Subject: Sus Ag News - 3/7/95

From: Michelle Thom <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 1995 09:29:25 -0800 (PST)

Sustainable Agriculture News
Produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
March 7, 1995
Volume 4, Number 3
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Headlines
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- Agribusiness Wants Piece of Farm Bill
- New Program to Assist Value-Added Enterprises
- EPA Triazine Review Up For Public Comment
- More Dairy Farmers Finding it Tougher to Stay In Business
- Hog News Wrap-Up
- Bill Would Require Compliance with Private Property Laws
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News Summaries
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Agribusiness Wants Piece of Farm Bill

Eighty companies and lobbying groups have formed a coalition which is 
seeking to increase production, lower commodity prices, idle fewer acres 
and acquire more government support for export activities.  Made up of 
interests ranging from the Sweetener Users Association to Cargill, the 
Coalition for a Competitive Food and Agricultural System says its effort is 
aimed at "educating members of Congress that agriculture doesn't begin 
and end on the farm."  According to Robert Petersen, president of the 
National Grain Trade Council, "We think it's time for bold reform."

Former Representative Tim Penny (D-MN) told participants at a recent 
meeting of Minnesota Farm Managers and Appraisers Inc. that change is 
unlikely to be drastic in the 1995 Farm Bill.  He said future profitability in 
agriculture rests upon the ability to export processed foods.  He predicted  
changes for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP); new requirements 
that pay farmers not to plant wetlands; broadening of flex acres; and 
elimination of set aside acres altogether.

Former Secretary of Agriculture Bob Bergland told the Minnesota Senate 
Agriculture Committee recently that nearly every aspect of agriculture 
policy should be scrapped and rebuilt.  Increasing farm income by paying 
higher prices for commodities is the first thing lawmakers should do.  
"Anything less than higher prices will keep people in the trough," 
Bergland said.  Among his recommendations were:  continuing CRP but 
only for fragile land and at market rental rates; junking the Export 
Enhancement Program (EEP); and allowing more experimentation with 
commodities.

Source:  Jerry Hagstrom, "Reform Moves," AGWEEK, February 26, 1995; 
Gary Gunderson, "Farm Bill Change May Come Slowly," AGRI NEWS, 
February 16, 1995; Gary Gunderson, "Bergland:  Farm Policy Irrelevant or 
an Irritation to Many Farmers," AGRI NEWS, February 23, 1995; Meeting 
Notes, February 8, 1995.

New Program to Assist Value-Added Enterprises

The Iowa legislature approved money for a program aimed at creating 
more new agriculturally based businesses.  Called the Value Added 
Agricultural Products and Processes Financial Assistance Program, the 
program will award $3.65 million in grants and loans to value-added 
industries which emphasize innovative products and processes and 
renewable fuels and by-products.  Director David Lyons characterized it as 
"win-win."

Source:  Gene Lucht, "Value-Added Products May Increase Prices ...," 
IOWA FARMER TODAY, February 18, 1995.

EPA Triazine Review Up For Public Comment

Farmers have until March 23 to comment on the Environmental Protection 
Agency's (EPA) review of the triazine class of herbicides, which includes 
cyanazine and atrazine.  An EPA paper released last year said the triazine 
class "may pose significant risks of cancer due to exposure to residues in 
food and drinking water and through exposure when mixing, loading and 
applying these pesticides."  Ciba Geigy disagrees and has launched a 
grassroots effort to encourage farmers to write EPA about the need for these 
herbicides.  All comments can be submitted to Public Response and 
Program Resources Branch (OPP-30000-60), Field Operations Division 
(7506C), Office of Pesticide Programs, EPA, 401 M Street SW, Washington, 
D.C. 20460.

Source:  Dan Zinkand, "EPA Reviewing Use of Triazine Herbicides," IOWA 
FARMER TODAY, February 18, 1995.

More Dairy Farmers Finding it Tougher to Stay In Business

Getting big or getting out are the only two options for dairy farmers today, 
says Dick Grell, a Nebraska farmer who recently sold his 117-head herd to 
go work on a neighboring dairy mega-farm.  Jeff Keown, a dairy specialist 
with the University of Nebraska, agreed saying many young farmers were 
trying to avoid government milk checks by expanding.  An ag economist 
from University of Nebraska said growth may depend on better production 
per cow and that producers may need to get average production up to 21,000 
pounds per cow per year before expanding.  

On that note, Wisconsin farmers recently found out that a 1,200 cow dairy 
operation will soon be open for business in northern Wisconsin.  The 
operation will be run by American Dairy Management Company, Inc., a 
subsidiary of Purina Mills.

Source:  "Dairy Farmers Increasingly Find They Must Expand or Sell Off 
Cows," AGRI NEWS, February 23, 1995; Joel McNair, "1,200-Cow Dairy 
Operation Planned in Langlade County," AGRI VIEW, January 27, 1995.

Hog News Wrap-Up

Environmentalists are pushing the North Carolina Senate Ethics 
Committee to hold a hearing on whether Senator Lauch Faircloth, who has 
consistently pushed for subsidies that benefit large hog producers, is using 
his position to make money in the hog business.  In Minnesota, two state 
representatives have introduced a bill that would enable smaller hog 
producers to pool their resources and form hog slaughtering cooperatives.  
And in North Dakota, Agriculture Commissioner Sarah Vogel said a bill 
recently introduced in the legislature would open up the state's anti-
corporate farm law by allowing various types of companies to invest in 
processing facilities, such as a proposed farrow-to-finish operation the bill 
is intended to help.  

Source:  "Senator Attacked for Hog Holdings," AGRI NEWS, February 23, 
1995; Paul Adams, "Bill Would OK Slaughtering Co-Ops," AGRI NEWS, 
February 23, 1995; Dave Clark, "Opponents Says Bill Would Expand 
Corporate Farming," FARM & RANCH GUIDE, February 10, 1995. 

Bill Would Require Compliance with Private Property Laws

A bill introduced last month by Representative Billy Tauzin would require 
federal agencies to comply with state and tribal private property laws.  In 
addition, federal agencies would be prohibited from implementing wetlands 
regulations or the Endangered Species Act without written consent.  
"Whether the government wants your property to build a road or to preserve 
a wetlands, the intent of our founding fathers is clear:  if you take it, pay 
for 
it," said Tauzin before the House Agriculture Subcommittee.  James Lyons, 
undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment, said 
the Clinton administration does not support such a measure as it would 
"bust the budget, create huge new bureaucracies and curtail vital 
protections."

Source:  Gordon S. Carlson, "Tauzin Property Takings Bill Gets Ag Panel 
Hearing," FEEDSTUFFS, February 20, 1995. 
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Resources
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SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN THE AMERICAN MIDWEST:  
LESSONS FROM THE PAST, PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE is a 
collection of essays by various experts on sustainable agriculture in the 
Midwest.  As a whole, the book makes the case for defining sustainability 
within the context of a society and its culture.  Specific chapters address:  
"Sustainability and Sustainable Agriculture," "Ethnicity and Contrasting 
Cultural Beliefs about Sustainable Agriculture," and "Energy Farming:  A 
Prospect for Sustainable Agriculture."  The information included in the 
essays is general, yet some detail is provided.  Published in December 1994, 
the book is available for $32.95 from the University of Illinois Press, 1325 
South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820.
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Events
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Agriculture and the Environment:  Issues and Options for the 1995 Farm 
Bill, March 9-10, 1995, Washington, D.C.  FFI, contact:  Soil and Water 
Conservation Society, 7515 NE Ankeny Road, Ankeny, IA 50021, Tel:  (800) 
The-Soil, Fax:  (515) 289-1227.

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