Sustainable
Farming Connection |
Where
farmers find and share information. |
Alternative Agriculture News For
November 1998, from the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture.
Biotechnology May Threaten Sustainable Farming, Says N.Y. Times
Research Initiative Deleted from Final Budget
Organic Papers Available on Web Sites
Wallace Institute Seeks New Executive Director
New Reports Examine Soil Quality, Industrialization
Resource
Civil War in Guatemala Results in Organic Farming Boom
USDA Creates Council on Small Farms
Jolly Names to Research, Extension Advisory Board
Positions
Upcoming Events
Back Issues
©1998, Henry A. Wallace Institute
for Alternative Agriculture, 9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770.
Phone: (301) 441-8777. E-mail:
hawiaa@access.digex.net.
This newsletter is also available to subscribers to the
sanet-mg discussion
group. To subscribe, send a message to:
almanac@ces.ncsu.edu. Leave the
subject line blank and in the body of the message type only: subscribe sanet-mg
Subscription information
for the hard-copy version is available at the Wallace
Institute website.
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 current issue (Volume
13, No. 3) features articles on:
- Alternative practices for managing plant-parasitic nematodes.
- The impact of agricultural management on nitrate concentrations in
drainage waters.
- An assessment of legume and non-legume ground covers on coleoptera.
- The agronomic and economic performance of wheat and canola-based
double-crop systems.
- Soil improvement following addition of chipped wood.
- An examination of microbiological and biochemical parameters in a
long-term fertilization trial.
Subscriptions to AJAA are $44 for libraries; $24 for individuals; and $12
for students. Find more information
about AJAA at he Wallace Institute
website.
Biotechnology May Threaten Sustainable Farming, Says N.Y. Times
Though biotechnology is being heralded by industry as the tool to "rescue
the American food chain," that "version of sustainable agriculture
may threaten precisely those farmers who pioneered sustainable farming,"
according to a cover story in The New York Times Magazine (October 25,
1998). "Organic farmers are up in arms: the widespread use of Bt in
biotech crops is likely to lead to insect resistance, thus robbing organic
growers of one of their most critical tools."
By planting
genetically altered plants, "we have introduced something novel into the
environment and the food chain, the consequences of which are not -- and at
this point, cannot be -- completely understood." One unknown is the
resistance problem, which industry scientists say can be postponed for 30
years, but other scientists say will come within three to five years.
In the article, author Michael Pollan interviews farmers who plant
genetically engineered potatoes, and a farmer who plants organically grown
potatoes, concluding that organic agriculture "doesn't leave much room for
the Monsantos of this world: organic farmers buy remarkably little -- some
seed, a few tons of compost, maybe a few gallons of ladybugs."
Organic
farmers have also rejected the "cornerstone of industrial agriculture"
-- the economies of scale that only a monoculture can achieve, according to the
article. In addition, the USDA has long been "hostile" to organic
methods, Pollan writes.
"Like the silver bullets that preceded them -- the modern
hybrids, the pesticides and the chemical fertilizers -- the new biotech crops
will probably, as advertised, increase yields. But equally important, they
will also speed the process by which agriculture is being concentrated in a
shrinking number of corporate hands."
Research Initiative Deleted from Final Budget
The proposed new federal Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food
Systems, slated to start in Fiscal Year 1999 as a five-year, $600 million
competitive grants program, was deleted last month from the final agriculture
appropriations bill. Although the Senate had approved $120 million for the
program, the House of Representatives deleted those funds, and the final
conference committee upheld the House vote. The final USDA budget was included
in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill passed by Congress.
Here are the
final appropriations approved by Congress for several sustainable agriculture
programs:
- SARE: $8 million appropriation approved for the Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education program, the same as FY98.
- SAPDP: $3.3 million appropriation approved for the SARE (Chapter
3) Professional Development Program, the same as FY98.
- ATTRA: $1.3 million appropriation approved for the Appropriate
Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, the same as FY98.
- Organic Programs: Additional funds above last year's appropriation
of $500,000 were allocated for the National Organic Standards Board, with the
final amount to be determined by the Secretary in consultation with Congress.
The amount is expected to include an increase of at least 50%.
- CFO: All funds deleted for the Conservation Farm Option. FY98's
appropriation was $15 million.
- EQIP: $174 million appropriation approved for the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program, a decrease from the FY98 appropriation of $200
million.
- WRP: $90 million appropriation approved for the Wetlands Reserve
Program, a decrease from the FY98 appropriation of $219 million.
- CFSA: $2.5 million appropriation approved for the Community Food
Security Act.
- FRA: All funds deleted for the Fund for Rural America. The Farm
Bill did not authorize any FRA funds for FY98.
Organic Papers Available on Web Sites
Three "current thinking papers" about the proposed regulations
for national organic standards are now available on two federal government Web
sites. The National Organic Standards Board asked the USDA to prepare the
papers to signal to the organic community the potential direction of USDA
actions.
The papers, which were presented at the NOSB's meeting late
last month, cover three issues: paraciticide and antibiotic use; livestock
confinement; and revocation of certification authority. They are available on
the USDA's Web site at
http://www.usda.gov; and on the Federal
Register Web site at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html.
Wallace Institute Seeks New Executive Director
The Wallace Institute is seeking a new Executive Director to start on June
1, 1999. Garth Youngberg, who has served as the Institute's Executive Director
since its founding in 1983, has resigned as Executive Director, but will
continue with the Institute in an advisory and consultative role.
A
complete job description and application instructions are available from the
Wallace Institute, 9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770-1551; (301)
441-8777; on the Internet at http://www.hawiaa.org;
or by e-mail hawiaa@access.digex.net
(put "Search Committee" in subject).
New Reports Examine Soil Quality, Industrialization
Two new reports just published by the Wallace Institute examine soil
quality's contribution to environmental health, and industrialization in U.S.
rural communities.
From the Ground Up: Exploring Soil Quality's
Contribution to Environmental Health, by Edward Jaenicke of the University
of Tennessee, investigates the current state of scientific knowledge on soil
quality and points out research gaps that must be filled before soil policy can
target potential social benefits. The report describes several timely
soil-quality issues, including the potential for healthy soils to sequester
vast amounts of atmospheric carbon, which contributes to global warming; the
need to incorporate an understanding of healthy soil quality when increasing
the efficiency of farm inputs and profits through precision farming; and the
benefits of a healthy soil ecology for food safety.
Agricultural Industrialization in the American Countryside, by
Emery Castle of Oregon State University, offers an approach for rural
communities as they face conflicts resulting from the spread of
industrialization, particularly large confined animal feeding facilities.
These conflicts include farmer against farmer, rural neighbor against farmer,
rural townspeople against immigrant farm laborers, environmental advocates
against agri-business, and local versus state governments. The report explains
the concept of "rural capital stock," in which natural, human, and
social capital elements are used to measure and evaluate the effects of
industrialized farms.
Both reports will be available after November 6 on the Wallace
Institute's Web site at http://www.hawiaa.org;
each is $10 from the Wallace Institute, 9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt,
MD 20770; (301) 441-8777.
Resource
- Greenbook 98: A Diversity of Tools is available from Energy and
Sustainable Agriculture Program, Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture, 90 W. Plato
Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107; (651) 296-7673.
Civil War in Guatemala Results in Organic Farming Boom
An unexpected but beneficial result of the 35-year civil war in Guatemala
has turned out to be the growth of small-scale organic farmers who are "capitalizing
on the growth in the organic products market," according to an article in
The Wall Street Journal (October 9, 1998).
During the civil war, farmers abandoned their land, which became
jungle again and purified of its pesticides. Wild native plants and spices
began to thrive at the same time farmers learned of "the comparative
advantages of selling organic premium-priced goods, making them some of the
country's first enviro-capitalists."
For coffee and spices,
organic farming requires a shift away from large plantations to smaller farms,
which has helped the country's peasant farmers, according to the article.
These farmers cannot afford expensive chemicals or tractors, but are now
catering to the U.S. and European buyers who pay premiums for organic produce.
"Selling eco-sensitive produce into the global marketplace
offers Guatemala the chance to compete on something besides price....Guatemala
has a comparative advantage in organic coffee, cacao, spices and natural dyes
and can thus command premium prices."
USDA Creates Council on Small Farms
In response to the recommendations of the Small Farms Commission, the USDA
last month created a new Council on Small Farms and a Small Farms Office within
the agency.
The office will identify additional opportunities for
USDA involvement in small farms issues and develop a strategic plan and
organization structure to integrate a small farm emphasis into USDA policies
and programs. The council will assure coordination of the development of
policy as it applies to small farms and the necessary follow-through to
implement policy decisions. The Small Farms Commission includes two members of
the Wallace Institute's Board of Directors: Commission Vice Chair Dr. Desmond
Jolly of California, and Dr. Frederick Magdoff of Vermont.
Jolly Names to Research, Extension Advisory Board
Dr. Desmond A. Jolly, a member of the Wallace Institute's Board of
Directors, has been named to serve a three-year term on the USDA's National
Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board. Dr.
Jolly, Vice Chair of the National Commission on Small Farms and Director of
University of California-Davis Small Farms Center, is one of eight new members
of the advisory board.
The others are John Clemmons, rancher, N.M.;
Martin Massengale, president emeritus, University of Nebraska Center of
Grassland Studies; Walter Hill, Dean of Agriculture, Tuskegee University, AL;
Gerald Monette, President, Turtle Mountain Community College, N.D.; Cynthia
Dunn, director, Pennsylvania Audubon Society; T. Michael Freeze, owner, Keo
Fish Farms, AR; and William Scouten, director, Utah State University
Biotechnology Center.
The board advises the USDA Secretary and land-grant colleges and
universities on agricultural policy and priorities.
Positions
- Iowa State University seeks applicants for the Henry A. Wallace Endowed
Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, a three- to five-year term position;
information about the Chair is available on the Internet at
http://www.leopold.istate.edu;
application deadline is February 1, 1999; send summary of education, research
accomplishments, and other professional activities, list of publications, and
names of three references to Dr. Dennis Keeney, Chair, Search Committee for
Wallace Endowed Chair, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, 209 Curtiss
Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011; e-mail
drkeeney@iastate.edu
- Fires of Hope seeks a Grassroots Campaign Coordinator to promote
sustainable agriculture in Maryland; send cover letter, resume, and three
writing samples to Community Media Inc., c/o Vanguard Communications, 1019 19th
St., NW, #1200, Washington, D.C. 20036.
Upcoming Events
For additional listings, see the
Sustainable Agriculture
Network's Calendar of Events.
- December 5, Midwest Small Farm Conference and Trade Show will be held in
Noblesville, IN; contact Sustainable Earth, 100 Georgton Ct., West Lafayette,
IN 47906; (765) 463-9366; e-mail sbonney@iquest.net
- December 5-6, "Diversified Vegetable Production & Management for
Small & Large-Scale Organic Farmers"; January 16-17, 1999, "Biological
Principles of Organic Agriculture"; and February 20, 1999, "Creating
Successful Grower Marketing Cooperatives" will be held in Albany, NY;
contact Regional Farm & Food Project, 27 Elm St., Albany, NY 12202; (518)
426-9331.
- December 7-8, Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation
Districts' Annual Convention and Trade Show will be held in Bloomington;
contact Steve Humerickhouse, Government Training Service, 480 Cedar St., #401,
St. Paul, MN 55101; (651) 222-7409; e-mail gts@mngts.org
- December 8, "Risks and Opportunities for California Agriculture"
will be held in Sacramento, CA; contact Agricultural Issues Center, University
of California Davis, (530) 752-2320; e-mail
agissues@ucdavis.edu
- December 8-10, "Dairy Feeding Systems: Management, Components, and
Nutrients" will be held in Camp Hill, PA; contact Northeast Regional
Agricultural Engineering Service, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853; (607)
255-7654; e-mail NRAES@CORNELL.EDU
- December 10, "Farming Profitably in a Changing Environment" will
be held in Urbana, IL; contact Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign, Agroecology Sustainable Agriculture Program, (217)
968-5512; e-mail cavanaughd@ces.aces.uiuc.edu
- December 10-12, "Tools of the Trade," an eco-farming conference,
will be held in Minneapolis, MN; contact ACRES USA, P.O. Box 8800, Metairie,
LA 70011; 1-800-355-5313.
- December 15, "Passing on the Farm" workshop will be held in
Chambersburg; contact Pennsylvania Farm Link, Inc., Point Shopping Center,
#205, Harrisburg, PA 17111; (717) 558-7726; e-mail
pafarmlink@redrose.net
©1998 Committee for
Sustainable Farm Publishing
Please read about our
usage permission policy and disclaimer.
Send
comments, suggestions and questions to the site author:
Craig Cramer
cdcramer@clarityconnect.com
Coded using HoTMetaL Pro 3.0.
Best viewed in
Netscape 3.0
or later. Please see our credits page
for more information.
http://sunsite.unc.edu/farming-connection/news/aanews/9811.htm |