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.
The performance, economics, and adoption of cover crops in
Wisconsin cash grain rotations are examined in the latest issue
(Volume 13, No. 1, 1998). Other articles cover reduced chemical
input cropping systems in the Southeastern United States, small-
scale intensive cultivation methods, and creating positive
incentives for farm composting. 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:
USDA Abandons Three Contentious Organic Issues, p.1
Agriculture Is To Blame For Polluted Waters, p. 2
Scientists Search for Alternative Pollinators to Honeybees, p. 3
Resources, p. 3
USDA Vows Cooperation With EPA At Animal Waste Summit, p. 4
Whole Farm Planning Report Surveys Nine Activities, p. 4
Food Quality Protection Act Advisory Group Named, p. 4
Positions, p. 5
Upcoming Events, p. 5
USDA ABANDONS THREE CONTENTIOUS ISSUES IN PROPOSED ORGANIC
STANDARDS
Responding to 200,000 "extraordinary" public comments, the
USDA last month abandoned its proposal to include the products of
genetic engineering, irradiation, and municipal sewage sludge in
organic food production, which had been part of the national
organic standards the agency proposed late last year. "USDA is
committed to developing national organic standards that organic
farmers and consumer will embrace," said USDA Secretary Dan
Glickman. "Thousands of commenters requested that USDA issue
revised proposed standards, and we intend to do so. The revised
proposal will contain fundamental changes from our initial
draft." According to Newsweek (June 1, 1998), "The USDA yanked
the proposal back for a rewrite after it took an unprecedented
public beating. Some 200,000 people wrote, faxed, e-mailed or
spoke up at public hearings to let the USDA know they
overwhelmingly rejected the standards, especially if they allowed
what became known as the Big Three to be sold as organic:
genetically engineered food, irradiated food and food grown in
municipal sewage sludge."
USDA also said that many of the public comments asserted
that national organic standards must be rigorous and credible.
Otherwise, commenters expressed concern that consumers will lose
faith in the organic label. "If organic farmers and consumers
reject our national standards, we have failed," Glickman said.
USDA will evaluate the public comments on the initial proposal
and publish the revised proposal later this year.
Newsweek's three-page article asks, "Is there any reason at
all to pay extra for organic? Sure....A USDA report documents
numerous examples of the environmental threat posed by farm
chemicals, including the destruction of fish, wildlife and
beneficial insects. Farm workers who apply pesticides and
herbicides have disproportionately high rates of some cancers --
and so do their children." From an environmental point of view,
"the lower price tag on conventional produce may be deceptive,"
according to the article, which argues that "our food supply only
seems cheap because its real costs aren't represented by
supermarket bar codes." Once the final USDA regulations are in
place, by about 2000, "shoppers who choose organic will know for
the first time exactly what they're buying."
AGRICULTURE IS TO BLAME FOR MUCH OF THE COUNTRY'S POLLUTED WATERS
Runoff from agricultural lands is the biggest source of
pollution in the rivers and lakes surveyed in 1996, according to
an EPA report released last month. National Water Quality
Inventory: 1996 Report to Congress reports water quality
conditions in rivers, lakes, estuaries, wetlands, coastal waters,
the Great Lakes, and groundwater, and found that as of 1996,
about 40 percent of the country's surveyed rivers, lakes, and
estuaries are too polluted for basic uses, such as fishing and
swimming. Agriculture is the most widespread source of
pollutants in rivers and streams, the report said; agricultural
activities may introduce siltation, nutrients, pesticides, and
organic matter that deplete oxygen in surface and ground waters.
Agriculture is also the most widespread source of pollutants in
lakes, where agricultural fertilizers and manure from animal
operations can be a major source of nutrients. In lakes,
reservoirs, and ponds, nutrients and metals are the most
widespread pollutants; nutrients are the most widespread
pollutants in estuaries. In estuaries, nutrient overenrichment
causes algal blooms, low dissolved oxygen conditions, fish kills,
foul odors, and excessive aquatic weed growth.
National Water Quality Inventory is available on the
Internet at http://www.epa.gov/305b/.
SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE POLLINATORS TO HONEYBEES
Scientists at several locations across the country are
grooming new bees to become alternative pollinators to the
"honeybee population under siege," according to an article in The
New York Times Magazine (May 10, 1998). The honeybee has "a
monopoly of sorts in one of the most important aspects of
agricultural production," pollinating the great majority of 100
cash crops, including apples, pears, cherries, oranges, peppers,
tomatoes, and garlic. "But a combination of deadly parasites and
severe weather has now begun to pose a serious threat to Apis
mellifera," the article says. "In some parts of the country,
almost all feral honeybees and more than half the commercial
colonies have been wiped out."
The Forgotten Pollinators Campaign, which stresses the
dependence of many threatened or endangered plants on native
pollinators that are also becoming rare, argues that America's
reliance on the honeybee is unhealthy, and that "the nation's
food supply will not be secure until the stable of insects that
can serve as reliable pollinators is expanded." Scientists in
Utah, Maryland, and Arizona are doing field experiments with
alternative pollinators such as the horn-faced bee, the black
carpenter bee, and the blue orchard bee. Some bees won't adapt
to all climates, scientists cautioned: "the nation's growers will
decide which is the better bee."
Information about the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign is
available on the Internet at http://www.Desert.Net/museum/fp/
RESOURCES
"Agroforestry: Agriculture and Forestry Working Together," a
59-minute video, is available on loan from the National
Agroforestry Center, USDA FS/NRCS, East Campus-UNL, Lincoln, NE
68583-0822; (402) 437-5178; on the Internet,
http://www.unl.edu/nac
"Food Production And Environmental Stewardship: Examples of
How Food Companies Work With Growers" is available from Richard
Kashmanian; Office of Policy Development; Office of Policy,
Planning, and Evaluation (2128); U.S. EPA, 401 M St., SW,
Washington, D.C. 20460; e-mail kashmanian.richard@epamail.epa.gov
"Investing in the Future of Agriculture: The Massachusetts
Farmland Protection Program and the Permanence Syndrome" is
$14.95 plus shipping/handling from American Farmland Trust at 1-
800-370-4879.
"Growing Vegetables in Wisconsin," a series of five
publications with different prices, is available from University
of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Publications, (608) 262-3346.
"Organic Certification of Crop Production in Minnesota" is
$3 plus $2 shipping from University of Minnesota Extension
Service, Distribution Center, 1420 Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN
55108; 1-800-876-8636.
"Northeast Aquaculture: Farming the Waters," a 30-minute
video, $10; "Facilities for Roadside Markets," 32 pages, $10.50;
and "Guide to Great Forestry and Natural Resources Publications,"
a publication of 1,300 resources, $13.50, are all available from
Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service, (607) 255-
7654; e-mail nraes@cornell.edu
"Eco-Labels: The Key to Consumer Support" is $35 from The
Food Alliance, 1829 NE Alberta St., #5, Portland, OR 97211; (503)
493-1066; e-mail tfa@thefoodalliance.org
California Federation of Certified Farmers' Markets lists
350 farmers' markets on the Internet at
http://farmersmarket.ucdavis.edu; for information, contact Susan
McCue, UC Small Farm Center, (530) 752-7849; e-mail
semccue@ucdavis.edu
USDA VOWS COOPERATION WITH EPA AT ANIMAL WASTE SUMMIT
The USDA pledged to work with the EPA "as equal partners" to
find a solution to the nation's increasing animal waste problems,
according to testimony given at the National Animal Waste
Management Summit convened by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) last month
in Washington, D.C. "Animal feeding operations are the biggest
conservation issue in agriculture today, bar none," said USDA
Secretary Dan Glickman. "We must work together to figure out how
we preserve our health, our environment, and a sustainable,
economically viable livestock industry....I want to see more
breakthroughs that bring producers' economic and environmental
interests together." EPA Administrator Carol Browner also
testified about the Clinton Administration's Clean Water Action
Plan, which includes a draft strategy to curb pollution runoff
from animal feeding operations.
WHOLE FARM PLANNING REPORT SURVEYS NINE ACTIVITIES
Whole Farm Planning: A Survey of North American Experiments,
a new report just released by the Wallace Institute, examines
nine whole farm planning activities in the United States and
Canada. The survey and analysis concluded that because whole
farm planning has not attracted a uniform constituency, it cannot
be a simple, straightforward exercise. Author Elizabeth Higgins
also concluded that the environmental regulations that make
planning an attractive economic option are driving much of the
interest in whole farm planning, and that mandatory farm planning
as a part of widespread regulations would likely result in plans
that are either focused on single resources or extremely costly.
The report also identifies several areas for improvement in most
of the whole farm planning programs surveyed. The full report is
$10 from the Wallace Institute, 9200 Edmonston Road, #117,
Greenbelt, MD 20770; (301) 441-8777; e-mail
hawiaa@access.digex.net; on the Internet, http://www.hawiaa.org.
EPA, USDA NAME FOOD QUALITY PROTECTION ACT ADVISORY GROUP
Responding to criticism from industry, environmentalists,
and public health advocates, the EPA and USDA have established a
Tolerance Reassessment Advisory Committee to advise the agencies
on implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act. The
committee will explore helping EPA set priorities in considering
broad categories of pesticides such as organophosphates, and
speed the pace of decisions on pesticide safety. Committee
members representing environmental/consumer organizations and
farmworkers are Sara Lynch, World Wildlife Fund; Carolyn Brickey,
National Campaign for Pesticide Policy Reform; Ken Cook,
Environmental Working Group; Jeannine Kenney, Consumers Union;
John Adams, Natural Resources Defense Council; Marion Moses,
Pesticide Education Center; Nelson Carrasquillo, C.A.T.A.; and
Shelley Davis, Farmworkers Justice Fund. Members representing
agriculture and farmers are Bill Spencer, Yuma, AZ; Brad Luckey,
Imperial County, CA; Dan Botts, Florida Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Association; Wally Ewart, Northwest Horticultural Council;
William Lovelady, National Cotton Council; Jim Czub, National
Corn Growers Association; Larry Elworth, Program for Strategic
Pest Management; Charles Mellinger, NAICC; Robin Spitko, Plant
Pathologist; and Steven Pavich, Terra Bella, CA. A list of all
members is available from EPA at (202) 260-4355.
POSITIONS
Central California organic agricultural operation seeks
Operations Manager; contact Larry V. Combs, 4909 Stockdale
Highway, #289, Bakersfield, CA 93309; (805) 831-0149; e-mail
Search4Um@aol.com; fax (805) 831-1839.
Food Animal Concerns Trust seeks a Farm Program Manager for
its egg production program; send resume to Richard Wood, FACT,
P.O. Box 14599, Chicago, IL 60614; e-mail RRWood@ix.netcom.com
UPCOMING EVENTS
June 24-26, in Traverse City, MI, and July 13-15, in Ames,
IA, "Facing a Watershed: Managing Profitable and Sustainable
Landscapes in the 21st Century," a workshop sponsored by the SARE
Professional Development Program, will be held; contact Heidi
Carter, Education Coordinator, University of Nebraska, Center for
Sustainable Agricultural Systems, (402) 472-0917; e-mail
csas007@unlvm.unl.edu
June 28, Trust for the Future's Descendants Day will be held
in Nashville, TN; contact Bill Howell or Tim Kyne, 2704 12th Ave.
So., Nashville, TN 37204; (615) 297-2269; e-mail chowell@edge.net
July 1-August 7, Intensive Permaculture Course/Self-Reliance
Internship will be held in Basalt, CO; contact Central Rocky
Mountain Permaculture Institute, P.O. Box 631, Basalt, CO 81621;
(970) 927-4158; e-mail permacul@rof.net
July 3-5, "Straw Bale Construction," and July 31-August 2,
"Building with Earth and Straw," permaculture programs, will be
held in Black Mountain, N.C.; contact Culture's Edge, 1025 Camp
Elliott Road, Black Mountain, N.C. 28711; (828) 298-2399; e-mail
culturesedge@earthaven.org
July 5-9, "Balancing Resource Issues: Land, Water, and
People," the Soil and Water Conservation Society's Annual
Conference, will be held in San Diego, CA; contact SWCS, 7515 NE
Ankeny Road, Ankeny, IA 50021; fax (515) 289-1227; materials are
available on the Internet at http://www.swcs.org/
July 7-9, Ag Expo will be held at Michigan State University,
East Lansing; contact Barbara Brochu, 1-800-366-7055.
July 8-10, Fuel Ethanol workshop will be held in South Bend,
IN; contact Fuel Ethanol Workshop, 5015 Red Gulch, P.O. Box 159,
Cotopaxi, CO 81223; (719) 942-4353; e-mail etoh85@aol.com
July 11, Polyface Farm Field Day will be held in Swoope, VA;
contact Acres USA, P.O. Box 8800, Metairie, LA 70011; 1-800-355-
5313.
July 23, Milan No-Till Crop Production Field Day and
Research Tours will be held in Milan, TN; contact Dr. Blake
Brown, Milan Experiment Station, 6505 Ellington Drive, Milan, TN
38358; (901) 686-7362; e-mail utmilan@usit.net
July 29, "Tools for Transitioning" Field Day will be held in
Holtwood, PA; contact Steve Groff, Cedar Meadow Farm, 679
Hilldale Road, Holtwood, PA 17523; (717) 284-5152; e-mail
sgroff@epix.net; information is available on the Internet at
http://www.cedarmeadowfarm.com
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