An Action Alert from the
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

The 2008 Farm Bill handed President Obama and USDA Secretary Vilsack a rare opportunity to close one of the biggest payment limit loopholes in current regulations.  The nation’s largest farms collect unlimited annual production subsidies under rules that permit payments to those who provide only minimal farm management and no active labor.  President Obama and Secretary Vilsack need to hear a loud and clear message from farmers and other citizens who care about the future of farming: The time is now to close the loophole that allows widespread abuse of payment limitation law!

COMMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE APRIL 6, 2009

Where to Send Your Email or Letter:  There are three easy ways to respond:

• Send an email to Dan McGlynn at USDA at Dan.McGlynn@wdc.usda.gov, or
• Send him a letter by fax to 202-690-2130, or
• Send a letter by mail to Dan McGlynn, Farm Service Agency, USDA, Stop 0517, Room 4754, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-0517.

Be sure to include at the top of the letter the following:  “Comment on Farm Program Payment Limitation Rule, Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 23, February 5, 2009” Read more »

The USDA recently released their interim Final Rule (IFR) for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). USDA was directed by Congress in 2008 Farm Bill to make EQIP more inclusive of organic agriculture practices-including implementing a new provision that assists farmers converting to organic farming systems and rewarding the conversation benefits of organic farming. However, USDA fell far short of meeting this directive in their IFR.

The public now has until March 16^th to send comments to USDA regarding the EQIP Interim Final Rule. Please send comments in by March 16^th, 2009-urge the USDA to make the following changes to the Final Rule for EQIP.

· Acknowledge organic agriculture as a new National Priority for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), as mandated by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill. The Chief of NRCS should issue a Directive to all State Conservationist reinforcing this change.

· Clarify that the $80.000 cap for Organic Conversion Support contracts applies only to the organic conversion plans, and does not cover all organic operations apply to EQIP. Also, clarify that the regular cap of $300,000 applies to organic operations who are not seeking conversion support.

· Ensure that Organic Conversion Support is available in all 50 states.

· Ensure that Organic Conversion Support applications are ranked and processed as a separate subcategory.

How to Submit Comments

Include “Docket Number NRCS- IFR-08005” at the top of your correspondence or in the subject line of your email.

Mail to:
Financial Assistance Programs Division
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service
1400 Independence Avenue, SW.
Room 5237S
Washington, DC 20250-2890.
Fax to: (202) 720-4265

Online instructions:
1. Go to www.regulations.gov
http://links.ofrf.org:81/CT00010303MTU1NjEA.HTML?D=2009-02-27
2. Type “Environmental Quality Incentives Program” into the search bar and
click “go”. Several results will be displayed on the next screen. The result
with Document ID number “CCC_FRDOC_0001-0065″ is the Interim Final Rule for
EQIP.
3. Click on “Send a Comment or Submission” and follow the instructions on
the next screen. If you want to read the text of the Interim Final Rule,
click on either the PDF or HTML icon next to “View this Document.”

Let us know if you submit comments! Email Tracy Lerman, Policy Organizer:
tracy@ofrf.org.

For more information, read the EQIP Interim Final Rule
http://links.ofrf.org:81/CT00010304MTU1NjEA.HTML?D=2009-02-27

Gregg Twehues, Director of Nutrient Management for Stone Barn Center mentioned an opportunity for an internship this growing season, with the opportunity to play a big role in the composting operation at Stone Barns. They work with cow, hog, horse, vegetable waste from the restaurant, and leaf mulch from the local municipality in their operation. It would require someone with some independence and guidance in that he would hope to put them in charge of a series of logistical partnerships and give them the freedom to operate equipment and help out with the processing. They market their compost at Whole Foods and other various outlets around the Hudson Valley as well as in NYC. The sooner you contact them the better!
http://www.stonebarnscenter.org/sb_opportunities/internships.aspx

WHAT:  “HOW TO BECOME A VENDOR AT THE FLINT FARMERS’ MARKET”

WHERE:   FLINT FARMERS MARKET
420 East Boulevard Drive
Flint, MI    48503
(I-475 Exit 8A)

WHEN:    THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2009
10:00 a.m. – Noon

Interested in exploring the possibility of vending at the Flint Farmers’ Market this summer?  Then join us on March 26 for a short introduction to the market.

Topics include:    Hours, Rules, Safety, Business Skills, Promotion, Display, SNAP, Project Fresh, Health Department Requirements.

No pre-registration necessary.

Questions:    Dave Turk        (turkfarms@yahoo.com)
Dick Ramsdell    (chs_ramsdell@hotmail.com)

The Request for Application for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) is now available for public viewing and download.

Please note that all applications must be submitted electronically.   You will need to be registered ahead of time with grants.gov to submit an application and the registration process can take a few weeks.  More information about submitting applications to CSREES is available at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/application_info.html

Please find attached links to the Funding Opportunity Announcement, and Grants.Gov Download pages:

(i) CSREES Funding Opportunity:  http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/beginningfarmerandrancher.cfm

(ii) Grants.Gov Application Package:  http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/GetGrantFromFedgrants;jsessionid=T6FLJ6vKgQVTJ8yRzVpxRT18SN1MLys7PpQMZSz4sLrLZD5vtvQV!1057178580?opportunity=USDA-CSREES-BFR-002115&agencycode=USDA-CSREE

More information about the BFRDP program and resources for writing grant applications will continue to be developed and made available at:  http://www.csrees.usda.gov/familysmallfarms.cfm

If you need additional information, please contact the National Program Leaders:  Suresh Sureshwaran at ssureshwaran@csrees.usda.gov or Janie Hipp at jhipp@csrees.usda.gov

Dick Ramsdell is the manager of the Flint Farmers’ Market in Fling, MI. The market may be gaining control of a 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse next to the market. (25,000 in a cool basement).

Dick is looking for mushroom producers who might be interested in expanding or starting an indoor mushroom cultivation the east side of the state.

Anyone interested can feel free to contact anytime.

Dick Ramsdell
810.938.4246
chs_ramsdell@hotmail.com

The dilemma of how to regulate food safety in a way that prevents problems caused by industrialized agriculture but doesn’t wipe out small diversified farms is not new and is not easily solved.  And as almost constant food safety problems reveal the dirty truth about the way much of our food is produced, processed and distributed, it’s a dilemma we need to have serious discussion about.

Most consumers never thought they had to worry about peanut butter and this latest food safety scandal has captured public attention for good reason – a CEO who knowingly shipped contaminated food, a plant with holes in the roof and serious pest problems, and years of state and federal regulators failing to intervene.

It’s no surprise that Congress is under pressure to act and multiple food safety bills have been introduced.

Two of the bills are about traceability for food (S.425 and H.R. 814).  These present real issues for small producers who could be forced to bear the cost of expensive tracking technology and recordkeeping.

The other bills address what FDA can do to regulate food.

A lot of attention has been focused on a bill introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (H.R. 875), the Food Safety Modernization Act.  And a lot of what is being said about the bill is misleading.

Here are a few things that H.R. 875 DOES do:

-It addresses the most critical flaw in the structure of FDA by splitting it into 2 new agencies –one devoted to food safety and the other devoted to drugs and medical devices.

-It increases inspection of food processing plants, basing the frequency of inspection on the risk of the product being produced – but it does NOT make plants pay any registration fees or user fees.

-It does extend food safety agency authority to food production on farms, requiring farms to write a food safety plan and consider the critical points on that farm where food safety problems are likely to occur.

-It requires imported food to meet the same standards as food produced in the U.S.

Read more »

As a representative of the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance Board, I have been selected as a member of the Leonardo Institute’s Committee to draft Sustainable Agriculture Standards for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which is the sole US representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Yes, I know what many of you are thinking here: why do we need another standard?; Isn’t the Organic standard enough, or isn’t already too weak, and wouldn’t a sustainable agriculture standard simply water it down?

Believe me when I say that I share your concerns. But this is the reason I have agreed to join this committee. I believe that without the participation of small, organic farming advocates, a sustainable standard might simply end up as another greenwashing initiative which allows conventional agriculture to claim that it is sustainable. Despite my reservations about the process, I have agreed to engage in it for several reasons. First, I think it is really important that organic and small farming advocates engage in real dialogue with entities like Farm Bureau, American Corn Growers Association, and other advocates of conventional farming systems in a discussion about sustainability. Read more »

Current trends in American agriculture including the loss of family farms, an aging grower population, global competition, industry consolidation, and increasing distance between the point of production and consumption have led to concerns about food security, the health of rural communities, and economic and environmental sustainability. A concomitant increase in the importance of direct marketing, consumer demand for products with ‘embedded’ characteristics, and the number of small farms on the urban fringe, present an interesting counterpoint to these developments. We believe that the entry and activity of new (first-generation) farmers is important both in countering aspects of this first set of trends, and in the development and cultivation of the latter set. At a time when many existing farms are struggling, the knowledge and resource barriers facing new (first-generation) farmers are particularly acute. Despite these challenges, there remains a contingent of committed individuals choosing to go ‘back to the land’. Read more »