Archives for January, 2010
Important Update on NRCS High Tunnel Pilot Program
Friday, January 29th, 2010
By Martha Noble, NSAC
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| High tunnels help to extend the growing season for lettuce on Don Bustos’ Santa Cruz farm in Santa Fe, NM; Photo by Jess Daniel |
Update on Final Tally (February 2, 2010)
The date for states to opt into the NRCS Seasonal High Tunnel Pilot Program closed on January 29 with 42 states, including Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, choosing to participate. States not signed up by January 29 include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, Oregon and Texas, as well as Puerto Rico.
The final entry was Utah which is offering the opportunity to farmers to receive assistance for seasonal high tunnels through the Agricultural Management Assistance Program. The Utah pilot is limited to producers in the Great Salt Lake Resource Conservation and Development area and Utah Tribal lands. The RC&D serves Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Tooele, and Morgan counties.
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As we reported in December, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has launched a 3-year pilot program to provide cost-share funding to farmers who want to extend the growing season on their farms by using high tunnels (sometimes referred to as hoop houses).
The tunnels are made by covering hoops with plastic and placing them over the growing area. NRCS has developed an interim conservation practice standard for the high tunnels and will fund them through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The pilot program will help NRCS to assess environmental benefits that may result from the use of the tunnels. In return for receiving a cost-share to establish the tunnel, farmers will take steps to control runoff from the high tunnel systems and will report to NRCS about changes in pesticide use and other conservation measures.
Some good news: At the time of the December announcement there were 37 states that opted to participate in the pilot. Now there are 40. The three new additions are Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia. The opt-in option closes today (January 29), so the list of 4o states is now final.
When does sign-up end? EQIP has a continuous sign-up process so farmers may submit applications at any time during the year. However, there is a cut-off date after which proposals are ranked and then contracts awarded. In many states the cutoff date for general EQIP sign-ups is today, January 29, though in a few states it is earlier and in several it is later. For farmers wanting to do the hoop house/high tunnel practice who have not submitted applications by the general enrollment cut-off date, there may still be options.
First, for organic farmers, there is in many but not all states an option to enroll for the hoop house practice through the EQIP Organic Initiative which has a cutoff date of not earlier than March 12.
Second, NRCS State Conservationists have the option to extend the State’s EQIP cut-off date for individual practices, so farmers should check with the State NRCS office to find out if the hoop house/high tunnel practice has an extended deadline in their particular state.
Third, EQIP funds that have not been used by April 1 are re-pooled and then re-allocated to states and particular issues with high demand. So there may in fact a post-April 1 opportunity for hoop house/high tunnel enrollments.
Bottomline — Farmers should contact their NRCS State Office for information about the sign-up in their state and which cutoff date(s) apply in their state.
Quirk — NRCS State offices have the discretion to make this new practice available only to organic farmers through the Organic Initiative. Though NSAC has not surveyed state offices, we have heard reports from the field that a small number of states may in fact have decided to limit the option in this manner. (Editorial note – Our strong preference would be for states to make this option available to all producers.)
Answers to Farmers’ Questions — A number of specific questions have been sent to NSAC and NSAC member groups by farmers contemplating enrollment. We now have answers from NRCS.
One question we have received deals with tunnel height. The NRCS Interim Conservation Practice Standard is strict on this point, allowing only the construction of tunnels that reach at least 6 feet at their highest point. Smaller tunnels are not eligible.
Another question that has come our way from multiple states is whether the plastic cover must be removed in the winter months, or whether covers that can withstand snow loads may be left in place, thereby allowing early spring season extension. Some helpful clarification has been sent to us by NRCS Headquarters on this point: “If the structure will withstand the wind and snow loads it is not necessary to remove the plastic. However, if wind or snow loads damage the structure, then the producer would be expected to restore the functionality.”
Finally, some farmers have asked about whether if they pay (without EQIP assistance) for electric heating, if that is allowable under the new program. The answer from NRCS on that issue is no. No electricity is permitted with these structures, even if the source is wind, solar or other renewable energy source, and even if the farmer pays out of his or her own pocket. The NRCS rationale is that electricity will be used for heating the high tunnels and that NRCS believes tunnels are used only to slightly extend a growing season, not to produce crops in extremely cold weather. (Editorial note – In our view, by the way, farmers using seasonal tunnels to grow winter crops of leafy greens and other cold hearty produce for local markets should be encouraged to use renewable, low carbon energy in these systems, not only for heat if needed, but also for ventilation.)
Over the next three years of the pilot program, NSAC will work through our member organizations, the NSAC NRCS State Technical Committee Network, and farmer networks to promote this initiative, improve and expand the Interim Standard, and ensure that the conservation goals are met for improved water quality and decreased pesticide use, increase local food markets, and increase farmers’ income.
The Incredible Shrinking Local Market
Friday, January 29th, 2010
By Annette Higby
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| The Growing Safe Food Act would support small local growers by providing training and technical assistance on food safety standards. Call your senator today and suggest that he or she co-sponsors the bill. |
While we all cheer this Administration’s emerging emphasis on local and regional food production, let’s not forget that the Food Safety Modernization Act (S 510) now on its way to the Senate floor could erect a formidable barrier to those markets for many small and moderate sized farms.
The Act would considerably ramp up FDA regulation on farms that even minimally process their crops and sell them to restaurants, food coops, groceries, schools or to wholesale markets. The new regulatory burdens would include recordkeeping for traceability, developing and implementing expensive food safety plans, regular on-farm FDA inspections, and, if the House has its way, hefty annual inspection fees.
This legislation casts a shadow over a broad swath of family farm value-added production and on farm processing. Many farmers unable to bear the costs of compliance will be shut out of these important new markets. By failing to focus FDA regulation on processing activities that present the most risk for food borne pathogen contamination, this bill could needlessly throttle an increasingly important engine for rural economic development and rural revitalization. In its zeal to protect consumer health, Congress could instead stifle a healthy shift in diet to more fresh and local foods.
One of the best ideas for improving this legislation has been introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). The Stabenow Amendment is called the Growing Safe Food Act (S. 2758) and it would create a national food safety training and technical assistance program. This competitive grants program would deliver training and technical assistance appropriate to sustainable and organic farmers and small food processors to reduce the incidence of food borne illness. If you value safe, local, and healthy food, please call your Senators and encourage them to co-sponsor the Growing Safe Food Act.
NSAC has already won a number of key changes to this legislation and we will continue to push for improvements. We can’t let rules designed to address serious food safety deficiencies in our industrial food system shut down the move toward healthy, natural and local food.
The Food Safety Modernization Act could be brought to the Senate floor on a moment’s notice – this month or later this year.
Be prepared. Sign up for our action alert list!
“Where the Future is Planted”
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
By Ariane Lotti, NSAC
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| Credit: California Farmlink — Rebecca King is a beginning farmer in northern California. She owns and operates Monkey Flower Ranch |
When USDA Deputy Secretary Merrigan addressed the crowd at the Ecological Farming Association’s 30th Anniversary EcoFarm Conference last week, she was talking to a crowd of seasoned organic pioneers as well as the current and next generations of organic and sustainable farmers.
Aptly named “Where the Future is Planted,” the conference was teeming with young, beginning, and aspiring farmers who flock to this conference and other farmer winter gatherings (PASA’s Farming for the Future Conference, MOSES’ Organic Farming Conference, and Southern SAWG’s annual conference, just to name a few) to share ideas and learn tricks of the trade, get up-to-speed on new technologies and methodologies, and connect with the many faces of the alternative agriculture movement, from social justice and healthy food to organic farming and land stewardship.
Despite the multiple barriers that beginning farmers face — including access to land and credit, they have the ear of USDA. In her address, Merrigan highlighted USDA activities that aim to create a future for farmers in America, including programs to re-establish local and regional food systems. She described a recent visit to a mobile slaughterhouse and the challenges in re-establishing the infrastructure to meet the market demands for local and regional food systems, and the opportunities in those food systems for new farmers to make a living off of the land.
NSAC has a policy platform on beginning farmers and ranchers that specifically addresses the challenges and barriers that these farmers face. Looking ahead to 2010, actions on the docket are the correct implementation of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and full funding — $5 million — for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Accounts Program.
Dr. Elisabeth Hagen to be appointed Food Safety Under Secretary: on the to-do list, meat label claims
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
By Ferd Hoefner, NSAC
It has taken more than a year, but USDA finally has a proposed presidential appointment to the position of Under Secretary for Food Safety (see USDA press release below). After all that time, with many prominent names from the outside floated over the last 12 months, the Administration has settled on an inside choice, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, an Food Safety Inspection Service employee and infectious disease physician. With so much contention over the position, going with a less well-known insider with strong credentials is likely to prove good politics.
There is much to be done at FSIS, and hopefully Hagen will prove up to the task. While it is not likely to be at the very top of her “to do” list, NSAC hopes that before much more time elapses, Hagen will work with Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Ed Avalos and Secretary Vilsack to develop a comprehensive and consistent policy on meat label claim standards for sustainable livestock producers.
The current strong grass-fed meat label standard developed by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is being undercut by weak and contradictory FSIS policy. As AMS moves forward with similar standards for free-range, pasture-raised, no antibiotics, no hormones added and other critically important standards for sustainable livestock production and markets, getting FSIS’ house in order will be the make-or-break point for the success or failure of market creation, preservation, and growth efforts.
It should no longer be acceptable for two agencies within USDA to have programs and policies on the same issue in direct conflict. With a new Under Secretary soon in place, now is the time to get on the same page in support of family farms and ranches, public health, and the environment.
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Hot from the USDA press.
PRESIDENT OBAMA, SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCE INTENT TO NOMINATE DR. ELISABETH HAGEN AS USDA UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD SAFETY
WASHINGTON, January 25, 2010— President Obama today announced his intent to nominate Dr. Elisabeth Hagen as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Under Secretary for Food Safety. Hagen will serve with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
“There is no more fundamental function of government than protecting consumers from harm, which is why food safety is one of USDA’s top priorities,” said Vilsack. “We can and must do a better job of ensuring the safety of meat and poultry products regulated by USDA, and Dr. Hagen brings the background, skills, and vision to lead USDA’s efforts to make sure that Americans have access to a safe and healthy food supply.”
The Food Safety mission of USDA includes the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. When the President announced the creation of the Food Safety Working Group last March, he said, “In recent years, we’ve seen a number of problems with the food making its way to our kitchen tables….That is a hazard to public health. It is unacceptable.” President Obama charged Secretary Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the co-chairs of the Food Safety Working Group, with working to upgrade our food safety laws for the 21st century; foster coordination throughout government; and ensure that we enforce these laws to keep the American people safe. As part of this effort, Secretary Vilsack has instituted a top-to-bottom review of USDA’s food safety regulations.
Dr. Elisabeth Hagen is currently the USDA’s Chief Medical Officer, serving as an advisor to USDA mission areas on a wide range of human health issues. Prior to her current post, she was a senior executive at FSIS, where she played a key role in developing and executing the agency’s scientific and public health agendas. She has been instrumental in building relationships and fostering coordination with food safety and public health partners at the federal, state, and local level.
Before joining the federal government in 2006, Hagen taught and practiced medicine in both the private and academic sectors, most recently in Washington, DC. She holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a B.S. from Saint Joseph’s University. Dr. Hagen completed her specialty medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern and the University of Pennsylvania, and is board certified in infectious disease. She is married and lives with her husband and two young children in Northern Virginia.
2010 RFA and Teleconference: Outreach to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers
Monday, January 25th, 2010
The Office of Advocacy and Outreach has released the 2010 Request for Applications for the Outreach Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Competitive Grants Program (also known as “Section 2501″).
The program is designed “to enhance the coordination of outreach, technical assistance, and education efforts authorized under USDA programs through eligible entities and to reach socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in a linguistically appropriate manner to improve their participation in the full range of USDA programs.”
Applications are due by March 1, 2010 and can be submitted online via Grants.gov.
The USDA will be hosting a teleconference this Thursday, January 28th from 1-2pm EST to answer questions about the RFA. Call-in details are below.
- 888-790-2751 code: 20754
- Trouble with the line: 202-720-8690
- *6 to mute and unmute
Eligible applicants include community-based organizations, universities, and Indian Tribes.
For more information, download the RFA or see the full program page in NSAC’s Grassroots Guide to Farm Bill Programs.
If you cannot make it for the teleconference, questions can be directed at
- Beatrice Herbert, beatrice.herbert@osec.usda.gov, 202-205-4130
- Lavinia Panizo, lavinia.panizo@osec.usda.gov, 202-720-6350
2010 EQIP Organic Initiative Sign-up Announced
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
By Ariane Lotti, NSAC
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has opened the 2010 sign-up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program Organic Initiative.
2010 Organic Initiative Snapshot:
- $50 million has been allocated for 2010;
- The sign-up is open through March 12, 2010;
- Existing certified organic farmers and farmers transitioning to organic production are eligible;
- Applicants who applied in 2009 and were deferred will receive a letter from NRCS with information about having their applications reconsidered in 2010;
- The Organic Initiative no longer has “6 core” practices and headquarters has provided guidance to states for how to select conservation practices for the Initiative; and
- The program payment rate for the Organic Initiative is 75% and, for historically underserved participants, 90%.
For more detailed information, visit our Organic Initiative webpage.
Updated Farm Bill Programs and Grants Page
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
By Jess Daniel, NSAC
Introducing… an updated “quick-guide” to federal programs and grants for farmers, ranchers, food entrepreneurs, and the researchers, educators and community groups who serve them.
This chart is a one-stop shop for links to the relevant USDA program websites (where they exist), brief descriptions of programs, and important dates and deadlines.
Check it out here.
At our recent winter meeting in Santa Fe, member groups and staff kicked off the discussion of NSAC’s strategy going into the 2012 Farm Bill. While legislative efforts make up a large part of NSAC’s work, we also recognize the importance of making sure that programs we fight for are funded, implemented, and ultimately used by the farmers, ranchers, and other producers who we ultimately serve.
New Mexico ranchers share their experiences in a farmer listening session at the recent NSAC Winter Meeting in Santa Fe.
We hope this chart is a small contribution towards this end. It will continue to be updated as RFAs are announced.Take a look.
Kemp responds to comments on “BCAP Boondoggle”
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
By Loni Kemp, consultant to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in response to a comment by FSA employee Paul Harte on the article “BCAP Boondoggle” from January 11, 2010.
Mr. Harte from USDA is quick to accuse, but the BCAP law is quite clear about where there is discretion that the Farm Service Agency should use. It is also clear where they are directed to do certain things. (Excuse me on the FSA’s proper name.)
Specifically, the definition of eligible materials is renewable biomass, as defined in Section 9001 to include materials from national forests and public lands “that would not otherwise be used for higher-value products.” Thus the law says FSA should not provide payments for materials from these lands that other industries can make into furniture and building supplies.
While it is true that the law first states that “in general” USDA shall make a payment for the delivery of eligible material to a biomass conversion facility, two sentences later it explicitly states that USDA “may provide matching payments… in an amount equal to not more than $45 per ton.” Clearly, FSA can decide whether to make payments and what the amount should be.
The manger’s amendment described the core purpose of the final bill this way: “The Managers also intend that the primary focus of the BCAP will be promoting the cultivation of perennial bioenergy crops and annual bioenergy crops that show exceptional promise for producing highly energy-efficient bioenergy or biofuels, that preserve natural resources, and that are not primarily grown for food or animal feed.”
Several Agriculture Committee members who supported BCAP have told us they were astonished to see the four sentences creating the collection, harvest, storage and transportation payments morphed into the monster subsidy it has become. Meanwhile, the four pages directing the FSA to implement the crop establishment program have received no action whatsoever. It is called the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, is it not? It is not called the Forestry Biomass Subsidy Program.
As for environmental requirements, the manager’s amendment did describe the House bill as saying “Forest land owners are eligible for this Matching Payment if acting under a forest stewardship plan.”
FSA should have taken the advice provided in comments to the agency to include the matching payments in the programmatic environmental impact statement now under review. The matching payments would then receive extensive environmental and economic analysis to guide effective rulemaking.
We stand by the article. Perhaps the time has come for FSA to realize that not everything is an entitlement.
Food safety bills reach too far, cost too much
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
In an editorial in today’s Capital Times, Margaret Krome, Policy Director at NSAC member group, the Michael Fields Agriculture Institute, gives her perspective on the two upcoming food safety bills making their way through Congress:
“Food safety is a serious concern, and action is needed to protect the nation’s food safety supply. Private food safety agreements are inappropriate, but federal regulatory approaches need to be calibrated to target actual risks. Legislation should aim for a risk-based process that targets the most likely sources of contamination and protects small farmers from an excessive regulatory burden that would put them out of business. Congress hasn’t yet struck the right balance.” Read the full article.
Margaret’s concerns were echoed by many at NSAC’s Winter Meeting in Santa Fe, and became particularly real when NSAC members had a chance to visit a small, diversified local vegetable farm run by local farmer advocate and NSAC friend, Don Bustos. Small farms, like Santa Cruz farm in New Mexico are likely to be hardest hit by the upcoming legislation. For additional information about pending food safety legislation, please check out NSAC’s policy brief Food Safety on the Farm.
Don Bustos describes his perennial asparagus crop system to NSAC member representatives.
Avalos Addresses Family Farm Issues at NSAC Annual Meeting
Friday, January 15th, 2010
At the annual meeting of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) in Santa Fe this week, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Edward Avalos told the gathered delegates of his desire for USDA to listen to and serve the needs of small and mid-sized farms, including through buy local campaigns, value-added agricultural development, and collaborative food safety group training.
Under Secretary Edward Avalos addresses NSAC members
Under Secretary Avalos also spoke to advancing USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative to foster sustainable, local and regional food systems and to issuing strong livestock market competition rules to give family farms and ranches fair and equitable prices and market access.
In response to questions from NSAC delegates, Avalos indicated he would have the agency look into advancing sustainable livestock meat label claim standards, making organic data collection a regular part of the baseline activities and budget at the Agricultural Marketing Service, and ensuring that the Farmers Market Promotion Program funds the full range of direct marketing options for farmers.
At the meeting, NSAC delegates from 60 member organizations voted to approve its 2010 federal policy priorities, including directed work on the Conservation Stewardship Program, beginning and minority farmer programs, sustainability research within the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, and rural development programs to create jobs and strengthen emerging local and regional food systems.
NSAC Winter Meeting session in Santa Fe, NM
In addition, NSAC members agreed to continue efforts to win a fully funded Farm to School initiative within the upcoming reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, to ensure that pending food safety legislation does not put small and mid-sized farms at a disadvantage nor place unnecessary barriers on local and regional food systems, and to help pass strong climate change legislation that highlights sustainable and organic climate-friendly farming systems.
The delegates reiterated their dismay over the recent decision by the White House and USDA to renege on the President’s campaign promise to close farm subsidy loopholes and called for it to be overturned. Despite that disastrous Obama Administration decision for crop agriculture, members were heartened by the Under Secretary’s promise that another set of Farm Bill rules — for fair competition and contract agriculture reform in livestock and poultry markets — would be strong reform measures. Those rules are expected to be released in February for public comment.