Archives for October, 2009
Weekly Update – October 26, 2009
Monday, October 26th, 2009
TAKE ACTION
Time Running Out to Comment on the Conservation Stewardship Program!!
Time is running out for sustainable and organic farming advocates to submit comments to shape the implementation of the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Nation’s first and only green payments program. In particular, USDA needs to get a loud and clear message that resource-conserving crop rotations, management-intensive rotational grazing and organic crop and livestock systems should receive high ranking and payment points under the CSP. These systems deliver multiple environmental benefits and should earn high rewards. You have until Wednesday October 28th to submit your comment. Additional talking points and an alert for circulation can be found here.
LAST WEEK
HELP on Food Safety: The full Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee had its first food safety hearing on Thursday, October 22. The anticipated focus of pending Senate action will be the Food Safety Modernization Act (S 510) introduced by Senator Durbin (D-IL) and cosponsored by HELP Committee members Gregg (R-NH), Dodd (D-CT), Burr (R-NC), and Isakson (R-GA). HELP Chairman Harkin (D-IA) began the hearing by recognizing Senator Durbin’s long commitment to the issue of food safety and pledging to move the bill as quickly as possible, saying as the hearing ended that he hoped to have a bill on the President’s desk by the end of the year. Most observers think the end of the year goal is unlikely, though not completely outside the realm of possibility.
We noted in last week’s edition of the Weekly Update that Russell Libby, executive director of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners, would be testifying at the hearing on behalf of NSAC and small and mid-size farm interests. However, shortly after we went to press, we found out the Libby had been uninvited, the casualty evidently of a veto by Senator Enzi (R-WY), the committee’s ranking minority member. As a result, the committee sadly heard only from the agency, from industry, and from consumers.
Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in her first appearance before the Committee, outlined the Administration’s three priorities for improving the Nation’s food safety: concentrating on prevention, strengthening surveillance and enforcement, and improving response and recovery. She noted that FDA would like increased legislative authority to achieve the goals including “enhanced ability to use resources flexibly to target food at the highest risk.”
Hamburg was critical of S 510 in several respects. The Administration wants the bill changed to provide FDA explicit authority to access food records during routine inspections as is the case for FDA drug inspections and USDA meat inspections.
She and the Administration also support a user fee to help pay for the additional inspections that would result from implementation of the bill. Unlike the House-passed bill, S 510 does not include fees but would rather pay for the bill entirely by congressional appropriations; the House bill by contrast is three-quarters paid for by appropriations and one-quarter by the fee. The House bill’s $500 flat tax per facility is opposed by NSAC as regressive placing an undo burden on small scale family farms and not properly reflecting the costs of inspecting large farms and complex processing facilites.
Hamburg noted that she and FDA food safety adviser Michael Taylor have been visiting farms in different states around the country and “are learning more in the field about the concerns of farmers big and small.”
There was a confusing discussion about farmers who direct market their product being exempted from regulation. Under current regulations, farmers who engage in any on-farm processing, even very minimal processing, are “facilities” which are then regulated by FDA. However, if more than 50% of the processed product is sold directly to consumers, then the entire farm is exempt from regulation. Under questioning, Hamburg indicated that farmers selling directly intrastate are exempt but not interstate. That distinction does not appear in FDA regulation, nor in the House-passed bill which intends to codify current FDA regulations on this point. NSAC hopes the agency will issue a clarification of the confusing statement.
Senator Merkley (D-OR) asked whether the bill’s provisions would be prejudicial to small and organic farms getting different directions from different agencies. Dr. Hamburg recognized that this was an important concern and maintained the unique needs and circumstances of the diverse agricultural community could be achieved through the bill.
Thomas Stenzel, President of United Fresh Produce Association, spoke in favor of commodity-specific standards that would be consistent across the country and on farms of all sizes and production methods, explicitly rejecting the argument that smaller farms or organic operations should be treated differently. He did, however, support reduced fees for less affluent farmers. NSAC will continue fighting for alternatives that work for small and mid-sized family farms and that are consistent with sustainable and organic farming systems.
Rural Development Hearing: On Wednesday, October 21, Judy Canales, Administrator of USDA’s Rural Development Business and Cooperative Programs, reported to the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development that significant progress is being made in moving American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds out to rural communities and that those funds are preserving and creating jobs.
Canales pointed to an announcement made by the USDA earlier that day that 20 projects had been approved for $71.7 million in Business and Industry (B&I) loan guarantees.
When asked by Rep. Conaway (R-TX) how many of those loans were for local and regional food system development projects, Canales did not know the answer. NSAC worked on a successful 2008 Farm Bill provision to have 5% of the B & I guarantees reserved for regional food system businesses and the program has been one of tools Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan has showcased as part of the Department’s Know Your Farmer Know Your Food effort.
Canales announced that permanent regulations for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) should be published in January 2010 and will be issued in tandem with the Notice of Funds Available (NOFA). Proposed rules for RMAP were issued on October 7, 2009 and have a 45 day comment period. Canales explained that the quick turnaround time on the rules, comments, and NOFA was a result of a new “good and aggressive relationship with [the Office of Management and Budget].”
Committee members were interested in hearing about how the USDA is making its programs more accessible in this time of economic downturn, asking particularly whether the Agency was easing restrictions on matching funds required for most grants and whether it was considering simplified forms. Canales pledged to “be creative” to make sure their funds are doing all they can to stimulate rural economies.
Loan Suspension Petition Delivered to USDA: On Tuesday, October 20, the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment delivered a letter with over 25,000 signatures to USDA Secretary Vilsack calling for a suspension of Farm Service Agency direct and guaranteed loans to new or expanding specialized hog and poultry facilities. A CFFE press release with a weblink to the petition letter and its cover letter are posted on the Land Stewardship Project website.
CFFE based its request on the reasoning that FSA direct and guaranteed loans, which amounted to an estimated $264 million for FY2008 and FY2009, contribute to an increase in hog and poultry production in the face of severely depressed prices for hog and poultry growers.
North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Conference: On Thursday, October 23, the Chair of the Native Pollinators in Agriculture Project, Rudy Rice, spoke at the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Conference in Washington, DC. Rice has been a conservationist and grain farmer for over three decades, and has recently become a spokesperson about the importance of native pollinators. Rice’s presentation focused on the honey bee, the most commonly used pollinator, which is in sharp decline. In an effort to reverse this trend, the Native Pollinators in Agriculture Project has formed the Agricultural Pollination Alliance. Rice urged everyone to learn more about the Alliance, and to integrate native pollinator habitat into their farmland. For more information, please see the website at www.agpollinators.org
THIS WEEK
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Climate Change Hearing: This week, October 27, 28, and 29, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold its first set of hearings to review provisions of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733). The roster of panelists for each hearing is here. The bill is companion legislation to H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which passed the House of Representatives in June.
The hearings are the first of several expected in Senate committees to review Climate legislation. A total of five Senate Committees will be contributing to the final version of a Senate climate change bill. Senator Deborah Stabenow (D-MI) is the lead for drafting the Senate Agriculture Committee’s contribution to the bill, which focuses on agricultural activities that could be eligible as offsets in a cap-and-trade program. So far, only Senator Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, has announced that mark up of a climate change bill will happen this year.
USDA NEWS
Conservation Stewardship Program Sign-Up News: The 21,000 farmers and ranchers who applied to participate in the 2009 version of the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) now have until November 15 to complete the Conservation Measurement Tool (CMT) that will be used to determined eligibility, ranking, and payments for the new CSP. Once all the CMTs are complete, there will be a more refined number available for how many acres are applying to the program for the 2009 year. Currently, USDA estimates the number at 33 million acres.
Sadly, the 2009 version of CSP will retain some flaws that NSAC has asked be corrected. Last week, NRCS indicated the changes could not be made in time to take effect for 2009 enrollments. Hopefully the necessary corrections will be made in time for the 2010 sign-up. In the meantime, however, ranking and payment point values remain low for newly adopted management intensive rotational grazing and for existing resource-conserving crop rotations. Moreover, USDA is allowing rotations to count for special CSP supplemental payments if they are comprised solely of three crops eligible for federal commodity subsidies, or two crop eligible for federal commodity subsidies provided there is one winter cover crop in one year. NSAC continues to argue for a minimum requirement of at least one perennial in the rotation to be eligible for the bonus payments.
Also this past week, NRCS placed some new documents on their website that help explain the CSP ranking and payment process. In addition to a short and longer document explaining the scoring process, the new post also includes revised versions of the spreadsheets with all the scores for all the existing conservation baseline questions and the new conservation enhancement and regular conservation practice choices. Also, as we previously reported, the NRCS CSP website also now includes a special document to guide organic farmers or those transitioning to organic to enhancments and practices that are of particular relevance to the organic system plan required for organic certification.
Rural Development Funds Out the Door: On Wednesday, October 21, USDA announced it has guaranteed almost $72 million in loans for business projects in rural America through the agency’s Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program. Rural Development received $1.7 billion in stimulus funds that supplements the $1 billion appropriated for the program for 2010. The Agency is accepting applications for these guarantees through September 30, 2010 and will announce awards in batches every several months. Five percent of the funds are reserved until April, 2010 for local and regional food system enterprises.
Speak Up About Interstate Meat Shipment: USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service will hold two national public meetings for comments on the proposed rules for the interstate shipment of state-inspected meat. The meetings will be held on October 27 and November 5 and will be in a teleconference format. Participants must register in advance and should indicate that they would like to make a comment on the registration form. Written comments are due by November 16.
DULY NOTED
Jacob Cowgill Hired as Tester’s Ag Liaison: Last week, Senator John Tester (D-MT) announced that Jacob Cowgill, a Montana farmer and former board member of the Alternative Energy Resources Organization (AERO), a NSAC member organization, will be his new full-time agriculture liaison in the state of Montana. In the announcement Tester stated “I’m pleased Jacob is on board to help serve fellow Montanans who make their living off the land. Jacob knows ag issues inside and out, and he’s ready to work hard to expand opportunities for farmers and ranchers.” Congratulations, Jacob!
Weekly Update – October 19
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
TAKE ACTION
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is seeking comments on the administrative rules that will govern implementation of the Conservation Stewardship Program. The deadline for submitting comments has been extended to October 28th.
NSAC analysis and talking points for writing your comments are available here.
You can submit your comment online here.
Special Announcement – New NSAC Policy Brief on Food Safety!
NSAC’s Food Safety on the Farm: Policy Brief and Recommendations is now available! The brief examines some of the current legislative food safety proposals that have been introduced in the 111th Congress, as well as administrative developments within the Obama Administration, the FDA, and the USDA. The paper concludes with NSAC’s policy recommendations grounded in the experience and interest of small and mid-sized family farmers.
LAST WEEK
National SARE Meeting: Last Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Operations Committee of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program met in Washington, DC, to discuss regional activities and updates, outreach, and budget. The Committee discussed at length new strategies for growth, as well as how to respond to the changing research climate at USDA.
Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan made a guest appearance at the meeting, during which she discussed her history with and hopes for the program, and described USDA’s new ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ Initiatve. NIFA Director Roger Beachy also attended part of the meeting, and outlined his priorities for research and sought feedback on the role of SARE and sustainable agriculture at the new agency. NSAC Research, Education, and Extension committee chair, Brise Tencer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, attended the meeting, as did NSAC staff Ferd Hoefner and Ariane Lotti.
NSAC Submits Comments on the Beginning Farmer Program: On Friday, October 16, NSAC submitted comments to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) (formerly called the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service – CSREES) on the 2009 Request for Applications for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
NSAC was a key advocate in helping to create the BFRDP program in 2002 and then secure $75 million in mandatory funding for the program over the next five years in the 2008 Farm Bill. BFRDP provides competitive grants to community-based organizations, non-profits, universities, and local and federal governments that provide training, mentoring, land-link, and other forms of support for beginning farmers and ranchers.
For more information about the program, visit the NSAC Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill or the new NIFA BFRDP website here.
NSAC Submits Credit Rule Comments: NSAC submitted public comments on the Farm Service Agency on the proposed rulemaking with respect to farm credit. The comments emphasized the need to implement strong credit graduation features and to urge Congress to then overturn existing term limits that are preventing otherwise qualified farmers from receiving needed loans.
Hearing Set for Boxer-Kerry Climate Change Legislation: Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has announced that the Committee will start a 3-day hearing on the Boxer-Kerry climate change bill (S.1733) on October 27. The first witnesses will be administrative agency and cabinet heads including Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff. Other witnesses have not yet been announced.
Senator Boxer indicated that she would like to have her Committee began markup on the bill early in November. Other Senate committees, notably the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, are also working on parts of climate change legislation relevant to their Committees. Senator Lincoln, chair of Agriculture, has not yet set dates for agriculture hearings. Senator Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Finance Committee, has said that his Committee will address the issues of international trade and emission allowance allocations, but has also not announced hearing dates. The process and timetable for how a final bill will be marked up and melded together has not yet been announced by Senate leadership.
THIS WEEK
NSAC Delivers Petition on Beginning Farmers to USDA: On Monday, October 19, NSAC delivered a letter signed by 80 grassroots organizations and 7,500 individuals urging Secretary Vilsack and the USDA to move forward with swift implementation of the Conservation Reserve Program Transition Option. The Transition Option is a new provision that NSAC and others helped to secure in the 2008 Farm Bill. It provides incentives for CRP landowners who do not extend their CRP contracts or re-enroll in CRP to transfer the land to beginning or minority farmers and ranchers who will use sustainable and organic grazing, cropping, and mixed cropping-grazing systems.
Rather than implement the Transition Option immediately, however, the Farm Service Agency of USDA is holding up its implementation while it conducts a multi-year supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) to review policies options concerning land enrolled in the CRP. While the SEIS is relevant for land that remains in the CRP, the Transition Option is only for land that is leaving the CRP, making it inappropriate to include in the SEIS.
To read the final letter submitted to Secretary Vilsack click here.
NSAC to Testify at Senate HELP Food Safety Hearing: The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold its hearing on pending food safety legislation, over which it holds jurisdiction, on Thursday, October 22 at 10 AM eastern. Russell Libby, Executive Director of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, will be tesifying to present the views of sustainable and organic agriculture and small and mid-sized farms. Libby will be jointed by witnesses from FDA, Grocery Manufacturers Association, United Fresh Produce Association, and Center for Science in the Public Interest. You can listen to the hearing from this page on the committee website.
USDA NEWS
Dr. Molly Jahn New REE Deputy Undersecretary: On Monday, October 12, the University of Wisconsin-Madision announced that Dr. Molly Jahn, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) at the University, will be serving as USDA’s Deputy Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics beginning November 9. Jahn plans to serve a one-year term and will oversee three of the four research agencies at USDA — the Economic Research Service, the Agricultural Research Sevice, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Before serving as Dean of CALS, Jahn was a professor of plant breeding and genomics and plant biology at Cornell University. She also directed the Public Seed Initiative and the Organic Seed Partnership to promote genetic diversity and improve use of public plant varities. Historical tidbit: Dr. Jahn’s gave one of her very first public speeches as Dean at a 2006 SAC meeting!
Specialty Crop Block Grants Announced: On Thursday, October 15, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the award of $49 million dollars to fund 745 projects through the Specialty Crop Block Grant program, a program designed to increase the competitiveness of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops. Merrigan noted that some of the state-selected projects would increase the competitiveness of small farms and producers, support local agricultural interests, and create more opportunities for farmers to market directly to consumers.
Among the recipients are NSAC members Dakota Rural Action, the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), Georgia Organics, Illinois Stewardship Allliance, Kansas Rural Center, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the Alternative Energy Resources Organization, Kerr Center, and Fay-Penn Economic Development Council. If we have possibly missed you, or you have additional information about block grant awards important to sustainable agriculture, please contact Lucy Evans at levans@sustainableagriculture.net. A summary of all of the recipients is here.
For more information about the SCBG program, visit the USDA website or the NSAC Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NEWS
Department of Justice Approves JBS Acquisition of Pilgrim’s Pride Poultry: Though the Department of Justice recently announced that it will hold listening sessions on the concentration of the livestock and poultry processing sector and its impact on farmers and consumers in 2010, in the meantime, it looks like business as usual. On Wednesday, October 14, after less than a month’s investigation, the Department announced that it does not object to the acquisition of the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry processing firm by JBS, which is already the world’s largest beef processor and the No. 3 hog processor in the U.S. With the acquisition of Pilgrim’s Pride, JBS will also hold about 23 percent of the poultry processing capacity in the U.S.
Pilgrim’s Pride is undergoing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy workout in a North Texas District Court. Last year the company netted $8.5 billion. Under the JBS deal, JBS will pay $800 million for a majority stake and will pay off Pilgrim’s Pride creditors in full. Remaining shareholders will get new stock worth about $450 million.
There are some losers in the deal. During the Chapter 11 proceedings, the court allowed Pilgrim’s Pride to cancel contracts with some 300 poultry growers in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Florida and the company also shuttered a number of processing plants. JBS has not yet announced which plants, if any, it will reopen. In addition, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the United Steelworkers International Union, and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union had reportedly agreed to eliminate pension plans, change overtime rules and standardize paid holidays in order to save Pilgrim’s Pride about $23.4 million a year
DULY NOTED
Red Ink: On Friday, October 16, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report estimating the size of the deficit and debt if Congress stays on its current course with respect to big ticket items in the budget. On the same day, the White House Office of Management and Budget announced that the deficit for FY 2009 is now estimated at $1.4 trillion, or nearly 10 percent of GDP. The GAO found that without course corrections on entitlements, taxes, war, and health care, within ten years the national debt will exceed 109 percent of GDP, the current all-time high achieved at the conclusion of World War II.
Weekly Update – October 12, 2009
Monday, October 12th, 2009
TAKE ACTION
CRP Transition Option Sign On Ends October 13th!
Last Chance to add your organization’s name to our sign on letter urging USDA to implement the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Transition Option NOW.
The option will offer incentives to land owners not intending to renew their CRP contracts to sell or lease the land to beginning or minority farmers using sustainable or organic farming practices. To sign on, just send an email to Annette@sustainableagriculture.net by Tuesday of this week.
NSAC has also launched a petition for individuals to sign. Please sign on to the letter and circulate this petition.
The option has been swept up in a CRP program wide Environmental Impact Review expected to take at least two years. 4.3 million acres are expected to come out of the CRP program over the next two years. That’s 4.3 million missed opportunities to put the land under wildlife-friendly sustainable or organic production and to provide economic opportunity and entry to beginning and minority farmers.
The Des Moines Register ran an article on the issue on Sunday, October 11.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is seeking comments on the administrative rules that will govern implementation of the Conservation Stewardship Program. The deadline for submitting comments has been extended to October 28th. NSAC analysis and talking points for writing your comments are available here. You can submit your comment online here.
LAST WEEK
FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill Passes: This week the Agriculture Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2010 was passed by the Senate (76-22) and the House (263-162). For the bill’s full text, click here. For an analysis of how sustainable agriculture appropriations priorities fared, read last week’s Weekly Update and NSAC’s final appropriations chart.
House Ag Subcommittee Holds Conservation Hearing: On Wednesday, October 7, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research held a hearing on implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill’s Conservation Title programs. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Dave White and Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Jonathan Coppess were the only witnesses. Their statements are available here.
The two issues of greatest concern at the hearing were Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding and the prospects for a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up in 2010. In addition, Chair Tim Holden (D-PA) asked about the Conservation Stewardship Program sign-up to which Chief White replied that over 21,000 applications were received covering about 33 million acres during the first sign-up which ended on September 30. Chief White also noted that the next CSP ranking and sign-up would likely occur in January 2009.
Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) stated at length his objection to the new Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative announced by NRCS on September 23. Goodlatte objected because, unlike the Chesapeake Bay watershed program that benefits farmers in his district, the new Initiative was not specifically authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. He also objected to the Mississippi Initiative funding through the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative because the funding was in addition to the minimum level specified in the Farm Bill.
Larry Kissell (D-NC) and Bobby Bright (D-AL) expressed concern about the concentration of the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program in the West, with awards for 15 out of 63 projects going to California.
Representative Jerry Moran (R-K) questioned FSA Administrator Coppess at length about the CRP environmental impact review which will likely delay a CRP general sign-up until 2011. Coppess responded that FSA could extend expiring contracts and conduct signups for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and the continuous CRP without having to complete the environmental review. However, the 2008 Farm Bill changes to the CRP are on hold and there will be no general sign-up for the CRP in 2009 or 2010.
Innovations in Child Nutrition Act?: On Thursday, October 8, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities held a hearing on innovations that are improving the way the national school breakfast and lunch programs work. Witness testimony and questions and comments by Representatives focused on how to make the meals better so that children will actually eat and be nourished by them and how to use meals as a catalyst for effective, participatory nutrition education that could affect how whole families eat. The testimony is available here.
The two recurring themes from the witnesses were the importance of breakfast and increasing fresh fruits and vegetables in the school meals. Westbury, NY and Baltimore, MD saw school breakfast participation surge after they introduced new healthy menus and a boxed breakfast that can be eaten in the classroom. Subcommittee Chairwoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), a nurse, emphasized the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables several times in her opening statement and subsequent witnesses reinforced the message. Deborah Yargar-Reed of Biglerville Elementary School in Ranking Minority Member Rep. Platts’ district in southern PA talked about school and family nutrition events the school sponsors, including a fall apple festival with all locally grown apples.
The star witnesses were undoubtedly Baltimore City School Food Service Director Tony Geraci and Alice Sheehan, a Baltimore City Public School 8th grader and member of her school’s lunch committee. Ms. Sheehan summed up the wisdom of many. “Everybody deserves to have fresh, tasty and yummy food. If possible, why not make it local food? Why buy apples from Washington State when you can get them right here in Maryland at a cheaper price? We should think about our meals not as nutritional packages, but as food that people like and want to eat, with fresh ingredients and tasting like it should.” The audience in the staid Rayburn Building hearing room gave Ms. Sheehan a round of applause when she finished her testimony. The Baltimore City schools now source all of the fresh produce used locally, according to Mr. Geraci.
Locally-sourced food also got resounding support from Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) who pointed out that his rural district has child obesity rates about equal to those of Mr. Geraci’s inner city Baltimore students. A doctor, he emphasized the critical importance of starting good eating habits early in childhood and said that school’s purchasing locally is a “tremendous thing to do.”
Matthew Sharp of California Food Policy Advocates encouraged lawmakers to permit direct certification for free school lunch for children receiving Medicaid or State Child Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). California already does direct certification for children receiving SNAP (food stamp) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which has saved California schools “tens of millions of dollars” that can be spent on improved food.
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture Launched: On Thursday, October 8, Secretary Vilsack joined Research Under Secretary Shah, NIFA Director Roger Beachy, and the President’s Science and Technology Advisor, John Holdren, in launching USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the new name of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES). A USDA press release on the event is available here.
The Administration is using this name change as an opportunity to try to elevate government agricultural research to the stature of health and scientific research under the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, respectively, as well as to push for greater funding for competitive grant research programs and to reorganize the agency.
While continuing the programs and responsibilities of CSREES, NIFA will be divided into the following four institutes plus one center: food production and sustainability; bioenergy, climate, and environment; food safety and nutrition; youth and community development; and the Center for International Programs. The institutes reflect the Administration’s agricultural research priorities and will focus research efforts on the accompanying challenges — ensuring global food security and eliminating hunger, overcoming climate change, producing sustainable energy, eliminating childhood obesity, and ensuring food safety.
While NSAC supports the renewed interest in funding agricultural research, there is significant concern that the Administration is taking a limited, narrow approach to addressing these challenges through its appointment of Roger Beachy and the subsequent strong focus of Thursday’s event on the use of biotechnology and nanotechnology in addressing these challenges and in enabling agricultural sustainability.
Travels with Leafy (Greens): The third week of hearings on the proposed national Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement took place this week in Columbus, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. Last week, a hearing was held in Jacksonville, Florida and the previous week, as reported on by the NSAC Weekly Update, the hearing was held in Monterey, California. NSAC members Carol Goland (Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association) and Brian Snyder (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) testified at the Ohio hearing. Marty Mesh, (Florida Organic Growers) testified in Florida. Allies from the National Organic Coalition and Food and Water Watch have also been testifying at each of the hearings.
Three more hearings are scheduled in Yuma, AZ (Oct 14-15), Syracuse, NY (Oct 20), Charlotte, NC (Oct 22). Please contact Kate Fitzgerald in the NSAC office if you would like copies of testimony.
USDA NEWS
RMAP Proposed Rule Published: A proposed rule on the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, October 7. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by November 23, 2009. Details for submissions are included at the beginning of the proposed rule.
NSAC and its members helped to create RMAP in the 2008 Farm Bill. It is authorized for $4 million in annual mandatory funding for 2009 through 2011. The just-passed agricultural appropriations bill provides $5 million in additional funding. Because the program was not implemented in 2009, for 2010 there will be a total of $13 million available.
The new rule proposes both grants and loans be awarded to Microenterprise Development Organizations which will provide technical assistance, loan serving, and marketing management to rural microenterprises, including agricultural businesses. For more detailed information on RMAP, please see NSAC’s Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill.
A future edition of the Weekly Update will carry an action alert and key talking points to help guide public comments on RMAP.
33 Million Acres in 2009 CSP Applications: In a press release and in congressional testimony this past week, USDA announced tentative totals for stage one of the 2009 Conservation Stewardship Program sign-up — over 21,000 farmer and rancher applications representing a total of nearly 33 million acres of crop, pasture, range, and forested land. The USDA press release stated that the state-by-state acreage breakout was available on the Natural Resource Conservation Service CSP website, but that actually turned out not to be the case. For 2009 as for future years, 12.8 million acres are available for enrollment. The 25.6 million acres to be enrolled in 2009 and 2010 and those producers will receive the first of their five annual CSP payments in October 2010.
Advance Conservation Payments for Beginning and Minority Farmers Due to Start Soon: One of NSAC’s farm bill wins to assist beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers with conservation assistance was allowance for up to 30 percent of the cost of conservation improvements to be paid upfront, in advance of the implementation of the conservation practice. In order to implement the 2008 provision, the Natural Resources Conservation Service has needed to re-tool computer software and program business tools. NRCS expects to be finished with the work within the next month and will then be able to start implementing the provision to help beginning and minority farmers with advance assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
EPA NEWS
EPA Undertaking New Review of the Herbicide Atrazine: The EPA has issued a public notice that it is commencing a review of the effects of the widely used herbicide atrazine on human health. The review, to be conducted by an EPA Science Advisory Panel, will begin in November 2009 and continue through most of 2010. It will focus on scientific studies since the completion of an EPA review in 2003 which concluded that the levels of all triazine pesticides, including atrazine, were below the level of regulatory concern. Atrazine is applied to about 60 percent of U.S. corn and its use has increased recently as farmers use it on weeds that have developed resistance to Round-Up and other glyphosate herbicides.
Atrazine is the leading pesticide contaminant of surface and groundwater. In addition, a number of scientific studies indicate that atrazine is highly mobile and can travel hundreds of miles from its application point in snow and rain. It is highly toxic to a number of aquatic species and has been implicated in a steep decline in amphibian species. EPA indicated in the announcement that after the review for human health effects is completed, the agency will commence a review of atrazine’s effects on amphibians and aquatic habitats. Detailed information about EPA’s review of atrazine is available on the EPA’s Atrazine Update website.
DULY NOTED
OCM Report Challenges GAO Report on Concentration: On Monday, October 5, the Organization for Competitive Markets released a Special Report, entitled The Debilitating Effects of Concentration in Markets Affecting Agriculture, which demonstrates that market concentration for major raw food products hurts both producers and consumers.
The report is in response to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued in June that concluded that the concentration of buying power for farmers’ products in the hands of a few processing firms does not adversely affect producer or consumer prices. Both the OCM report and the GAO report are posted on the OCM website.
The OCM report was prepared by OCM Senior Legal Fellow & General Counsel, David A. Domina, and OCM Senior Economic Fellow, Dr. C. Robert Taylor and reviewed by more than 20 academics, antitrust lawyers, and producers. The report concludes that GAO’s methodologies were flawed, leading to incorrect conclusions. It provides documentation that U.S. farmers and ranchers face market concentration for both inputs they purchase, like seed and fertilizers, and for harvested goods and livestock which they sell. This concentration ultimately raises the cost of food to consumers. The authors also point out the economic risks of having a food system dependent on a few large food processing companies considered “too big to fail.” They note that as with the U.S. and international banking systems, the failure of one of these mega-firms can reverberate throughout the food system.
New Study on Successful Food Companies: On Wednesday, October 7, the Crossroads Resource Center published a new study exploring the Minnesota food system and concluding that there is an emerging group of successful food companies that are built on more than just the economic bottom line. According to Ken Meter, the study’s author and President of CRC, “these firms value trusting relationships. Second, they plan for an uncertain future – especially the fact we don’t know if we will have oil, or at what cost, in a few years. Third, successful firms build a business that recycles resources within the state, rather than exporting them.”
Loni Kemp a Farm Foundation Policy Competition Winner: On Tuesday, October 6, the Farm Foundation announced the winners of a competition for essays on public policy development to meet agriculture and food system challenges over the next 30 years.
Among the winners is Loni Kemp for her climate change essay Greener Biofuels Tax Credits: A Policy to Drive Multiple Goals. Until recently, Kemp served as the long-time Senior Policy Analyst for the Minnesota Project during which time she testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee on the need for a comprehensive, sustainable bioenergy program in the 2008 Farm Bill, which ultimately emerged into the new Biomass Crop Assistance Program.
Loni is now an independent consultant whose projects include writing the recently released NSAC publication The Farmers’ Guide to the Conservation Stewardship Program.
Congratulations Loni!
Awards and Scholarships for Sustainable Agriculture! The Natural Resources Defense Council (NFDC) announced that it is accepting nominations for its second annual “Growing Green” awards. A cash prize of $10,000 is given to the outstanding individual in each of four categories: Food Producer, Business Leader, Thought Leader, and Water Steward. Last year’s winners included Will Allen of Growing Power, Fedele Bauccio of Bon Appetit Management Company, and James Harvie of the Institute for a Sustainable Future. Nominations are due December 4, 2009.
Also, Annie’s Homegrown is awarding $50,000 in scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students studying sustainable and organic agriculture.
Weekly Update – October 5, 2009
Monday, October 5th, 2009
TAKE ACTION
One Week Left to add your organization’s name to our sign on letter urging USDA to implement the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Transition Option NOW. The option will offer incentives to land owners not intending to renew their CRP contracts to sell or lease the land to beginning or minority farmers using sustainable or organic farming practices. The option has been swept up in a CRP program wide Environmental Impact Review expected to take at least two years. 4.3 million acres are expected to come out of the CRP program over the next two years. That’s 4.3 million missed opportunities to put the land under wildlife-friendly sustainable or organic production and to provide economic opportunity and entry to beginning and minority farmers. Here’s the letter for organizations to sign. http://sustainableagriculture.net/take-action/crp-sign-on/ To sign on, just send an email to Annette@sustainableagriculture.net.
NSAC has also launched a petition for individuals to sign. Please sign on to the letter and ciruculate this link to the petition.
LAST WEEK
Agriculture Appropriations Bill Moves Through Conference: On Wednesday, September 30, the FY 2010 agriculture appropriations bill http://appropriations.house.gov/ was approved by the House-Senate Conference Committee, allocating $23.3 billion (about $300 million more than the President requested, but about $300 million less than the Senate bill provided) to fund discretionary food and agriculture programs.
For highlights from the bill, keep on reading; for funding details on the many programs we follow, click here to view NSAC’s appropriations chart.
The conference report will be voted on by the full House and the Senate, which is likely to happen this week. This will be the first time in a very long time that the bill has been finished very close to the October 1 start of the fiscal year.
Conservation — As was true of the underlying House and Senate bills, the final bill rejected all of the cuts to farm bill conservation programs proposed by President Obama and Secretary Vilsack with the exception of a $270 million cut in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and a zeroing out of the small watershed dam rehab program.
Research — The bill significantly increases funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative from $201.5 million in 2009 to $262.5 million in 2010. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program received a tiny increase, rising from 19.0 to $19.2 million ($14.5 for research and education, $4.7 million for extension and outreach), the Organic Transitions Research Program is increased from $1.8 million to $5 million, and the Organic Production and Market Data Initiatives is funded at $750,000. There were not cuts to mandatory funding for beginning farmer, minority farmer, organic, or specialty crop competitive grants programs.
Rural Development and Marketing — The bill makes modest increases to rural development and marketing programs. It funds the Value-Added Producer Grant Program at $20.4 million, up from $18.9 million, and the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas at $2.8 million, up from $2.6 million. The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) is funded at $9 million, $17 million short of the President’s request but $5 million more than its mandatory level. RMAP will actually have $13 million available next year including $4 million in mandatory funding carried forward from 2009.
Credit — The bill increases funding for direct and guaranteed farm ownership and operating loans above the levels in either the House or Senate bills. The increase was necessitated by the continuing financial crisis and the high demand for government-assisted credit. In 2009, Congress provided increased resources via supplemental appropriations. By increasing the funding now in the regular appropriations bill, they may avoid the need for emergency appropriations next spring.
Child Nutrition — As expected, the appropriations bill includes a measure to extend child nutrition programs by one year, given that Congress failed to reauthorize the programs before they expired on September 30. This move allows Congress to come back to the child nutrition bill next year.
The bill steps beyond the bounds of normal appropriations authority and legislates increases in mandatory spending for child nutrition programs by $148 million, including $85 million in summer feeding demonstration projects, $25 million in grants to states to improve participation in free meals, $5 million in bonus payments to states that encourage breastfeeding, $25 million in grants to schools for kitchen equipment, and $8 million in grants to improve nutrition and physical activities in child care facilities.
The primary reason Congress did not reauthorize the child nutrition programs this year was lack of identified funding to improve the programs. The move by appropriators to authorize new mandatory funding is highly unusual. Whether it was a one-time anomaly or will be repeated remains to be seen.
The values of the new monthly fruit and vegetable vouchers for women in the WIC program were increased to the Institute of Medicine recommended level of $10 and $12 per month although the benefit for children stays at $6 month. The bill also includes $1 million to start-up a pilot project for school gardens under a special component of the Farm to School program added by the 2008 Farm Bill.
Dairy — The bill also includes a $350 million in emergency funding for the dairy industry, the same as the Senate bill. Under the agreement, $290 million would go to farmers as direct payments, and $60 million would go to USDA for the purchase of cheese and other dairy products to reduce dairy surpluses. It will be up to USDA to determine the appropriate per farm payment limitation for the direct payments.
Kerry-Boxer Climate Bill Introduced: On Wednesday, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) introduced S.1733 – The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. The bill’s text and summary information are posted at http://kerry.senate.gov/cleanenergyjobsandamericanpower/intro.cfm.
The bill establishes a cap-and-trade carbon credit framework, though “cap and trade” is re-messaged in the bill as “pollution reduction and investment.” The bill targets a reduction of 20 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2050 in greenhouse gas emissions relative to 2005 levels.
About 7,500 of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters would have their emissions capped and get carbon vouchers to sell or to trade with other emitters who can lower GHGs. As with the climate change bill approved by the House, the bill does not cap agricultural GHGs but does allow GHGs to reduce their GHGs in return for carbon credit vouchers.
Section 155 of the bill establishes a supplemental assistance program administered by USDA (with the Department of Interior on federal land under its control) for projects and financial assistance to owners and operators of agricultural land, private or public grazing land, and private forest land.
The program includes funding for “early adopters” of carbon-friendly practices including “no till” and for programs to prevent the conversion of native grassland, native prairie, cropland, range land, or forested land that results in increased GHG emissions or loss of carbon sequestration. Funding could be used for easements, financial assistance and grants, and there is no prohibition to participating in this program and federal or state conservation programs simultaneously.
This program would be funded by a “Supplemental Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Forestry Fund” from among the proceeds of an auction of emission allowances.
The bill includes extensive rules for a carbon offset market, but does not as yet include specific agricultural offset provisions. Those are expected to be added later in the process as the Agriculture Committee weighs in with its suggestions.
House Agriculture Subcommittee Reviews Research Title Implementation: On September 30, Dr. Rajiv Shah, USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Extension, testified before the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research about the the new era of agricultural research at the USDA. The hearing took place the day before the transformation of Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services into the National Food and Agriculture Institute (NIFA).
Shah called for a more a cohesive, problem-focused research strategy to solve some of nation’s biggest agricultural problems such as drought and heat intolerance in crops, food security, and food safety. He was also shared his strong belief in building new relationships between NIFA and better funded federal research agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Energy. Shah also stated that he and USDA Secretary Vilsack are committed to breaking up the “stovepipe system” which exists between the agencies within the USDA, and often impairs the ability to study research outcomes.
Congresswoman Betsy Markey (D-CO) asked Shah about progress on implementing the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Markey said there is great interest and need in her district for new farmer programs, and Shah confirmed the Administration’s commitment to the program.
Also testifying at the hearing were D.C. Coston, Vice President for Agriculture and University Extension at North Dakota State University, and Joseph Layton of the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research and the American Soybean Association. All of the testimony can be found on the Committee website. http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/statements.html
THIS WEEK
NIFA Roll Out: USDA Research Under Secretary Rajiv Shah and the new Director of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, Roger Beachy, will preview the reorganization of the what was the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service on Monday in a talk to interest groups. On Thursday, October 8, USDA Secretary Vilsack will speak at the National Press Club to “share his thoughts on what this transformation will mean for science and agriculture.” He will be joined by Dr. John Holdren, the President’s top science advisor.
Conservation Title Review: On Wednesday, October 7 at 10 AM eastern, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research will review implementation of the farm bill conservation title with Dave White, Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Jonathan Coppess, Administrator of the Farm Service Agency.
Child Nutrition Hearing: On Thursday, October 8 at 10 AM eastern, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities will hold a hearing on innovative ideas in child nutrition. Among the witnesses will be Tony Geraci, Baltimore City Public Schools Food and Nutrition Director who will talk about farm to school programs.
USDA NEWS
CSP Sign-Up Yields Big Results: The initial portion of the 2009 Conservation Stewardship Program sign-up came to an end on Wednesday, September 30. That was the date by which applications of intent to apply were due. During October, farmers and ranchers who submitted an application will fill out the Conservation Measurement Tool, which will be used to rank applications and determine who gets to enroll in the 2009 enrollment class.
Final numbers are not yet available, but preliminary data from Wednesday indicates that over 21,000 producers have submitted applications. The total acreage represented by those applications exceeds 23 million and may approach or exceed 30 million when the counting is finished. Those numbers far exceed the 12.8 million acres available for enrollment, meaning there will be keen competition as the bids to enroll are ranked by USDA.
The top three states in terms of acreage as of the preliminary count last Wednesday are Texas, New Mexico, and Nebraska, which together account for 8.5 million of the 23 million acres tallied to date.
Grants Announced for Small and Socially Disadvantaged Producer Coops: On Monday, September 28, USDA announced awards totaling $1.4 million to 10 cooperatives or associations of cooperatives serving small and minority farmers. The Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grants can be used to improve products, develop business plans or other economic development activities.
Secretary Vilsack tied the grant awards to the Department’s larger effort to increase the market for locally-sourced products. “President Obama and I believe in providing the stability and support these small-scale producers need to furnish fresh, locally produced good to their customers, and these investments will help make that possible.”
This program used to be known as the Small, Minority Producer Grant Program. It is part of the larger Rural Community Development Grants program. More information is available here.
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/ssdpg/ssdpg.htm
Organic Certification Cost-Share Funds Available: On Thursday, October 1, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the availability of funds for states through the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. In order to receive funds to provide certification cost-share to organic producers and handlers, states must submit an Application for Federal Asisstance and enter into cooperative agreements with AMS by October 23, 2009. For more information, click here http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-23647.pdf (Agricultural Management Assistance states) and here http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-23651.pdf (all other states).
ERS Releases Report on Marketing Organic Foods: On Wednesday, September 30, USDA’s Economic Research Service released a report http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB58/#2009-9-30 about the marketing of organic foods in the U.S. Retails sales increased from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $21.1 billion in 2008, while organic farmland acreage doubled from 1997 to 2005. Domestic production has not kept up with demand. The report examines characteristics of organic consumers as well as trends in the organic retailing and handling sectors. The report also looks at the supply for these markets and the strucuture of the organic farming sector. The repot concludes with an analysis of the following organic sectors: fresh produce, dairy products, meat, eggs, feed grains, and oilseeds.
DULY NOTED
New Report on Food Access by Policy Link and Michigan State: A new report by PolicyLink and Michigan State University, with support from the Fair Food Network, Healthy Food for All: Building Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems in Detroit and Oakland http://www.susanmernit.com/blog/HEALTHY%20FOOD%20FOR%20ALL-8-19-09-FINAL.pdf provides case studies from Detroit and Oakland about the challenges and opportunities residents face to accessing healthy, good food. The report also examines solutions residents in these communities have developed when food retailers have left their neighborhoods and concludes with specific policy recommendations so that these solutions can be scaled up and replicated in other cities facing similar challenges.