim standards. Congratulations Ann!

LAST WEEK

Supplemental Stalls: The final meeting of the House-Senate conference committee to agree to the FY 09 supplemental appropriations war-funding bill was postponed this week when it became apparent there were not the votes in the House to pass the conference report. The supplemental carries with it important farm credit direct ownership and operating loan funds that NSAC has strongly backed.

At issue in the delay is the House head count which shows that the combination of Democratic liberals who oppose the additional war funding requested by President Obama, when added to Republicans who oppose the inclusion of a Senate provision providing $5 billion to increase the lending capacity of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is sufficient to defeat the conference bill. The way forward is not yet clear, though probably involve switching anti-war protest votes to yes. The House schedule tentatively calls on a House vote on the conference report next week.

NSAC Submits Comments on Research Roadmap: On Sunday, May 31, NSAC submitted comments on the Roadmap for Research, Education, and Extension to the new Research, Education, and Extension Office (REEO) that is tasked with setting criteria for prioritizing research at USDA. Also submitting comments were NSAC member groups: Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Organic Farming Research Foundation, and Union of Concerned Scientists/Food and Environment Program.

NSAC Joins Appeal to Block Obama Conservation Cuts: On Tuesday, June 2, a group of 50 farm, commodity, conservation, wildlife, environmental and forestry groups in a letter to House and Senate appropriators vigorously opposing the President Obama’s proposed $600 million in farm bill conservation program cuts. The letter protested the proposed cuts to the Wetlands Reserve, Environmental Quality Incentives, Wildlife Habitat Incentives, and Farmland Protection programs, as well as the proposed administrative termination of the CRP public access program. The letter was circulated by the National Association of Conservation Districts in coordination with the Izaak Walton League of America and NSAC.

Vilsack Reaffirms Commitment to Energy and Rural Development, Skimps on Conservation: On Thursday, June 5, Secretary Vilsack testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations. In his laundry list of priorities for the Department, the Secretary included the aggressive implementation of the Energy Title of the 2008 Farm Bill, a “wealth creation” approach to rural development, support for the development of local and regional food systems, a desire to reform crop insurance, a fair resolution to civil rights cases, and support for a $250,000 hard cap on all farm commodity payments.

Secretary Vilsack also listed the projects and funds that USDA has implemented and obligated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the stimulus bill), including Direct Farm Ownership loans, which NSAC worked to include in the stimulus bill. Senator Harkin (D-IA) asked how the Business and Industry loan program was coming along given the significant increase in funding it received in the stimulus bill, and the Secretary replied that the program is next in line for implementation. This delay is still disconcerting, given the $150 million in stimulus bill funds received for B&I local and regional food enterprise guaranteed loans out of a total B&I $3 billion boost.

Both Senators Reed (D-RI) and Harkin spoke about the importance of conservation programs and expressed concern at the proposed cuts to the Conservation Title and programs such as WRP, EQIP, and WHIP. Secretary Vilsack justified the cut by saying that spending levels for conservation had increased over FY 09 levels and that the budget matched USDA capacity to process the programs.

A somewhat sheepish Vilsack said, “This may not be an acceptable response to your question, but it’s the response I must give, we have overall asked for an increase in money for conservation.” He also claimed that NRCS simply does not have the capacity to deliver programs in accord with the farm bill mandatory funding levels.

In fact, the capacity to deliver the programs depends in large part on the amount of farm bill program dollars that NRCS is allowed to use for technical assistance and delivery. That sum is limited not by Congress of the farm bill, but by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. The solution is elementary – increase the percentage of total farm bill mandatory conservation title dollars apportioned to technical assistance, such that field staff capacity matches the large and growing farmer demand for the programs. With leadership from the Secretary and the President, that is very easily accomplished, and would put the money where their mouth is with respect to mitigating climate change, conserving energy, and promoting sustainability.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing on Food Safety: On Wednesday, June 3, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health held a hearing to discuss the ‘Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.’ The draft food safety legislation was prepared by full committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) along with committee members John Dingell (D-MI), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Betty Sutton (D-OH), and Diana DeGette (D-CO). Testimony from the hearing can be found here.

The opening statements provided ninety minutes of debate over the range of authorities and resources that should be afforded to Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Generally, the bill’s supporters stressed that a new robust food safety system will benefit industry by preventing outbreaks and restoring consumer confidence, while the more hesitant members expressed concerns about increased bureaucracy at FDA, burdens on industry in a struggling economy, and higher prices for consumers.

Chairman Waxman acknowledged that the proposed $1,000 registration fee in the bill is one of the most contentious issues, but reiterated that appropriations alone will not be enough to allow FDA to perform adequate food safety activities. He believes that industry should “chip in its fair share.” Addressing concerns about the presence of FDA on farms, Waxman stated that FDA will continue to work with state and local authorities with a strong on-farm presence, as it has in the past. “I am confident that farmers have nothing to fear from this bill,” he said.

First to testify was newly-appointed FDA Commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg. Hamburg called the draft a “major step in the right direction” and stated that the bill meets three key FDA criteria by (1) creating a new food safety system focused on prevention, (2) providing the legal authorities to help FDA fulfill its existing and new responsibilities, and (3) providing additional monetary resources.

Hamburg said that registration fees and recordkeeping systems are “of critical importance” to enhance food safety activities but expressed a desire to work with small businesses to ensure that new regulations aren’t too burdensome. She also made clear that neither the substantial proposed budget increases for FDA included in the Administration’s budget nor the revenue from the registration fee in the bill (expected to bring in about $375 million a year) is sufficient to achieve the food facility inspection goals established in the draft bill.

A panel of five witnesses also testified, including representatives from the Food Marketing Institute, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Tennessee Department of Health, and United Fresh Produce Association. Caroline Smith DeWaal, representing the Food Safety Coalition, called on the House to strengthen the bill by requiring food companies to report when and where pathogens are found and by increasing the frequency of inspections, especially in high-risk facilities.

Chairman Waxman indicated that the Health Subcommittee may vote on this legislation as early as next week, with the full committee to follow prior to the July 4 recess.

Proposed Food Safety Amendments: On Friday, June 5, a collaboration of 16 sustainable and organic farming and conservation groups submitted a package of proposed amendments to the farm-related portions of the Waxman bill, including the sections dealing with food safety standards for produce, traceability requirements, registration fees, and research.

Among those submitting the proposed amendments were NSAC member groups ALBA, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Ecological Farming Association, Izaak Walton League of America, Organic Farming Research Foundation, RAFI-USA, Virginia Association for Biological Farming, Union of Concerned Scientists/Food and Environment Program, and Wild Farm Alliance, as well as NSAC participating members Defenders of Wildlife, Wallace Center at Winrock International, NOFA Interstate Council, and Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

House Ag Committee Published Climate Comments: On Thursday, June 4, the House Agriculture Committee published and released online a 2,500-plus page committee print containing all of the stakeholder group submissions to the committee’s survey about climate policy and agriculture. The release of the survey results comes as the committee is working to try to put its stamp on the climate legislation moving through the House. A majority of Ag Committee members have expressed strong reservations to the bill that has already moved through the Energy and Commerce Committee. (See last week’s Weekly Update for more details).

The survey was sent to stakeholder groups in March and responses were due in April. Over 200 groups responded, including NSAC member groups Izaak Walton League of America, Land Stewardship Project, National Center for Appropriate Technology, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Virginia Association for Biological Farming.

THIS WEEK

Ag Appropriations and Food Safety Bills Moving: The FY 2010 agriculture appropriations bill will be marked up in subcommittee in the House this Thursday, June 11. We currently expect the full committee to take up the bill the following week, with House floor consideration sometime after the July 4 recess.

There is also a good chance that the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will mark up food safety legislation sometime this week, to be followed in the coming weeks by the full committee.

No parallel Senate action is scheduled at this point on either bill. We would expect Senate agriculture appropriations action in July and food safety action either in July or in the fall.

USDA NEWS

Secretary Vilsack Off and Partially Back on the Reservation: At a town hall meeting in Kentucky on Saturday, May 27, USDA Secretary Vilsack made two somewhat startling announcements. First, he stated a preference for USDA rather than EPA overseeing the proposed carbon offset program. Second, he said he agreed with House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-MN) that indirect land use change should not be included when measuring the carbon footprint of ethanol production. While both positions seemed to be at odds with White House policy, a White House spokesperson papered over any differences.

By Friday, June 5, Vilsack was pledging to work with EPA to oversee climate programs as they relate to farms, saying “I think it is important for us to focus on the fact that both agencies need to work together…I am absolutely committed to working with EPA.”

However, no public reports or statements from USDA or the White House that we have seen have as yet provided any clarify about the Administration’s position on indirect land use change since Vilsack’s comment.

Meanwhile, at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday, June 3, several members urged the Administration to back a more expansive definition of biomass with respect to the climate change bill and to the renewable fuels standard. Leading the charge were Representative Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD) and Fortenberry (R-NE). USDA Deputy Under Secretary Jay Jensen responded that the Administration’s position is still being worked out. Underlying the debate are two different definitions of the term biomass, a broader one in the 2008 Farm Bill and a narrower one in the 2007 Energy bill. Among other differences, the latter limits the use of wood from national forest lands.

GAO Finds Room for Reducing Crop Insurance Subsidies: A new GAO report analyzes USDA’s federal crop insurance program and describes opportunities for decreasing the cost of the program. The government subsidizes crop insurance to mitigate risk for insurance companies and to reduce the price of premiums for farmers. The USDA program currently links an insurance company’s administrating and operating (A&O) allowances to crop prices. Thus rising commodity prices have caused A&O receipts to outpace expenses.

GAO recommends that USDA “implement a methodology so that the A&O allowance more closely aligns with expenses,…require companies to annually report commissions to insurance agencies…and establish a standard method for assessing agencies’ reasonable costs.” Although the 2008 Farm Bill reduced A&O allowances by 2.3%, GAO says the allowances for 2009 “are still likely to be well above the levels that occurred before crop prices increased in recent years.”

USDA Research Advisory Board Seeks Nominations: On Tuesday, June 2, the National Agricultural Research Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board announced it is accepting nominations to fill 10 vacancies on the Board for a range of different categories. USDA is soliciting nominations from organizations, associations, societies, groups, councils, federations, and companies that represent a range of agricultural and food interests. The open slots include national farm organization, livestock producer, human health association, food transportation, food marketing, and social science association.

The deadline for nominations is July 17, 2009. For more information, click here.

Organic Agriculture Survey Deadline Fast Approaching: In early May, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Survey (NASS) mailed the Organic Production Survey to all known organic producers in the US. The survey seeks to collect information from 2008 on topics ranging from production and marketing to income and expenses. Both organic farmers and farmers transitioning to organic production should fill out the survey. The deadline is June 17. For more information, click here.

ERS Releases New Report on Organic Industry: On Wednesday, June 3, USDA’s Economic Research Service released a report entitled, “Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry.” The report provides an overview of trends in the organic industry and the accompanying issues, including shortfalls in supply, production costs, and competing labels. The report also discusses changes in policies for organic agriculture with the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill.

USDA Appointment Countdown Continues: We continue to update a document on our website with a complete listing of political appointments made to date at USDA. Among the slots still as yet unnamed are:

EPA NEWS

EPA Administrator Names New Agriculture Advisor: On Monday, June 1, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the appointment of Larry Elworth as her Agricultural Counselor. He previously served as Executive Director of the Center for Agricultural Partnerships, a nonprofit organization that works with farmers on developing environmentally sound and economically profitable practices. The Center has focused on increasing participation among farmers who have not previously participated in federal programs, particularly specialty crop producers. The Center also works in partnership with EPA’s Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program and Elworth served on EPA’s Pesticide Policy Dialogue Committee, a federal advisory committee that provides guidance to the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs.

Elworth served as special assistant for pesticide policy for the USDA Secretary from 1993 to 1996 and as liaison to the Domestic Policy Council in the White House. In addition, he has 15 years experience with integrated pest management measures on his own fruit growing operation. NSAC staff has worked with him often over the years, especially during his earlier stint at USDA.

DULY NOTED

NSAC Participates in CAFO Hill Briefing: On Tuesday, June 2, NSAC staffer Martha Noble joined Dr. Keeve Nachman, Science Director for Food Production, Health and Environment at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University and Eric Schaffer, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project, at a well-attended briefing for congressional staff on CAFO issues.

The briefing was the first in a series of Clean Water Network briefings – America’s Water Crisis – focusing on critical water pollution issues. A number of congressional staffers attended, as well as people from communities harmed by CAFO water and air pollution. The Clean Water Network plans to take this show on the road with the CAFO presentations at Mississippi River Basin Summits scheduled for July 20-22 in Minneapolis and October in New Orleans. For more information on these Mississippi River Basin Summits, contact Martha Noble at mnoble@sustainableagriculture.net.

Agriculture Census Data Available at Watershed Scale: On Friday, May 29, the National Agricultural Statistics Service announced that Census of Agriculture results have been published at the watershed scale. Information is available for each of the 376 water basins and for all 20 major water sources in the US.

Home Run Healthy Diet: For a look at newly slimmed-down Phillies’ slugger Ryan Howard talking with White House Chef Sam Kass while touring the new White House garden and talking about his new diet of healthy organic food, check out this White House video.

Click to share this article:
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • del.icio.us
  • email

Uncategorized | No Comments

Weekly Update – May 26-29, 2009

Monday, June 1st, 2009

ACTION ALERT

Organic Initiative Sign-Up Extended in Some States:  The Natural Resources Conservation Service has given States the option to extend their sign-up period for Organic Initiative funds beyond the initial deadline of May 29th.  NSAC has posted a new alert for producers on state extensions.
The Organic Initiative is a special $50 million pool of funding under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  The Initiative will provide payments and technical assistance to transitioning and existing organic farmers who adopt NRCS conservation practices used in organic production systems.  Sign up began on May 11th.
The best way to find out if your State has extended is to call your state office.  To find contact information for your state office click on this link.

If your State has not extended, ask them to consider doing so.   The National NRCS office has issued this list of States that have extended their deadline including AK, CO, DE, FL, IN, KY,  LA, ME, MD, MN, NE, NV, OH, OR, SD, VA, and WI.   We have also had reports that PA, HI, MT, SC and NC have extended.   Again, the best way to find out for sure if your state has extended is to call your State office.

THIS WEEK

100 Days, 100 Projects and One Big Missed Opportunity:  On Wednesday, President Obama announced that in the 100 days since signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (also known as the stimulus bill) into law more than 150,000 jobs have been created or saved by the $112 billion in Recovery Act funds that have been obligated.   The White House announcement highlighted 100 specific funded projects.  The next day USDA Secretary Vilsack announced almost $143 million in water and environmental projects funded with stimulus dollars.

NSAC is disappointed that at the same time these announcements are being made nowhere on the www.recovery.gov, www.usda.gov, or www.rurdev.usda.gov websites is there any mention of the $250 million in guaranteed loans available ($125 million from the stimulus bill and the rest from regular appropriations) to develop local and regional food system enterprises set aside within the $3 billion in  Recovery Act funding provided to the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program.  This $250 million could kick start local food business development boosting farm income, creating jobs, reinvigorating local infrastructure, providing better food for consumers, and cutting transportation-based pollution.  Furthermore, the local food system funds roll back into the general B&I loan fund if not applied for, so promotion and outreach by USDA is critical right now, without further delay.

Letter to Vilsack about Office of Advocacy and Outreach:  On Thursday, May 28, the Rural Coalition delivered a letter to Secretary Vilsack on behalf of NSAC and its members and the members of the Farm and Food Policy Project’s Diversity Initiative, urging him to move swiftly to establish the new Office of Advocacy Outreach, which NSAC and the Diversity Initiative were directly involved with developing in the 2008 Farm Bill.  The Office of Advocacy and Outreach would provide policy and program oversight, coordination and development to benefit small farmers, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and farmworkers.  We will report on the response to this letter in these pages in coming weeks, hopefully with the good news that the office is being put in place consistent with our recommendations.

Obama Responds to Governors’ Biofuels Letter:  On Wednesday, May 27, President Obama responded to a letter sent by the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition in February citing their concerns about the corn ethanol market. The Coalition’s letter was signed by 35 governors and laid out an agenda to increase the use of corn ethanol.  It called for President Obama to create an interagency task force with USDA, EPA and the Department of Energy to resolve the debate over lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels; to immediately approve the marketing of E13 gasoline (13% ethanol blended with gasoline); to increase production and marketing of flex fuel vehicles engineered to run on E85 fuel blends; and to explore “new policy options to improve sustainability” of corn ethanol and advanced biofuel production.

President Obama’s letter in response noted that his Presidential Directive on Biofuels, issued May 5, established the Interagency Task Force and charged it with developing policies to increase flexible fuel vehicle production and assist in retail marketing efforts while also taking into consideration land use, habitat conservation, crop management practices, water efficiency and water quality, and lifecycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions.  His letter added general support for corn ethanol by stating, “My administration is committed to moving as quickly as possible to commercialize an array of emerging cellulosic technologies so that tomorrow’s biofuels will be produced from sustainable biomass feedstocks and waste materials rather than corn.  But this transition will be successful only if the first-generation biofuels industry remains viable in the near term.”  He did not, however, commit to immediately approving E13 blended gasoline or mention that EPA is currently considering a petition to raise the blend available in the market to E15.

Waxman Food Safety Bill Introduced:  On Wednesday, May 27, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (CA-30) released a discussion draft of his food safety bill, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.  The bill is largely based on provisions in H.R. 259, the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009, introduced by Representative Dingell earlier this year.  House Energy and Commerce Committee staff has said they plan to mark up the Waxman food safety bill and report it out of Committee during the month of June and prior to the July 4 congressional recess.

USDA NEWS

NRCS Announces Meetings to Gather Public Input on Conservation Evaluation and Direction:  On Thursday, May 28, the Natural Resources Conservation Service announced in the Federal Register that it will hold public meetings to gather stakeholder input on as it puts together the 2011 iteration of a strategic assessment and planning process through the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act (RCA).  The RCA was scheduled to expire last year, but NSAC led the charge to have the RCA process extended and strengthened in the 2008 Farm Bill.  The program has now been extended through at least 2018.  The periodic RCA reports are intended to help drive national farm conservation policies and program directions.  USDA is seeking public comments on conservation priorities, program approaches, future conservation needs, and opportunities to improve the appraisal process.

The meetings will be held in Bismarck, ND and Albuquerque, NM on June 15 and in Solomons, MD on July 27.  For more details on the meetings, see the Federal Register notice.

Rural Energy for America Program Grants and Loans:  On Tuesday, May 26, USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service issued the Notice of Solicitations of Applications for Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants and loans.  Completed applications must be received by July 31, 2009 at the appropriate state USDA Rural Development office.  REAP is designed to assist farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses that are able to demonstrate financial need with renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements.  Farmers and ranchers who gain 50% or more of their gross income from the agricultural operations are eligible.  Small businesses that are located in a rural area can also apply, as well as rural electric cooperatives.

The 2008 Farm Bill also provides for a new grant category for feasibility studies.  Twenty percent of REAP funding is set aside for grants of $20,000 or less.  USDA will also add 10 points to the application score for these projects.  In addition, small agricultural producers and very small rural businesses receive extra points in the application ranking process.

Maximum grant awards and loan guarantees are:

Note also that the Rural Development agency has posted on its website a chart comparing the Business & Industry Guaranteed Loan Program with REAP to allow applicants to determine which program is most appropriate for their project.  NSAC also recommends that you check out the Environmental Law and Policy’s Farm Energy webpage, a good source of information on USDA’s energy programs.

ERS Releases Data Set with Organic Prices:  On Thursday, May 28, the Economic Research Service released a data set that provides farmgate and wholesale prices for certain organic and conventional fruits and vegetables, wholesale prices of organic and conventional eggs and broilers, and f.o.b. and spot prices for organic grain and feedstuffs.

Canales Appointed as RBCS Head:  On Wednesday, May 27, Secretary Vilsack named Judith Canales Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Service, one of the three major rural development agencies.  Most recently the Executive Director of the Maverick County Development Corporation in Eagle Pass, TX, Canales was Deputy State Director for Texas Rural Development and later Acting Associate Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Services in DC during the Clinton Administration.  Canales has served as the Legislative Representative for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Executive Director of the International Hispanic Network.

Also on Wednesday the 27th, the Secretary named Dr. Alma Cobb Hobbs and Robin Heard as deputy assistant secretaries for Administration under Assistant Secretary Pearlie Reed.  Hobbs is Dean of Agriculture at Virginia State University and has previously served as special assistant for diversity and outreach in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and also as a deputy administrator with the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.  Heard most recently has served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, but began her USDA career with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Some Big USDA Slots Still Remain to be Announced:  Please note that we continue to update a our website with a complete listing of political appointments made to date at USDA.  The number of remaining top slots is rapidly closing, with the biggest remaining unfilled positions including:

Rural Development Common Platform Delayed, Again:  The effective date of the implementation of what NSAC deems to be a defective unified guaranteed loan platform has been pushed back, again, until October 1, 2009.  The notice appeared in the Federal Register on Friday, May 29.The effective date of the interim rule, first published on December 17, 2008, has now been delayed three times.  The stated reasons for the delay now are pressures caused by processing of the stimulus package, additional time to train staff and lenders, and more time to consider comments received on the implementation.  While there is not direct reference to actually changing the rule, we understand that Rural Development is taking a hard look at major revisions.

USDA Seminar on Sustainability at Land-Grant Universities:  On Wednesday, May 27, 2009, USDA’s Council for Sustainable Development and Science for Sustainability at CSREES presented a seminar on “Applied Sustainability & Life Cycle Analysis.”  Leaders from land-grant universities discussed the place of sustainability in their institutions’ programming, and ways they are advising commercial interests like Wal-Mart to incorporate principles and methodologies of sustainability into their decisions and plans.

Mark Cochran, Associate Vice President for Agriculture Research for the University of Arkansas discussed what he sees as the importance of corporate initiatives for the codification and adoption of sustainability metrics in the commercial and agricultural sectors of the global economy.  He cited as examples The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, Leonardo Academy’s efforts to create a Sustainable Agriculture Practice Standard, the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops, and Wal-Mart’s policies on conservation and sustainability in the products it chooses to sell at its stores.  Cochran described universities as having a supporting role in formulating metrics, evaluating best practices, and developing links to big retailers for local producers.

Molly Jahn, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2006, gave a general overview of the place of sustainability in the mission of land-grant universities.  She emphasized that issues of sustainability are being taken up by many programs throughout the College and sister institutions in the UW system, but did not offer a clear direction for further development, and said that UW has been “slow to formalize sustainability.”

Marty Matlock, Director of the University of Arkansas’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability, and Jonathan Johnson, Executive Director of the Applied Sustainability Center in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, discussed the conceptual simplicity, and extreme complexity in practice, of Life Cycle Analysis for assessing externalities created by the enormous array of business decisions made by large retailers.  Johnson was quick to admit the “audacity” of Wal-Mart’s interest in developing a simple metric to gauge the social impacts of its business decisions, yet seemed to regard it as a worthy ideal.

Johnson portrayed Wal-Mart’s notion of sustainability as comprising economic, social, and environmental considerations.  An audience member asked an insightful question:  Had Wal-Mart’s willingness to consider its own environmental and social impacts led them to re-define in any way their definition of, or relationship to, profit?  Johnson was clear that the business’s initiatives in environmental and social sustainability have only one aim:  improving long-term efficiency so as to increase company profits.

John Shutske, an extension officer at the University of Wisconsin, suggested that open source databases might provide a useful medium for the development of sustainability standards, since the transparency of such databases offers the public a window into the process through which standards are developed, not simply a “black-box result.”

DULY NOTED

EWG Issues Report on EQIP in the Mississippi River Border States:  The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released a new report entitled Seizing a Watershed Moment: Making EQIP Work for Water Quality in 10 Mississippi River Border States.  The report examines the effectiveness of EQIP in reducing sediment and nutrient pollution in each of the 10 states, with useful information about EQIP in each of the states.
The report makes several major recommendations:

The report does not mention the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative, the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program, or Conservation Innovation Grants, all of which utilize EQIP funding to promote multi-farmer projects.  It is not clear if the 60 percent recommendation is inclusive or exclusive of those special project-based programs, or whether having such a large percent of the total program project-based would require new entities on the ground to organize and administer the projects.  It is also not clear if following the EWG recommendations would lead more states to focus more funding on the biggest polluters or riskiest operations or not, though that could be one interpretation.

NSAC has recommended to USDA that EQIP use a similar process to the Conservation Stewardship Program in having each watershed in each state designate priority resource concerns that then become the focus of the program in that location.

Click to share this article:
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • del.icio.us
  • email

Uncategorized | No Comments

Subscribe to RSS