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
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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 examining flooding in cranberry beds to minimize
insecticide and fungicide inputs, and the Illinois Soil Quality
Initiative's farmer-centered approach to developing information
highlight the latest issue (Volume 12, No. 2). 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.
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Table of Contents:
Congressional Conference on Research Title is Blocked 1
Iowa's Organic Acres Increase as Consumers Connect Locally 2
MN Research Farm Supports Needs of Farmers and ARS 3
California Honors 10 IPM Innovators 3
Positions 3
Cotton: Organic Gets a Break, Genetic Strain Breaks Down 4
New "Bird-Friendly" Coffee Wins Endorsements 4
Thompson Farm Publishes Annual Research Report 4
Resources 5
Upcoming Events 5
CONGRESSIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH TITLE IS BLOCKED
Though both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives had
passed versions of the "Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Education Reform Act of 1997," or research title, disputes last
month over funding led several House members to block the measure
from going to conference and becoming law. With Congress now in
recess for the rest of the year, further action on the research
title could occur next year when Congress returns.
The Senate bill would have reallocated $1.25 billion of
mandatory funds, most of which became available from reforms in
the administration of the Food Stamp Program. It proposed using
most of the money for research, with $780 million funding a new
competitive grants program called the "Initiative for Future
Agriculture and Food Systems," as well as allocating $300 million
to extend the Fund for Rural America through 2002. The House
bill did not include those allocations. Significant resistance
to spending this amount of money on research emerged at the end
of the Congressional session, with opponents arguing that the
money be spent on either nutrition programs, food stamp aid for
legal immigrants, or crop insurance, as well as several Members
of Congress on the Appropriations Committee objecting to the use
of mandatory dollars on research. Congress recessed for the year
before the objections and proposed changes could be resolved.
The Senate bill had contained several items favorable to
sustainable agriculture, primarily an extension of the Fund for
Rural America for three years. The Initiative had been modified
to place a priority on research to improve the viability and
competitiveness of small and moderate-sized farms, and on organic
research. The House bill also included three new authorizations
for more organic research, alternative livestock research for
small farms, and research on new crops to encourage crop
diversification.
When Congress returns in January, 1998, it is unclear what
will happen to the research title, particularly because of
funding questions. The Congressional Budget Office will
recalculate the costs of the Food Stamp Program this month,
probably eliminating the funds that would have been available for
research. "Unfortunately, this may have been a lost opportunity
because the money is likely to disappear," according to Kathleen
Merrigan, the Wallace Institute's Senior Analyst. "The
Initiative and the Fund for Rural America will probably not get
funded."
IOWA'S ORGANIC ACRES INCREASE AS CONSUMERS CONNECT TO LOCAL FARMS
Organic acres in Iowa are increasing because consumers are
demanding more organic food and closer connections to local food
systems, according to Pam Neenan, coordinator of Iowa's Organic
Agriculture Program, whose speech on "Revitalizing the Local
Economy" is excerpted in In Business (September/October, 1997).
Iowa's organic acres have increased from less than 10,000 in 1993
to more than 62,000 this year because people "want healthy food,
and to many of us, that means food with the minimum of pesticide
residues," she said. "People long to reconnect with that most
basic of human activities -- growing food....Supporting local
growers is what a local food system is all about." The explosion
of the community-supported agriculture movement has given
consumers produce grown by a local farmer they know, and farmers
"a dedicated community, freedom to grow, and best of all, the
financial security of prepaid shares," according to Neenan.
"Eating locally means that we become entwined with our neighbors,
our community and with nature."
MINNESOTA RESEARCH FARM SUPPORTS NEEDS OF FARMERS AND ARS
The Swan Lake Farm in Morris, Minnesota, has become not only
a center for research to help local farmers, but also a place
where the USDA's Agricultural Research Service conducts field
experiments, according to an article in Agricultural Research
(November, 1997). In the mid-1950s, a group of conservation-
minded business people and farm managers, called the Barnes-
Aastad Soil and Water Conservation Research Association,
purchased the farm with the hope that it would become a place
"where scientists could conduct field research to solve
agricultural problems facing farmers." The Association then
formed a partnership with the ARS's North Central Soil
Conservation Research Laboratory, whose research at the farm has
included studies on tillage and erosion, soil freezing, weed
emergence in crops, and cross-pollinating of corn plants for
better yields.
The ARS research on Conservation Reserve Program land,
conducted at the farm, is used by the USDA's Natural Resources
Conservation Service in working with farm managers to develop the
best management practices to sustain agricultural production and
protect the quality of soil and water resources. "The farms of
yesteryear are changing so fast, it's hard to keep up without
research," said John Dosdall, a farmer and member of the
Association. "The scientists at the North Central Soil
Conservation Laboratory continue to play an important part in
helping farmers keep pace with change."
CALIFORNIA HONORS 10 "IPM INNOVATORS"
The California Environmental Protection Agency's Department
of Pesticide Regulation last month honored 10 groups as "IPM
Innovators" for leading the way in adopting integrated pest
management techniques that increase benefits and reduce risks,
and in promoting these techniques by sharing their knowledge with
others. The award-winners "have created environmentally friendly
strategies to manage pests in orchards and groves, vineyards,
parks and urban neighborhoods, and in sensitive areas where
nature, agriculture, and urban dwellers must coexist," according
to the Department. The award recipients are Almond Board of
California; Avocado Pest Management Task Force; Beckstoffer
Vineyards; Bio-Integral Resource Center; California Table Grape
Commission; Central Coast Wine Grape Grower Natural Vineyard
Team; Farming, Agriculture, and Resource Management for
Sustainability (FARMS); Friant Water User Authority; Riverside-
Corona Resource Conservation District; and University of
California Cooperative Extension in Merced County. For details
on each group's IPM program and staff contact, call Veda
Federighi of the Department of Pesticide Regulation, (916) 445-
3974.
POSITIONS
The Wallace Institute is seeking an agroecologist/ecologist
to lead its research and education program on agriculture and
biodiversity; duties will include research leading to scientific
and policy publications, educational outreach to professional and
policy audiences, securing grant support to supplement base
program funding, and contracting with external scientists for
special projects; applicants should have a Ph.D. in ecological
sciences; send resume, list of three references, and three
publications or educational programs to Henry A. Wallace
Institute for Alternative Agriculture, Policy Studies Program,
9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770; e-mail
hawiaa@access.digex.net; for more information, contact David
Ervin, Director of Policy Studies Program, (301) 441-8777.
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Berea
College seeks an agricultural educator who can help provide
leadership in the development of a program in sustainable
agriculture; Ph.D. preferred; send resume and three letters of
recommendation by December 15 to Dr. Carolyn Orr, Chair,
Department of Agriculture, Berea College, Berea, KY 40404; or
contact Kathy Howard, e-mail KathyHoward@berea.edu.
COTTON: ORGANIC GETS A BREAK, GENETIC STRAIN BREAKS DOWN
Cotton made news on two fronts last month, with The New
York Times reporting a deal for the organic cotton industry with
several clothing companies (November 6, 1997), and dozens of
farmers reporting heavy losses of a genetically engineered strain
of cotton (November 23, 1997). Levi Strauss, Nike Inc., and the
Gap have agreed to buy organic cotton, mix it with ordinary
bales, and produce clothing that is a blend of both. Organic
cotton farmers, who have struggled in the past, called the deal
"fantastic." But Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" cotton, which had
been genetically engineered to resist spraying with Roundup weed
killer, has failed to do so, and produced significant losses for
farmers. At least 46 Mississippi farmers say they lost as much
as 40 percent of their Roundup Ready cotton, and officials report
complaints from seven other states. The USDA has warned farmers
to avoid planting more of it.
NEW "BIRD-FRIENDLY" COFFEE WINS ENDORSEMENTS
The National Zoo's Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the
National Audubon Society have endorsed a brand of "bird-friendly"
coffee grown on tree-shaded plantations that provide habitat for
birds that spend summers in the Washington, D.C. area and winters
in the tropics. The new coffee, the Eco Organic Coffee Company's
Cafe Audubon, is certified under the Center's "bird-friendly"
guidelines. Scientists at the Center say that traditional tree-
shaded coffee plantations offer more habitat for tropical birds,
which are declining as land is cleared for coffee farms that grow
varieties in the full sun (see Alternative Agriculture News,
October, 1996). Cafe Audubon is sold at Fresh Fields
supermarkets, and will soon be sold at the Smithsonian
Institution's stores.
THOMPSON FARM PUBLISHES ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT
"Alternatives in Agriculture," the 1997 annual research
report of Thompson On-Farm Research in Boone, Iowa, has been
published by Dick and Sharon Thompson, and Rex and Lisa Thompson.
It updates all previous reports and describes all of the
sustainable and alternative agriculture experiments conducted on
the farm. Chapters detail the farm's Inspiration, Documentation
and Education; research on Fertility; Cover Crops; Alternative
Weed Management Systems; Crops; Water Quality, Soil Health;
Economics; Livestock; and Farming Systems and the Viability of
Rural Communities. All of the experiments are summarized in
table form at the end of each chapter. The publication of the
report and the 1997 research are made possible by the financial
support of Mrs. Jean Wallace Douglas through the Wallace
Institute. Copies of the report are $10 each from Thompson On-
Farm Research, 2035 190th Street, Boone, IA 50036-7423; (515)
432-1560.
RESOURCES
Information on the USDA's National Organic Program and
National Organic Standards is available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop
"Future Horizons: Recent Literature in Sustainable
Agriculture" is Volume 6 in a series, "Extension and Education
Materials for Sustainable Agriculture; each volume is $10 from
Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, 225 Keim Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583; (402) 472-
2056; e-mail csas003@unlvm.unl.edu.
"Nutrient Management: Crop Production and Water Quality"
(NRAES-101), $8; "Nutrient Management Workbook" (NRAES-102),
$2.50; and "Estimating a Mass Nutrient Balance" (NRAES-103),
$1.50, are available from Northeast Regional Agricultural
Engineering Service, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853;
(607) 255-7654; e-mail NRAES@CORNELL.EDU; please add $3.50
shipping.
"Hoop Structures for Grow-Finish Swine" (AED-41) is $4 from
University of Minnesota, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Dept., 219 BAE Bldg., 1390 Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108, attn:
Terry; (612) 625-7024.
UPCOMING EVENTS
January 21, 1998, (rescheduled from January 14), 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, "It's Happening on the Hill," the 1998
annual meeting of the National Alliance of Independent Crop
Consultants, will be held in Washington, D.C.; contact NAICC,
1055 Petersburg Cove, Collierville, TN 38017; (901) 861-0511.
January 27-28, 1998, "Working with Wetlands and Wildlife"
will be held in Sacramento, CA; contact Wildlife Habitat Council,
1010 Wayne Ave., #920, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (301) 588-8994.
January 28-February 1, 1998, 3rd Annual Herb Business Winter
Getaway Conference will be held in San Antonio, TX; contact the
Herb Growing and Marketing Network, P.O.Box 245, Silver Spring,
PA 17575; (717) 393-3295; e-mail HERBWORLD@aol.com.
January 31, 1998, Northeast Organic Farming Association of
New Jersey's 7th Annual Winter Conference will be held at Rutgers
University, New Brunswick; contact NOFA-NJ, 33 Titus Mill Road,
Pennington, N.J. 08534; (609) 737-6848; e-mail nofanj@aol.com.
January 31, 1998, "Renewing People, Profit and the
Environment for Agriculture: Rural Community-Friendly
Strategies," the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society's 6th
Annual Western Conference, will be held in North Platte, NE;
contact Jane Sooby, (308) 254-3918.
February 2-4, 1998, Northeast Agriculture Direct Marketing
Conference and Trade Show will be held in Sturbridge, MA; call
(413) 527-6572.
February 6-7, 1998, PASA's "Farming for the Future
Conference 1998" will be held in State College, PA; contact
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, P.O. Box
419, 114 West Main St., Millheim, PA 16854; (814) 349-9856.
February 21, 1998, "Farming and Communities," the 16th
annual Winter Conference of the Northeast Organic Farming
Association of Vermont, will be held in Randolph, VT; contact
NOFA-VT, Winter Conference, P.O. Box 697, Richmond, VT 05477;
(802) 434-4122.
February 14-22, 1998, a delegation will go to Cuba to study
sustainable agriculture; contact Jennifer Cari¤o, Reality Tours
Program, Global Exchange, 2017 Mission St., #303, San Francisco,
CA 94110; (415) 255-7296, ext. 233.
March 5-7, 1998, "Building on a Decade of Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education: Sharing Experiences to
Improve Our Agriculture," sponsored by the USDA SARE program,
will be held in Austin, TX; contact SARE, 0322 Symons Hall,
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742; (301) 405-5270;
e-mail vberton@wam.umd.edu
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