Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture
9200 Edmonston Road, #117
Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 441-8777
E-mail: hawiaa@access.digex.net
Table of Contents
Research Title Moves Forward in Senate Ag Committee 1
House Ag Committee Questions Future USDA Research 2
Clean Water Bill Would Eliminate Factory Farm Controls 2
Resources 3
Position 3
Lugar, Leahy Introduce Resource Conservation Act 3
Sustainable Ag Program Funding Survives House Vote 4
ARS Targets Fruit Growers in Northwest for IPM Program 4
Congress Could "Drastically" Alter Food Safety Laws 4
Upcoming Events 5
RESEARCH TITLE MOVES FORWARD IN SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
last month tentatively approved the Research, Trade, Credit, and
Rural Development Farm Bill Titles to be packaged into the
Committee's Farm Bill, due to be reported this fall. Senators
accepted without amendment the Research Title proposed by Senator
Lugar, which was the product of two weeks of Senate staff
negotiations during which conflict focused on the Lugar proposal
to radically alter the purposes of agricultural research adopted
in the 1990 Farm Bill. Eventually the Lugar proposal was
modified to include social and resource protection objectives,
but even in its current form, it is a retreat from the 1990
benchmark language.
The title also restructures advisory committees by
establishing one 25-member national advisory committee to oversee
all Research, Education, and Extension operations and by
eliminating several existing committees, including the National
Sustainable Agriculture Coordinating Council, Agricultural
Science and Technology Review Board, Joint Council on Food and
Agricultural Science, and the Users Advisory Board.
Most research priorities identified by the Administration
were included in the Senate bill, including the new advisory
committee structure, a competitive review process for facility
awards, and a grant authority to restrict germplasm access to
countries that fail to reciprocate in germplasm trade. Senator
Lugar has announced that he will seek approval for an additional
research provision, the redirection of $500 million from the
Commodity Credit Corporation to research competitive grants,
later this year during discussion of the commodity programs.
HOUSE AG COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS FUTURE USDA RESEARCH
The leadership of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee has
developed and distributed a list of 57 questions about the future
of Federal agricultural research, education, and extension. In a
letter to "leaders in national agricultural research," Committee
Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS), ranking minority member Rep. E Kika
de la Garza (D-TX), Rep. Wayne Allard (R-CO), and Rep. Tim
Johnson (D-SD) described the "discussion questions which we hope
will give you the opportunity to provide valuable insight to the
Committee on how our limited Federal research money can be better
utilized." The Committee requests responses to the questions by
Nov. 3.
The list of questions covers a range of topics for
discussion such as research goals, priority-setting, funding
considerations, education, and extension, including:
* To what extent should goal-setting and goals in
agricultural research be cognizant of and coordinated with
research activities in the rest of the Federal research sector?
* Is Federally funded agricultural research focused on the
issues of highest priority for producers, processors, and
consumers?
* What options should Congress consider to improve the
delivery, results, and benefits of Federally funded agricultural
research?
* Is the current formula used for allocating Federal funds
to land grant universities fair, reasonable, and does it address
changing conditions?
* What, if any role should the Extension Service play in
dealing with the social issues facing farmers and rural
communities?
For a complete copy of the questions, contact Dr. John
Goldberg of the House Agriculture Committee at (202) 225-4980.
CLEAN WATER BILL WOULD ELIMINATE CONTROLS ON FACTORY FARMS, SAYS
NRDC
A Clean Water Act bill passed by the U.S. House of
Representatives (H.R. 961) "could effectively eliminate Clean
Water Act controls on factory farms," according to a new report
by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The bill "could
mean more toxic animal waste spills like the huge hog waste spill
[in June] in North Carolina," NRDC said, referring to the 25-
million-gallons of hog waste that spilled out of the Oceanview
hog farm's lagoon, killed an estimated 4,000 fish, closed a
nearby river to swimmers and boaters, and threatened shellfish
beds 15 miles downstream. According to NRDC, the Clean Water
proposal in Congress would not require factory farms to determine
whether the manure they dumped was harmful, to get a permit from
the Corps of Engineers before building a waste lagoon in a
wetland, or to be held accountable for any discharge of manure
waste into U.S. waters. The bill also removes whole categories
of the factory farm industry from the definition of "Confined
Animal Feeding Operations," thus removing them from permit
requirements and controls.
"Hog Wash: Factory Farm Giveaways in Clean Water Proposals,"
is available for $5 plus $1.45 shipping from NRDC Publications
Department, 40 West 20th St., New York, N.Y. 10011.
RESOURCES
University of Minnesota has established a new graduate minor
program in Sustainable Agriculture Systems; for information,
contact Mary Brakke, Program Coordinator, c/o Minnesota Institute
for Sustainable Agriculture, 411 Borlaug Hall, University of
Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108-1013; (612) 624-1222; e-mail,
brakk001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
"Practices and Performance of California's Organically Grown
Crops" is a series of studies on almonds, apples, cotton, wine
grapes, rice, processing tomatoes, and walnuts, $1 each; contact
Department of Agricultural Economics, Attn: Linda Fugitt,
University of California, Davis, CA 95616; (916) 752-9376.
"Animal Agriculture: Information on Waste Management and
Water Quality Issues" is free from the U.S. General Accounting
Office, P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg, MD 20884-6015; (202) 512-
6000; fax, (301) 258-4066.
"The Conservation Reserve: A Survey of Research and Interest
Groups" is $12 from Council for Agricultural Science and
Technology, 4420 West Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014-3447; (515)
292-2125.
"Impacts of the Delaney Clause on California Agriculture" is
free from California Department of Food and Agriculture, Office
of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis, 1220 N St., Sacramento,
CA 95814; (916) 654-0462.
POSITION
USDA Office of Sustainable Agriculture Programs seeks an
Associate Director (application deadline Sept. 15) and a
Communications Specialist (deadline Aug. 31); send resume,
letter, writing samples, and three references to Dr. Robert L.
Myers, USDA Office of Sustainable Ag Programs, Ag Box 0910,
Washington, D.C. 20250-0910; (202) 720-5623.
SENATORS LUGAR, LEAHY INTRODUCE AG RESOURCE CONSERVATION ACT
Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have
introduced the Agricultural Resource Conservation Act (S. 854),
which will form the framework for the Senate Farm Bill
Conservation Title. The bill, which is supported by the Campaign
for Sustainable Agriculture and the Wallace Institute, would
consolidate existing conservation programs into a single,
streamlined program, and extend the Conservation Reserve Program
(CRP) as a long-term protection program using long-term
agreements and permanent easements. It would increase the cost-
effectiveness of the CRP by focusing on the most environmentally
sensitive land and encouraging partial field enrollments, such as
filterstrips, contour grass strips, wellhead protection zones,
and shelterbelts. It would also give priority to sustainable
production, rather than wholesale land retirement, by merging
cost share and incentive programs to encourage various
conservation practices. The bill calls for implementation of
state-level technical committees to provide local input in
prioritizing agricultural conservation needs. The Senate
Agriculture Committee is expected to take up the Lugar-Leahy bill
in September.
SUSTAINABLE AG PROGRAM FUNDING SURVIVES HOUSE FLOOR VOTE
The funding levels for sustainable agriculture programs in
the USDA appropriations bill for the 1996 Fiscal Year, which had
been approved by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, were
maintained in a vote by the full House of Representatives last
month. Here is a summary of how sustainable agriculture programs
fared: SARE: An $8 million appropriation was approved for the
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. SATDTP:
A $3.5 million appropriation was approved for the Sustainable
Agriculture Technology Development and Transfer Program. OFPA: A
$556,000 appropriation was approved for the Organic Foods
Production Act. WQIP: An $11 million appropriation was approved
for the Water Quality Incentive Program. WRP: A $77 million
appropriation was approved for the Wetlands Reserve Program.
NRCS: An appropriation of $629.9 million was approved for the
Natural Resources Conservation Service.
ARS TARGETS FRUIT GROWERS IN NORTHWEST FOR IPM PROGRAM
The USDA's Agricultural Research Service, in an effort to
place 75 percent of all U.S. acreage under some form of
integrated pest management (IPM) by the turn of the century, has
implemented an areawide pest management initiative with fruit
growers in the Pacific Northwest. The first program is targeted
at the codling moth by incorporating IPM technologies that have
had only limited practice in individual orchards, and applying
them in contiguous orchards owned and managed by several growers,
according to an article in Agricultural Research (July, 1995).
While the main tactic for suppression of the codling moth will be
mating disruption, other tactics will include Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) sprays, and parasite and sterile male codling
moth releases over large areas. For information, contact Robert
M. Faust, USDA-ARS National Program Staff, Bldg. 005, 10300
Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-2350; (301) 504-6918.
CONGRESS COULD "DRASTICALLY" ALTER FOOD SAFETY LAWS, SAYS N.Y.
TIMES
Scattered throughout several bills currently in Congress are
measures that could "alter rules on food safety drastically,"
according to an article in The New York Times (July 3, 1995).
"The bills would reduce the burden on businesses to prove that
food is safe and would increase the burden on government agencies
to prove that proposed rules would reduce risks to the public and
would be worth the cost," the article said. Among the measures
being considered is an appropriations amendment that would repeal
the Delaney Clause, which forbids even the smallest amount of any
carcinogen in processed food; that bill is awaiting a floor vote
in the House of Representatives. The House is also considering a
pesticide regulation bill which would force the EPA to give
greater weight to economic benefits for farmers and food
processors than it now does, according to the article.
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 28-30, "Composting and Recycling: Making the
Economics Work," the BioCycle '95 conference, will be held in
Cincinnati, OH; call BioCycle, 419 State Ave., Emmaus, PA 18049;
1-800-661-4905.
August 28, farm field days will be held at the farm of Doug
Alert and Margaret Smith, Hampton, IA, (515) 456-4328; August 31,
at the farms of Vic and Cindy Madsen, Audubon, IA, (712) 563-
3044; and Ronald and Maria Rosmann, Harlan, IA, (712) 627-4653;
September 1, at the Neely-Kinyon Research Farm, Greenfield, IA,
contact Adair County Extension office, (515) 743-8412; and
September 7, at the farm of Richard and Sharon Thompson, Boone,
IA, (515) 432-1560.
September 8, field day will be held at the farm of Marvin
and Carol Manges, Yale, IL; contact Walt Townsend, Southeastern
Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Association, (618) 842-3702.
September 9, "Growing Your Own Food: An Introduction to
Small-Scale Biointensive Food-Raising," will be held in Willits,
CA; contact Ecology Action, 5798 Ridgewood Road, Willits, CA
95490-9730; (707) 459-0150.
September 11-12, "Food and Fiber Production Strategies for
the 21st Century," the 44th Agricultural Research Institute
Annual Meeting, will be held in Bethesda, MD; contact ARI, (301)
530-7122.
September 11-15, "Edible Perennial Landscaping," a summer
course, will be held at Sterling College, Craftsbury, VT; contact
Sterling College, 1-800-648-3591.
September 12, field day will be held at the Louis Reuschel
Farm, Golden, IL, sponsored by Western Illinois Sustainable
Agriculture Society; contact Louis Reuschel, (217) 696-2493.
September 13-14, "National Teleconference on Sustainable
Communities," sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, will
be held; to locate a downlink, contact Sustainable Communities
Teleconference, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th and
Constitution, Room 5222, Washington, D.C. 20230; 1-800-734-2235.
September 16-17, New Jersey Organic Country Fair will be
held in Pennington, N.J.; contact Julie Pace, Donna Batcho,
Northeast Organic Farming Association, (609) 737-6848.
September 17-19, "Alligators, Organics & You: Replacing
Pesticides and Advancing Alternatives," the 1995 PAN North
America Conference, will be held in Menlo Park, CA; contact
Brenda Willoughby or Wendy Anderson at PANNA, (415) 541-9140; e-
mail panna@panna.org
September 18-29, a technical short course on "Agricultural
Ecology" will be held at the University of Florida, Gainesville;
contact the University, International Programs/FANR, Training
Unit, P.O. Box 110329, Gainesville, FL 32611-0329; (904) 392-
1965; e-mail ITD@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
September 19-21, "Biodiversity in Agriculture" will be held
in Beijing, China; contact Sandra Bukkens, Organizing
Secretariat, Istituto Nazionale della Nutrizione, Via Ardeatina,
546, 00178 Rome, Italy; phone 39-6-50-32-421; e-mail
Giampietro@in8800.ingrm.it
September 21-23, "Therapeutic Landscapes: Designing Gardens
for Health and Healing," and optional garden tour, will be held
at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, OH; contact Cleveland
Botanical Garden, 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106; (216)
721-1600.
September 22-29, "Introduction to Biodynamics for Beginners
in Agriculture;" and September 29-30, "Fall Harvest Organic-
Biodynamic Gardening & Food Preserving Workshop," will be held at
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy, WI; contact
MFAI, W2493 County Road ES, East Troy, WI 53120; (414) 642-3303.
September 30, Second Annual Country Living Field Day will be
held in Carroll County, OH; contact Ohio State University
Extension, (216) 627-4310.
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