The Environmental Protection Agency loves family farmers. Let me count the ways…ethanol, atrazine, carbofuran, water quality issue related to livestock operations…the list goes on. Like a drunken sailor on shore leave one of government’s most crucial agencies seems to be out of control and stumbling from one issue to the next with complete disregard for science, protocol or the future of our most important profession.
From a bogus land use argument that could curtail future ethanol expansion to an ongoing review of atrazine, arguably the most widely studied and repeatedly exonerated chemical of all time, EPA has clearly lost its grip on its operational directive if not its mission.
The most recent example is EPA’s decision to move forward with banning carbofuran (Furadan), one of the few effective products against rootworm available on the market. (It also makes non-biotech corn production possible to service important overseas markets).
“EPA’s unprecedented attempt to deny any review of its science deprives the registrant and the growers who use carbofuran the right to prove that the product is safe, and represents a bold abuse of power in contradiction of the agency’s earlier commitments to transparency and good science,” said Dr. Michael Morelli, Director of Global Regulatory Affairs for FMC Corporation. (more…)
Leadership in agricultural advocacy is critical today, maybe more so than ever. So now would be a great time to join a farm organization. They provide a vehicle for education on critical issues, leadership training, and timely notifications on when you need to take targeted action. And if you haven’t gotten engaged online through Social Media, there won’t be a better time.
Since you have a critical job, like feeding and fueling the world, it is understandable that you have other things on your radar but there are things you can do besides sending a membership check that are equally important. Amazingly enough they do not take a lot of time but do more good than you know. Something as simple as an email to a Congressman or a text message to a Senator can affect serious change when it is in concert with like-minded growers across the U.S.
If you really want to tell consumers how and why you farm a computer or a cell phone can be your megaphone even in the busiest of times. Michele Payn-Knoper, who has deep Ag roots, says bluntly that Social Media “is Ag’s opportunity to reach a massive number of people” and even the right people. (check out her latest video message).
In ancient times messengers were treated with great respect because they were a vital lifeline regarding world events that could make or break your business or even your nation. Apparently times have changed.
Recently, DTN interviewed the increasingly infamous Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” who is also featured in the new documentary Food Inc., and the resulting article drew a considerable amount of attention and criticism from the Ag community.
So much so that Urban Lehner, Editor and Chief of DTN, felt compelled to write a column explaining why the Ag-Centered media outlet would provide a forum for such a food heretic.
In his own words, “When DTN writes about such people as Michael Pollan whose views are contrary to those of the majority of our readers, it isn’t because we think all their views are correct. It’s because we think such people have the power to shape the political environment in which agriculture will operate in the future.” Lehner said. “Pollan’s views certainly aren’t those of most Midwestern commercial farmers. Among other things, he sees corn as an agent of evil, responsible for much of what’s wrong with the modern American diet. But when those farmers call him an idiot they make the classic mistake of underestimating a formidable opponent.”
Lehner likened the running of Pollan’s comments to the same reason DTN weathermen predict stormy weather…forewarned is fore-armed. Having been exposed to Mr. Pollan’s message as well as its’ effect on consumers and more importantly on decision leaders in Washington, D.C., I can guarantee you the threat of his growing influence is real.
“The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” the New York Times best seller written by Pollan, is swallowed by many well-reasoned consumers as foodie gospel. DTN and Urban Lehner deserve the industry’s gratitude for alerting us to the hurricane on the horizon. His advice that farmers all should read his book is solid. If you don’t want to contribute to Mr. Pollan’s personal wealth buy a copy and share it with friends…lots of friends.
No matter what your opinion of the Food Inc. documentary might be, my opinion of the latest social media tool – Twitter – took a huge leap to the positive side today. Twitter was atwitter today with one of the liveliest discussions on the Food. Inc. movie or agriculture in general that I have seen in a long time.
Some of the online comments were rude, many were funny or insightful, some were hopelessly naive, and all made you think at some level. And interestingly enough many from the agriculture community from the crop and livestock side were in the thick of the discussion….slow phone line speed and all. You are to be commended. It you aren’t on Twitter, get their quick…. www.twitter.com
Robert Kenner, Food Inc. Director, was featured and online to answer questions. (Long after Mr. Kenner left the discussion tweets continued…for 4 hours before I stopped keeping track) He may have created a questionable documentary and as one participant in the Twitter chat said today…”food and politics should never be served on the same plate,” but he deserves credit for putting himself out there in such a public forum. And at least this forum, unlike Good Morning America or the upcoming Nightline segment on his project, allowed both sides to be heard. For a movie reviewer’s perspective go to: http://bit.ly/14IocQ
If you don’t have time here it is in a nutshell:
“The side effect of a well-executed horror film is lack of sleep. The side effect of a well-executed documentary on corruption of our food supply is lack of appetite. Personally? I left “Food, Inc.,” went straight to lunch and had a big ole’ fried-chicken salad. Unfortunately for this film, one of the most valuable elements of education is learning to separate fact from bias and to seek proof in the form of evidence. “Food, Inc.” seems to cloud the presentation with a whole lot of bias and little proof.”
Now on to some jewels from today’s Twitter discussion:
I loved Variety’s review of Food Inc…it did for supermarkets what Jaws did for the beach.
How do you answer the need to feed a doubling or global population without utilizing any technology? Seems selfish to not look beyond the U.S.
Farmers are growing what they are paid for. We need to create a system where they can make money growing healthier foods.
Going back to how cattle used to be raised would require an added 16.5 million acres of land.
Gotta point this out moviemakers, Roundup soybeans are not insect resistant but herbicide tolerant.
I think we need diversity is Ag which means men and women, big and small, modern and old school. Room for all in Ag
Ag employs 21 million or 15% of the total U.S. workforce. The only entity employing more is government.
Debate over the irrational concept of indirect land use change (ILUC) continues to rage on Capitol Hill and in the media.
Dr. Robert Zubrin, author of Energy Victory, had a commentary last week in Roll Call that hit the nail on the head when it comes to the irrationality of ILUC. Zubrin writes, “Whatever one might think of the right of poor foreign countries to economic development, the indirect analysis method of carbon accounting must be rejected by American policymakers because, if it is embraced, it must perforce prevent the implementation of any positive policies here, not just in biofuel production, but in any field of endeavor whatsoever.”
Zubrin says if ILUC is applied to biofuels, it should also be applied to “all measures that improve the economy, education, health, the environment or technology.” Why? “Because all of these help humanity, and so long as humanity engages in any activities that cause carbon emissions, anything that helps humanity can also be said to cause global warming.” That is simply brilliant.
Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said last week that he expects the controversial indirect land use change proposal for the renewable fuels standard will be removed in the final EPA rule.
“Quite frankly I can tell you we’ll never see it,” Harkin said. “With so many factors influencing land use in other nations, it’s impossible to show that biofuel crops are responsible. If the concept remains in EPA’s final rule, I’m relatively confident we have the votes to say no and overturn that.”
Finally, check out a Reuters commentary by Noam Ross last week on “Why the Ethanol Debate Isn’t Helping Anyone.” He points out, “The crux of the problem is not in how we measure the impact of ethanol, it is that developing world farmers clear and burn forests so they can plant more crops. Ethanol is just one of the pressures that speed the disastrous destruction of these forests.” Ross suggests that the ethanol industry become engaged in finding solutions “to reduce the pressure to clear land for agriculture by lobbying for global forest protection and working with partners in the agricultural industry to support technology transfer to the rural poor.”
This is what we need – a rational approach that involves helping the world produce food and fuel more efficiently and sustainably, instead of quibbling about how to measure something irrational.
The first Obama budget announced today would end direct payments for farms with large sales and incomes that receive a disproportionate amount of the payments, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaking at USDA’s Annual Ag Outlook Forum. According to Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, the president is “proposing to phase out those payments over time for farms with revenue of more than $500,000 a year.”
With that announcement coming out as the 2009 Commodity Classic was getting underway, it was the first question that came up during a press conference with National Corn Growers Association president Bob Dickey, a grower from Nebraska, who says they are very concerned about that statement but they need to examine the proposal closer.
“I can tell you that we will take a strong stand to defend out corn producers,” Dickey said. “We do have policy on that and we will defend our policy.”
The budget would also support the implementation of a 250-thousand dollar commodity program payment limit and reduce crop insurance subsidies.
On the plus side, Obama’s 3.55 trillion dollar budget for fiscal year 2010 would provide over 20-billion dollars in loans and grants to support and expand rural development activities and make investments to double the nation’s renewable energy capacity.
The Obama cabinet may well be one of the most Midwestern in recent memory.
Five out of 15, or one third of the cabinet-level nominations made by the president-elect are from the Corn Belt. They include former Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa as Secretary of Agriculture, former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota as Secretary for Health and Human Services, Representative Ray LaHood of Illinois for Secretary of Transportation and Arne Duncan of Illinois for Education Secretary. Obama is also keeping Robert Gates of Kansas as Secretary of Defense.
There are other high-level appointments from the Midwest and overall the corn growers are happy to have strong representation from the largest corn producing states in the new administration.
President-elect Obama has announced former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as his choice for Secretary of Agriculture and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary. Both appointments are good news for the agriculture industry.
Vilsack served two terms as governor of Iowa from from 1998 until 2006 and was a short-lived opponent of Obama’s in the presidential race. As governor, Vilsack was a strong supporter of ethanol and other biofuels as a way to help rural economies. In his brief run for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, Vilsack made the focus of his campaign a plan to end U.S dependence on foreign oil by promoting alternative energy sources.
By the way, the last Secretary of Agriculture from Iowa was Henry Wallace who served under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941. Wallace was a plant geneticist who founded what is now Pioneer Hi-Bred.
As for Salazar, the interior secretary will play a key role in setting the new administration’s environmental, energy and land-use policies.
Salazar has also has been a strong supporter of biofuels, this year co-sponsoring the Open Fuel Standard Act, legislation would require that half of all new automobiles starting in 2012 be flex-fuel vehicles warranted to operate on gasoline, ethanol, and methanol, or be warranted to operate on biodiesel. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter will have to appoint a replacement to complete Salazar’s term in the Senate through 2010. Among the contenders is Salazar’s brother, John, a potato farmer who serves in the U.S. House of Representatives.
How will agriculture fare under an Obama presidency? In an interview during the campaign with farm broadcaster Stewart Doan of Agri-Pulse, Obama talked about his agricultural policies.
“Number one, I come from an agricultural state,” Obama said. “As you know, Illinois has a lot of corn and a lot of beans and that means that during the time I was in the state legislature as well as in the United States Senate I’ve gotten familiar with agricultural issues and I have consistently been a strong supporter of agricultural issues.”
Obama says he supported the 2008 Farm Bill, “because I think that its important for us to have a strong safety net, food security requires it.” He also supports more reliable disaster relief for farmers and has been a strong supporter of biofuels.
When it comes to trade, Obama says his administration will be different than the Bush administration. “I want to see us move forward on a new round of agricultural trade agreements,” Obama said. “But I am going to be a tougher negotiator when it comes to trade than the Bush administration has been.”
Listen to the Agri-Pulse interview with Obama here:
The National Corn Growers Association has released the answers it received from the presidential candidates on issues important to agriculture. It is important to note that NCGA is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization that does not endorse candidates for any political office but only provides information to grower-members so they can make informed decisions.
That being said, growers should read all of the candidates responses to the issues and make up their minds for themselves. They will find some very stark differences between the two candidates on issues such as the farm bill and ethanol, for example.
On the farm bill, Senator Obama says he supports “a robust safety net that targets assistance appropriately and provides farmers with risk mitigation tools that protect them from weather and market conditions that are beyond their control. This includes traditional farm programs, crop insurance, and disaster assistance.”
Senator McCain supports a risk management program for agriculture that reflects the realities of the global marketplace for food, fuel and fiber in the 21st century. However, he says he “will oppose subsidies, which distort markets, artificially raise prices for consumers, and interfere with America’s ability to negotiate with our international trading partners to the detriment of the entire agriculture community.”
Similarly, McCain’s position on ethanol states, “I do not support the current system of tariffs, subsidies and mandates. Rather, as a country, we must focus on stimulating end-user demand for renewable energy and creating a consistent regulatory and tax framework that encourages investment in research, domestic refining capacity, and distribution systems to promote energy independence.”
Obama on ethanol: “I am a proud supporter of the Renewable Fuels Standard and tax incentives for biofuels. I’ll invest $150 billion over the next ten years in our green energy sector, enhancing farmer profitability, injecting capital into rural economies, and creating up to 5 million new jobs in the process – jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.”
These positions are likely going to make it a tough choice for Republican farmers this November.
The Environmental Protection Agency loves family farmers. Let me count the ways…ethanol, atrazine, carbofuran, water quality issue related to livestock operations…the list goes on. Like a drunken sailor on shore leave one of government’s most crucial agencies seems to be out of control and stumbling from one issue to the next with complete disregard for science, protocol or the future of our most important profession.
Leadership in agricultural advocacy is critical today, maybe more so than ever. So now would be a great time to 
Dr. Robert Zubrin, author of Energy Victory, had a 
With that announcement coming out as the 2009 Commodity Classic was getting underway, it was the first question that came up during a press conference with National Corn Growers Association president Bob Dickey, a grower from Nebraska, who says they are very concerned about that statement but they need to examine the proposal closer.
Five out of 15, or one third of the cabinet-level nominations made by the president-elect are from the Corn Belt. They include former Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa as Secretary of Agriculture, former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota as Secretary for Health and Human Services, Representative Ray LaHood of Illinois for Secretary of Transportation and Arne Duncan of Illinois for Education Secretary. Obama is also keeping Robert Gates of Kansas as Secretary of Defense.
President-elect Obama has announced former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as his choice for Secretary of Agriculture and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary. Both appointments are good news for the agriculture industry.
As for Salazar, the interior secretary will play a key role in setting the new administration’s environmental, energy and land-use policies. 
“Number one, I come from an agricultural state,” Obama said. “As you know, Illinois has a lot of corn and a lot of beans and that means that during the time I was in the state legislature as well as in the United States Senate I’ve gotten familiar with agricultural issues and I have consistently been a strong supporter of agricultural issues.”
That being said, growers should