Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture
9200 Edmonston Road, #117
Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 441-8777
E-mail: hawiaa@access.digex.net
World Wide Web: http://www.hawiaa.org
* * *
If You Are Interested in Sustainable Agriculture...
In addition to this monthly newsletter, the Henry A.
Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture publishes the
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, a quarterly,
peer-reviewed journal of research on alternative agriculture. It
is a scientific forum for disseminating technical, economic, and
social research findings about the character and requirements of
alternative agriculture systems.
Articles in the latest issue (Volume 12, No. 2) examine
flooding in cranberry beds to minimize insecticide and fungicide
inputs, and the Illinois Soil Quality Initiative's farmer-
centered approach to developing information. Other articles
review alternative production systems' effects on the soil
erodibility factor of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation,
suppression of VAM fungi and micronutrient uptake by low-level
phosphorus fertilization in wheat rotations, and abstracts from
the International Conference on Agricultural Production and
Nutrition. Subscriptions to AJAA are $44 for libraries, $24 for
individuals, and $12 for students; contact the Wallace Institute,
9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770; (301) 441-8777;
e-mail hawiaa@access.digex.net.
Table of Contents
Research Title Include Precision Agriculture Amendments 1
Slow-Moving Organic Standards Are in Their Final Stage 2
Paul Johnson Resigns from NRCS 3
Positions 3
Humans Now Dominate the Nitrogen Cycle, Says Smithsonian 3
USDA Attacks Corn Rootworm with Areawide IPM Program 4
Two SARE Regions Call for Proposals 4
Resources 4
Upcoming Events 5
RESEARCH TITLE INCLUDES PRECISION AGRICULTURE AMENDMENTS
The Senate version of the "Agricultural Research, Extension,
and Education Reform Act of 1997," or research title, now
includes several amendments by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) which
were negotiated behind the scenes last month. When the full
Senate approved the research title by voice vote late last month,
it incorporated those amendments, including two amendments on the
precision agriculture authorization:
-- "Costs" as well as "benefits" can now be talked about in
educational, or extension, grants under the precision agriculture
title; and
-- A new grant category was added for research on whether
precision agriculture technologies are applicable and accessible
to small and medium-size farms, and for the study of methods of
improving the applicability of precision agriculture to those
farms.
Another Feingold amendment which was incorporated into the
bill would authorize a new "coordinated program of research,
extension, and education to improve viability of small and
medium-size dairy and livestock operations." According to the
Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, it calls for
research and education on low-cost production practices and
management systems, management-intensive grazing systems,
integrated crop and livestock systems to reduce costs and prevent
pollution, economic and market feasibility studies to identify
new and expanded consumer opportunities, and technology
assessment to identify specific needs of smaller livestock
producers.
The Senate Agriculture Committee approved the research title
in August (see Alternative Agriculture News, September, 1997).
SLOW-MOVING ORGANIC STANDARDS ARE IN THEIR FINAL STAGE
"What's taken so long?" asks The Washington Post (October
14, 1997) in an article on the long-awaited national organic
standards, which were required under the Organic Foods Production
Act in the 1990 Farm Bill. Lon Hatamiya, administrator of the
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, which is in charge of
developing the standards, said the main reason for the delay in
developing the standards is the "complexity" of the topic. "This
has never been done before," he said. "Even so, it's taken too
long."
The proposed regulations, which The Post says are 600 pages
long, are "currently being reviewed by the Office of Management
and Budget, where they have been since the middle of June. Once
released, they'll be published in the Federal Register. Then
comes a 90-day public comment period, during which consumers will
be able to comment via the Internet." The USDA will then
incorporate the public comments, release the final regulations,
and implement them. "Even though there are no federal standards,
17 states have laws governing organic foods, and there are 33
private certification organizations that verify organic
production according to industry standards," the article said.
"Still, while about 5,000 farms that produce organic foods are
currently certified by states or private groups, an equal or
greater number are not."
Kathleen Merrigan, Senior Analyst for the Wallace Institute
and a member of the National Organic Standards Board, confirms
that the standards are in their final stage, and said she expects
them to be announced soon after Thanksgiving. "All the issues
have been resolved, and OMB and USDA are looking at how to engage
the public in commenting on the rule," she said. After the
standards are released, she said, the National Organic Standards
Board will meet to formulate a response to them.
PAUL JOHNSON RESIGNS FROM NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE
Paul W. Johnson, chief of the USDA's Natural Resources
Conservation Service for three years, resigned last month
because, he said, "I just felt it was time to go back to the
farm." Johnson, a former board member and consultant with the
Wallace Institute, was an Iowa farmer and former state
representative before taking over the agency in 1994, when it was
called the Soil Conservation Service. When he returns to Iowa
this month, he said, he wants to re-establish livestock on his
farm, which recently has produced Christmas trees.
"The Iowan took over NRCS early in 1994 at a time when the
Clinton administration was ordering major layoffs, but he managed
to meet most of these reductions by paring the Washington staff,
leaving the long-admired agency's field operations largely
intact," according to an article in The Des Moines Register.
Johnson achieved " a strong program for soil and water
conservation in the new GOP-backed farm act," and "emphasized the
importance of conserving natural resources on private land."
USDA Secretary Dan Glickman praised Johnson as "a passionate
spokesperson and visionary for conservation on private lands. He
focused the agency on activities that met traditional
conservation and stewardship goals built on partnerships, local
and regional priorities, and environmental needs. History will
judge Paul as a great innovator and an outstanding
conservationist. His legacy will remain at USDA for many, many
years."
POSITIONS
Institute of Ecosystem Studies seeks a college student to be
an ecology education intern; send letter, resume, list of
relevant courses, and three references by November 21 to Dr.
Kathleen Hogan, Educational Research & Development Specialist,
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box R, Millbrook, N.Y. 12545.
University of Southwestern Louisiana seeks a Dean of the
College of Applied Life Sciences; applicant must have a
doctorate; send letter, vita, and three to five references by
December 20 to The Q-S-N Committee, College of Applied Life
Sciences, University of Southwestern Louisiana, P.O. Box 44650,
Lafayette, LA 70504.
Worldwatch Institute seeks a Vice President for Operations;
send resume and writing sample to Daniel Sherman, Vice President,
Goodwin & Company, 1320 19th St., NW, #801, Washington, D.C.
20036.
HUMANS NOW DOMINATE THE NITROGEN CYCLE, SAYS SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE
The natural cycle of nitrogen may now be overloaded because
"human activity has come to dominate one of the most basic cycles
in nature," according to an article in Smithsonian (October,
1997). Humans have been increasing the supply of fixed nitrogen
in the past 200 years by burning fossil fuel, growing legumes,
and "producing industrially fixed nitrogen for use as
fertilizer." If levels of nitrogen, an "overworked and
unappreciated" element, increase too much, there will be greatly
reduced plant diversity, more hazy days due to increased air
pollution, and more green scum in lakes and estuaries, the
article says. "Most experts agree that the farm, and
specifically the more efficient use of fertilizer there, is the
place to start looking for ways to decrease our nitrogen use,"
concludes the article, which mentions precision agriculture as
one way to cut nitrogen use.
USDA ATTACKS CORN ROOTWORM WITH AREAWIDE IPM PROGRAM
The USDA's Agricultural Research Service attacked the corn
rootworm in the Corn Belt this past summer with an areawide
integrated pest management project, according to an article in
Agricultural Research (October, 1997). The project was launched
to support the department's goal of having farmers use IPM on 75
percent of the nation's cropland by 2000. It used a bait made
from powdered wild buffalo gourd root laced with a tiny dose of
carbaryl insecticide. In an areawide IPM project, a key pest is
targeted over a large geographic area "with all farmers
participating, so the pest has nowhere to go to avoid control
measures." The target area in the Indiana-Illinois project was
10,000 acres. It was the ARS' second areawide IPM project with
state agricultural experiment stations and growers, and the first
to focus on corn pests.
TWO SARE REGIONS CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The Northeast and Southern SARE Regions are calling for
proposals for grants in 1998. The Northeast Region seeks
proposals for research, education, and on-farm demonstration
projects under the SARE and ACE programs. Proposals must be
received by January 15, 1998. For copies of the call for
proposals, call (802) 656-0471; e-mail msimpson@zoo.uvm.edu; or
download from the Internet at http://www.uvm.edu/~nesare/. The
Southern Region seeks proposals under its Producer Grant Program
for research, education and marketing projects. Proposals must
be received by January 30, 1998. For copies of the call for
proposals, contact John C. Mayne, Ph.D., Southern Region SARE,
Producer Grants Coordinator, (770) 229-3350; e-mail
jmayne@gaes.griffin.peachnet.edu.
RESOURCES
"Searching for the 'O-Word'," a study of the USDA's research
budget for organic farming systems (see Alternative Agriculture
News, February, 1997) is $15 from Organic Farming Research
Foundation, P.O. Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA 95061; (408) 426-6606.
"Visions of American Agriculture," 304 pages, a collection
of writings by 17 experts on social evolution in the agriculture
sector edited by William Lockeretz, Editor of American Journal of
Alternative Agriculture, is $39.95 plus $4 shipping from Iowa
State University Press, 2121 S. State Ave., Ames, IA 50014; 1-
800-862-6657.
"Toward Organic Integrity: A Guide to the Development of
U.S. Organic Standards" is $25 from Rural Advancement Foundation
International, 101 Hillsboro St., #5, P.O. Box 640, Pittsboro,
N.C. 27312; (919) 542-1396.
"Economics Research and Education Priorities for an
Efficient and Sustainable Food System" is available from Tracy
Irwin Hewitt, Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource
Economics, 726 F St., NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; (202) 544-2145;
e-mail itracy@aol.com.
"Dynamic Farmers' Marketing: A Guide to Successfully Selling
Your Farmers' Market Products" is $14.95 plus $2.50 shipping from
Bittersweet Farmstead, P.O. Box 52, Middlebrook, VA 24459; (540)
886-8477; e-mail ish-bittersweet@juno.com.
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 22-23, "Reclaiming the Sacred in Farming and Food"
will be held in East Troy, WI; contact the Michael Fields
Agricultural Institute at (414) 642-3303; e-mail
mfai@igc.apc.org.
November 28 is the deadline for oral presentation and
interactive session proposals, and January 5, 1998, is the
deadline for poster presentation proposals for "Balancing
Resource Issues," the Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual
Conference to be held in San Diego, CA, July 5-9, 1998; contact
SWCS, 7515 NE Ankeny Road, Ankeny, IA 50021; (515) 289-2331; e-
mail swcs@swcs.org/; on the Internet, http://www.swcs.org.
December 2, "Partners for Smart Growth" will be held in
Baltimore, MD; contact Urban Land Institute, 1-800-321-5011; e-
mail smartgrowth@uli.org.
December 4-6, "Blueprint for Eco-Farming," the 1997 Acres
U.S.A. Conference, will be held in St. Louis, MO; contact Acres
U.S.A., 1-800-355-5313
December 6, an information session will be held at Conway
School of Landscape Design; contact the school, Delabarre Avenue,
Conway, MA 01341; (413) 369-4044.
December 7, "Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference" will be
held in Milwaukee, WI; contact Laura Paine, (602) 262-6203; e-
mail lkpaine@facstaff.wisc.edu.
December 16-18, 10th New England Vegetable and Berry Growers
Biennial Conference and Trade Show will be held in Sturbridge,
MA; contact NEV&BGA, (860) 486-3438.
January 14, 1998, Southern Region SARE PDP/Chapter 3 Annual
workshop will be held in Memphis, TN; contact Roseanne Minarovic
or Roger Crickenberger, (919) 515-3252; e-mail
rcricken@amaroq.ces.ncsu.edu.
January 21-24, 1998, 18th Annual Ecological Farming
Conference will be held in Pacific Grove, CA; contact Committee
for Sustainable Agriculture, 406 Main St., #313, Watsonville, CA
95076; (408) 763-2111.
January 22-25, 1998, Southern Sustainable Agriculture
Working Group Annual Conference and Trade Show will be held in
Memphis, TN; contact Jean Mills, (205) 333-8504; e-mail jeanmills
@aol.com.
January 26-28, 1998, National Conservation Buffers
Technology Conference will be held in San Antonio, TX; contact
Lyn Kirschner, Conservation Technology Information Center, (765)
494-1827; e-mail kirschner@ctic.purdue.edu; on the Internet,
http://www.ctic.purdue.edu.
January 30-31, 1998, "Sharing the Lessons of Organic
Farming," the 17th Annual Organic Conference and Eco-Products
Trade Show will be held at the University of Guelph, Canada;
contact Tomas Nimmo, Canadian Organic Growers, Box 116,
Collingwood, Ontario, Canada L9Y 3Z4; (705) 444-0923; on the
Internet, http://www.gks.com/OrgConf/
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