Subject: NEWS: AANEWS, March, 1995 (Sorry)

From: "Gabriel Hegyes" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 13:06:20 CST6CDT

ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE NEWS
                           March, 1995

                 Henry A. Wallace Institute for
                     Alternative Agriculture
                    9200 Edmonston Road, #117
                       Greenbelt, MD 20770
                         (301) 441-8777

Table of Contents

FY96 Budget Increases Funds for Most Sustainable Programs   	1
Farm Policy Should "Reflect Environmental Needs"            	2
Wallace Institute Board Elects News Officers                		2
Ward Sinclair Dies at Age 61                                			3
Delaney Clause Settlement May Cause Repeal In Congress      	4
Environmentalists Question N.C. Contract Hog Farming        	4
FDA Accused of Underreporting Illegal Pesticide Use         	4
Positions                                                   				4
Resources                                                   				5
Upcoming Events                                             			5

FY96 BUDGET REQUEST INCREASES FUNDING FOR MOST SUSTAINABLE
PROGRAMS
     The Clinton Administration budget request for the U.S.
Department of Agriculture for Fiscal Year 1996, released last
month, includes either increased or steady funding for most
sustainable agriculture programs.  Here are those budget
requests, compared to last year's requests, and final
appropriations for FY94 and FY95.
     SARE: Funding requests and appropriations for the
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program
have increased each year for the past three years.  The Clinton
Administration requested $9.5 million for SARE for FY96; last
year, it requested $8.8 million.  Final appropriations in FY95
were $8.1 million; in FY94, $7.4 million.
     SATDTP: The Clinton Administration requested $5 million for
the Sustainable Agriculture Technology Development and Transfer
Program (SATDTP) for FY96, the same amount it requested last
year.  Final appropriations in FY95 were $3.5 million; in FY94,
$3 million.
     ATTRA: Funding requests and appropriations for the
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) have been
steady for the past three years.  The Clinton Administration
requested $1.3 million for ATTRA for FY96, the same amount it
received in final appropriations in both FY95 and FY94.
     OFPA: The Clinton Administration requested $1.1 million for
the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) for FY96; last year, it
requested $500,000, which was the final appropriations level for
FY95 and FY94.
     WQIP: The Clinton Administration requested $15 million for
the Water Quality Incentive Program (WQIP) for FY96, the same
amount it requested last year.  Final appropriations in FY95 were
$15 million; in FY94, $13.5 million.
     WRP: The Clinton Administration requested $210 million for
the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in FY96; last year, it
requested $240.9 million.  Final appropriations in FY95 were
$93.2 million; in FY94, $66.7 million.

FARM POLICY SHOULD "REFLECT ENVIRONMENTAL NEEDS," SAYS ECONOMIC
REPORT
     A more efficient farm policy "would reflect environmental
needs," according to the Economic Report of the President,
transmitted to Congress last month by the Council of Economic
Advisors.  "The potential environmental costs of farming have
increased," the report said, citing the changing conditions in
the agricultural economy.  "Farmers should be given incentives to
consider the environmental costs and benefits of their actions. 
Federal policy can incorporate environmental and public health
values into farmers' decisionmaking through an incentives-based
approach that leaves management decisions in farmers' qualified
hands while turning collective environmental objectives into
individual financial ones....  
     "When the application of fertilizers and pesticides imposes
off-site costs, farmers can only be expected to make efficient
decisions if they are themselves confronted with these costs,"
the report continued.  "One possibility by which policy could use
markets to do this is to levy fees on the use of these inputs
that reflect the environmental cost of their application in
different geographical areas.  Another option is to use positive
financial incentives to encourage the adoption of conservation
practices that reduce erosion and runoff or provide wildlife
habitat."
     For a copy of the Economic Report of the President, contact
the Executive Office of the President's Publications Service at
(202) 395-7332.

WALLACE INSTITUTE BOARD ELECTS NEW OFFICERS, INSTALLS NEW MEMBERS
     The Wallace Institute Board of Directors early this month
elected new officers for the coming year, and installed four new
members.  The new President is Dr. Anne K. Vidaver, Chairperson
of the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln; she has also served as President of the
American Phytopathological Society.  The Vice President is Dr.
David F. Bezdicek, Professor of Soils at Washington State
University; Secretary is Dr. John C. Gordon, Pinchot Professor of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, School of Forestry and
Environmental Studies at Yale University, New Haven; and
Treasurer is Dr. James W. Gibbons, owner of a family-run small
fruit and vegetable farm in Ozark, Arkansas, and former Senior
Rice Scientist at Centro International de Agricultura Tropic,
Columbia, South America. 
     The new members of the Board are: Dr. Frederick
Kirschenmann, farmer and manager of Kirschenmann Family Farms,
Windsor and Medina, N.D.; former Chair of the North Central SARE
program's Administrative Council; Dr. Frederick R. Magdoff,
Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science, University
of Vermont; Coordinator of the Northeast Region SARE program; Dr.
Mazo Price, Dean and Director/Professor, School of Agriculture
and Home Economics, 1890 Research and Extension Programs, and
Professor, Department of Agriculture, University of Arkansas at
Pine Bluff; and James H. Stephenson, Advisor to the Governor of
Pennsylvania; chair, Inter-Agency Council on Food and Nutrition.

WARD SINCLAIR, WALLACE BOARD MEMBER, DIES AT AGE 61
     Ward Sinclair, an organic farmer, writer, and member of the
Wallace Institute Board of Directors, died of pancreatic cancer
late last month at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland,
only two weeks after he learned he had the disease.  He had been
a member of the Wallace Board since 1990.  A former reporter,
Sinclair worked for the Louisville (Kentucky) Times from 1964 to
1977, when he joined The Washington Post.  He covered agriculture
for the newspaper from 1981 to 1988, when he became the full-time
proprietor of a certified organic vegetable farm, the
Flickerville Mountain Farm and Ground Hog Ranch in the village of
Dott, Pennsylvania.  As a journalist, he won many awards,
including Newspaper Farm Editor of the Year, 1984; Conservation
Writer of the Year, the Soil Conservation Society of America,
1986; and the Ruben Brigham Award, Agricultural Communicators in
Education, 1989.  He was a past chairman of the Washington Post
unit of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.
     "Ward Sinclair was an extraordinary individual, having
achieved prominence in two quite different pursuits -- journalism
and farming.  He was very good at both," said Garth Youngberg,
Executive Director of the Wallace Institute.  "As a board member,
his contributions to the Wallace Institute flowed from both sets
of experiences.  Despite his many achievements and admirable
personal qualities, we will, perhaps, miss his wit and sense of
humor most of all.  Ward was a special person, and knowing him
was a special privilege."
     Sinclair was born in Bloomington, Illinois, and attended
schools in McLean County, Illinois; he served in the U.S. Army
from 1953 to 1955.  He graduated from Mexico City College in
Mexico, and received a master's degree in Spanish literature from
the National University.
     He is survived by his wife, Cass Peterson; two children from
his first marriage, Harold Sinclair of New York and Paul Sinclair
of Sterling, VA; a brother, Michael Sinclair of Bloomington; four
sisters, Judy Brewer of Normal, IL, Audrey Bess of Mattoon, IL,
Gail Hockin of Mercer, WI, and Sidney Bruner of Streator, IL; and
a granddaughter.

DELANEY CLAUSE SETTLEMENT MAY CAUSE REPEAL BY CONGRESS
     The U.S. Congress may be ready to repeal the Delaney Clause,
following the approval by the U.S. District Court in Sacramento
last month of a settlement under which the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) will begin phasing out uses of 36 cancer-
causing pesticides, and reviewing another 49 cancer-causing
pesticides to determine whether they should also be eliminated
from certain uses.  The settlement was the result of a lawsuit
that charged EPA had violated the Delaney Clause, which prohibits
the presence in processed foods of even minute amounts of cancer-
causing pesticide residues.  It "sets the stage for an almost
certain effort in Congress to repeal the Delaney Clause, which is
bitterly opposed by the chemical industry and agribusiness,"
wrote The Wall Street Journal. 

ENVIRONMENTALISTS QUESTION EXPLOSION OF N.C. CONTRACT HOG FARMING
     Environmentalists are critical of new contract-farming
methods that have quickly made North Carolina the nation's
second-largest hog producer, according to a recent article in The
New York Times.  "Large hog finishing farms, contracted by
companies to fatten a large number of hogs in a short time, are
proliferating in North Carolina, while small hog farms are
dying," it said. Complaints about odors from the farms have
forced the state to study possible risks to farm workers and
neighbors, but "the potential hazards are much clearer when it
comes to the large, odoriferous, man-made lagoons into which the
large farms pump the hog waste and allow it to sit and
decompose," it said.  "The lagoons attract swarms of flies, and
if the water is not handled properly in dry weather, heavy
concentrations of waste in the water can get into ground water
and contaminate the aquifers, and, when used in fertilizers, can
kill crops and grass."

FDA ACCUSED OF UNDERREPORTING ILLEGAL PESTICIDES FOUND ON PRODUCE
     The rate of illegal pesticides found on 42 fruits and
vegetables is 76 percent higher than reported by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), according to a new report by the
Environmental Working Group.  Analyzing FDA pesticide monitoring
records, the group found at least 66 illegal pesticides on the
produce; it claims that "U.S.-grown produce is more than twice as
contaminated with illegal pesticides than the FDA reports."  It
recommends shifting most of the responsibility for assuring food
safety and compliance with federal law to the food industry. 
Copies of "Forbidden Fruit: Illegal Pesticides in the U.S. Food
Supply" are $20 plus $3 postage and handling from EWG, 1718
Connecticut Ave., NW, #600, Washington, D.C. 20009; (202) 667-
6982; e-mail [email-masked]

POSITIONS
     The Chesapeake CSA seeks interns and an administrative
assistant for the 1995 season, April-November, to work in 6 acres
of gardens and field crops; contact Gina Russo, 4903 Ritchie
Marlboro Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772; (301) 627-4766.
     Tabard Farm seeks 1995 season workers to work for food,
lodging, and stipend; contact Susan Peterson, Tabard Farm, Route
1, Box 2444, Middletown, VA 22645; (703) 869-4985.
     Naropa Institute seeks candidates for faculty position in
environmental studies; send letter addressing qualifications and
c.v. to Dr Spencer A. McWilliams, Vice President for Academic
Affairs, The Naropa Institute, 2130 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, CO
80302-6697; (303) 546-3521; e-mail: [email-masked]

RESOURCES
     "Designing Green Support Programs," a companion to "Lean,
Mean and Green...Farm Support Programs in a New Era," is $10 from
the Wallace Institute, 9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD
20770; (301) 441-8777; FAX (301) 220-0164.
     "The Water Quality Incentives Program: The Unfulfilled
Promise," by the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, is $7 from
Center for Rural Affairs, P.O. Box 406, Walthill, NE 68067. 

UPCOMING EVENTS
     March 31-April 1, Second Annual Farm Family Workshop of the
Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Network will be held in
Carlinville, IL; contact ISAN, P.O. Box 410, Greenview, IL 62642;
(217) 968-5512. 
     April 1-14, Third Annual Permaculture Design Course will be
held at Heartwood Institute, Garberville, CA; contact Donna King,
Island Mountain Institute, (707) 923-4301.
     April 2-5, International Symposium on Water Quality Modeling
will be held in Orlando, FL; contact ASAE Meetings Department,
2950 Niles Rd., St.Joseph, MI 49085; (616) 429-0300.
     April 5-7, "Hunger, Scarcity and Policy" will be held at
Brown University, Providence, R.I.; contact Fatima Kane, World
Hunger Program, Box 1831, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
02912; (401) 863-2700.
     April 8-25, Tillers International will hold workshops and an
international development course; workshops are: Ox Training,
April 8-9; Woodwrighting -- Forks & Rakes, April 8; and
Blacksmithing, April 11-15; Animal-Powered Development
(development course), April 25-29; contact Tillers, 5239 South
24th St., Kalamazoo, MI 49002; (616) 344-3233.
     April 8-9, "Creating Your Own Natural Edible Landscape and
Gardens," a permaculture workshop, will be held in Glen Rock, PA;
contact Spoutwood Farm, Dept. P1, Rd. 3, Box 66, Glen Rock, PA
17327; (717) 235-6610. 
     April 15 is the deadline for papers to be presented at the
Fourth North American Agroforesty Conference, July 23-26, in
Boise, ID; contact Dr. Linda Hardesty, Dept. of Natural Resource
Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164; or Dr.
John Ehrenreich, Conference Chairman, University of Idaho (208)
885-7600.
     April 21-May 4, Permaculture Design Course will be held at
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center; contact Fossil Rim, P.O. Box 2189,
Glen Rose, TX 76043; (817) 897-2960.
     April 27-30, an International Conference on Environmental
Ethics and the Global Marketplace will be held in Athens, GA;
contact Richard C. Field, Georgia Center for Continuing
Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3603; (706)
542-3063.
     May 1-2, "Risks, Regulations, and Resolutions: Creating the
Process," the annual Wildlands Conference, will be held in
Dearborn, MI; contact Wildlife Habitat Council, 1010 Wayne Ave.,
#920, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (301) 588-8994.
     May 8-10, "Planning for a Sustainable Future: The Case of
the North American Great Plains" will be held in Lincoln, NE;
contact Dr. Donald A. Wilhite, Director, International Drought
Information Center, PO Box 830728, University of Nebraska,
Lincoln, NE 68583-0728; (402) 472-6707; e-mail
[email-masked]