Archives for the 'Act Now' Category
TELL CONGRESS THAT YOU WANT A FAIR DEAL FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Farmers and ranchers who raise livestock and poultry need your help to get a fair deal and a level playing field with meat and poultry processors.
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry held a hearing on Tuesday, July 20 that focused on USDA proposed rules to strengthen and clarify the protections for the nation’s farmers and ranchers provided in the Packers and Stockyards Act. The full Congress approved critical measures in the 2008 Farm Bill which give broad authority to USDA to fashion rules to implement the Act in order to provide farmers and ranchers with increased information about contracts and markets. USDA was also directed by Congress to issue rules for the Act that increase protections for farmers and ranchers from unfair and deceptive practices in their dealings with meat and poultry packers and processors.
But some members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee, at the hearing on the proposed rules, made crystal clear that they were firmly allied with large corporate packers and processors and had little concern, and even contempt, for farmers and ranchers. Of those attending, only Representative Leonard Boswell (D-IA) stated in the hearing that USDA had not exceeded its statutory authority in the proposed rules. A few Representatives, including Tim Holden (D-PA), Steve Kagen (D-WI), Betsy Markey (CO), and Joe Baca (D-CA), were present but did not weigh in.
Other Committee members, including Chairman David Scott (D-GA), Ranking Member Randy Nuegebauer (R-TX), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Steve King (R-IA), Walt Minnick (D-ID), David Roe (R-TN) and Michael Conaway (R-TX) spent the good part of two hours slamming the proposed rules. They expressed alarm over the potential consequences for some of the most powerful and wealthy corporations in the nation, whose unfair and deceptive practices and sheer market power over those who produce our food could be curtailed by the rules. They responded with denial to the concerns of USDA Under Secretary Edward Avalos who testified that part of the drastic decrease in our farming population is in response to packer and processor market concentration and the lack of fair prices and fair dealing in the marketplace.
Some Representatives even opposed a measure in the proposed rules that would put an end to a judicially-imposed requirement, not found in the Packers & Stockyards Act, that farmers and ranchers must show not only individual harm but also “competitive injury” to the market as a whole when they are victims of unfair and deceptive practice. This judicial add-on to the Act has blocked farmers and ranchers from obtaining the Act’s protections when they have clearly shown that a packer or processor has used unfair and deceptive practices to cause them economic harm. The USDA proposed rule clarifies that the Act does not require that farmers and ranchers show competitive harm to an entire market sector. Without this clarification, activist conservative courts have ignored the clear intent of the law to protect individual farmers and ranchers.
The proposed regulations have the support of major organizations with farmer and rancher members across the U.S. These groups include the National Farmers Union, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund-United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA).
On July 23, NSAC joined with over 66 farmer, rancher, rural and sustainable agriculture groups on a letter in support of the USDA proposed rules, addressed to the House Agriculture Committee and delivered to members of Congress.
What YOU Can Do -
All of us who care about our nation’s farmers and ranchers must tell our Senators and Representatives that we support USDA’s proposed rules, issued on June 22, to strengthen the protections of the Packers & Stockyards Act.
Call or email your Representative and Senators.
• Urge them to support the USDA proposed rules that restore competition and contract fairness to livestock and poultry markets. Tell them we need a level playing field for family farmers and ranchers.
• Urge them to contact USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and express their support for the proposed rules.
It’s easy to call. You can get your Senator and Representative’s name and their direct number by going to Congress.org and typing in your zip code. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard, provide your Senator or Representative’s name and be directly connected to their office: (202) 225-3121. Once you are connected to your Senator or Representative’s office, ask to speak to the aide that works on agriculture. Leave the message in their voice mail if they are not available to take the call.
Can Bioenergy Production Be Sustainable?
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
The National Wildlife Federation has released a new policy paper, Growing a Green Energy Future: A Primer and Vision for Sustainable Biomass Energy, that concludes that the U.S. can do much more to improve the conservation and environmental performance of bioenergy production. The paper lays out the changes needed in U.S. policy for bioenergy production to ensure that this energy is produced in a sustainable fashion and in ways that significantly reduce the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.
Authors Loni Kemp and Julie Sibbing provide an overview of the major sources of bioenergy, including grasses, forest biomass, annual crops and residues, garbage, manure and sewage, industrial waste, and “micro-crops” such as algae. They then focus on specific examples of biomass production in agricultural and forest systems. These examples demonstrate that there are systems that can provide a win-win situation, with bioenergy feedstock production that improves our nation’s ecological system. One example is restoring mixed perennial grasses in prairie systems on marginal land that had been converted to row crop production. The trade-off is positive, with low yielding crop production on eroding land being replaced by high quality biomass production that keeps soil on the land and provides wildlife habitat.
But significant policy changes will be needed for U.S. bioenergy production to be sustainable. The authors point out the downsides of current U.S. biofuel policy that heavily subsidizes and promotes the production of ethanol from corn kernels, at a high cost to the environment. They call for clear standards to ensure sustainability and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from our bioenergy production systems. And they emphasize the need for increased energy conservation and efficiency, renewable electricity, and increased access to mass transit as requirements to meet our nation’s transportation needs.
The paper notes that an important new Farm Bill program – the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) – could help make the next generation of bioenergy more sustainable. This program could provide significant resources to establish new perennial bioenergy crops and trees in sustainable agriculture and forest systems. But USDA’s proposed rule for the program is seriously flawed.
You can add your voice to that of NSAC and others who are urging USDA to improve the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. Click here for more information on how to submit comments. Comments are due by Friday, April 9, 2010.
Op-Ed in SF Chronicle urges investment in beginning farmers
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
We are excited to share this op-ed by beginning farmer, Rebecca King, who participated in the NSAC beginning farmer fly-in earlier this month. The article addresses the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account program, which would provide matched savings accounts and financial training to beginning farmers to help them get started. Click here for more information on what you can do to support this program. Access the original article here at the San Francisco Chronicle Online.
Open Forum: Invest in the next generation of farmers
By Rebecca King
As a fledgling 30-something female sheep farmer, I rack up more than my share of Little Bo Peep jokes. In reality, I haven’t lost my sheep.I know exactly where to find them because they’re the key to my successful cheese-making start-up enterprise and my farm outside Watsonville.
But the success of my venture — and those of thousands of beginning farmers across the country — relies on support from federal Farm Bill programs that Congress needs to prioritize in the upcoming fiscal year 2011 budget recommendations, efforts like the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account Program.
Left to right: Brett Malone (ALBA), Eleazar Juarez (Farmer), Devin Rhinerson (Sen. Feinstein - CA), Steve Schwartz (CA Farmlink), and Rebecca King (Farmer) meeting in Sen Feinstein's office on March 3 to talk about beginning farmer issues.
The program is based on “Individual Development Accounts,” a competitive savings plan that matches funds saved by individual farmers. California FarmLink independently administers an individual development account program in which farmers like me commit to saving a set amount every month for two years. This program matched my contribution 3 to 1: every $100 I saved each month equaled $300 in my account. The money saved can be used after two years toward specific business investments, such as a farm down payment or to purchase farm equipment.
To further ensure long-term business success, as a program participant I was required to complete financial training programs such as business planning and market development as well as develop a savings and business plan before the funds could be used. At the end of two years I received back almost $10,000 in capital as well as a strong foundation for my business fiscal success.
I’m not alone. Participants in IDA programs designed to start up small enterprises across various business categories are 84 percent more likely to become profitable business owners than those who have not participated. Funding such entrepreneurial programs means the cost of other line items, like unemployment benefits, goes down as well.
The Farm Bill created the first ever IDA program specifically for farmers, called the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account Program. Unfortunately, Congress did not appropriate funds for the program in last year’s budget. We can start fresh right now for the 2011 fiscal year.
Our nation looks to California for its vision on how best to cultivate healthy, sustainable farms to feed future generations. Our California delegation, particularly with the leadership of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) and Representative Sam Farr, D-Carmel, stand in a strong position to recommend $5 million in beginning farmer funding. If funded at this level for the remaining four years of this farm bill, this program could still assist approximately 3,200 new farmers like me to establish farming livelihoods across the country.
Yes, we live in a time of extreme budgetary pressures. But no, we can’t short-change the future of our children or the sustainability of our food system. It’s a matter of reinvesting in the long-term viability of vibrant agricultural enterprises and farms that feed our nation.
Congress: Invest in and grow the next generation of farmers like me and you won’t be lost like Bo Peep. Instead we’ll be eating cheese, meat and other locally raised, healthy food made with pride by America’s farmers.
Rebecca King is a dairy sheep farmer and cheese-maker in northern Monterey County. She sells raw milk sheep cheese through farmers markets, specialty shops and restaurants.
Individual Development Accounts to support Beginning Farmers and Ranchers
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Last week’s Drake Forum on America’s New Farmers addressed a myriad of opportunities and challenges that face the new generation of farmers and ranchers: big, small, and mid-sized, urban and rural, all across the country. In particular, access to land, access to capital, new market development, and education and training, particularly financial education, surfaced again and again in panel discussions.
While grassroots organizations across the country have been working for years to address these issues on the ground, the conference recognized the need for a concerted effort at the national level to shape programs and policies that will foster a vibrant, diverse, population of farmers and ranchers to feed the country over the next 50 years.
The conversation could be considered a first step towards developing a comprehensive Beginning Farmer Bill in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill. But NSAC and its member groups also reminded participants of the opportunity for more immediate action, in particular, to support the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account (BFRIDA) Program. The BFRIDA Program would provide business education and matched savings accounts to beginning farmers of modest means. Created in the 2008 Farm Bill as a pilot program but never funded, BFRIDA has the potential to create thousands of new farm businesses.
What you can do to support IDAs
Call your Representatives and Senators today and urge them to ask for $5 million for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account program for Fiscal Year 2011. To find your Congressperson’s information, click here, enter your zip code, then click on your representative. Click on the tab for “contact.” When you reach the office, ask for the legislative aide that works on agriculture issues.
The Message is Simple: I am a constituent and am calling to urge Senator/Representative _________ to support funding of $5 million for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account Program. BFRIDA will spark the creation of thousands of new farm businesses which translates into more jobs.
Report Your Call: Please take a moment to tell us a little about the results of your call. It is helpful for us to know if you are getting through to your legislator and how they are responding to your call. Click here to let us know how it went.
IDA Successes: “Full Steam Ahead”
John Tecklin and Angie Tomey are heading into their 13th year of operation at Mountain Bounty Farm. Located high on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, their 300-member CSA produces a wide range of fruits and vegetables in an otherwise underserved, difficult to farm region.
John graduated from California FarmLink’s 2-year IDA program in 2008, with $9,600 to put toward a down payment on land. He explains that access to capital is the single biggest challenge for beginning farmers, and that IDA programs are valuable tools for addressing this problem while teaching important savings habits.
“The cash-flow planning training that FarmLink required was another important nudge along the way to professionalism,” John adds, 
emphasizing that he now has a much more sophisticated operation and carefully manages his finances.
Ultimately, John exclaims “Full-steam ahead!” when asked what he thinks about the BFRIDA program. His own IDA experience allowed him to purchase ten acres of land, ramp up production, and leverage a 5-year automatic renewal lease on a neighboring parcel—important steps that led to greater security, and allowed John and Angie to hire more seasonal staff to manage their thriving business.
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More information:
- Learn more about Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Accounts
- Read another farmer profile
- Learn more about the appropriations process.
- Learn more about NSAC’s other appropriation’s priorities for 2011.