Excellent post Mr. Moses
 
As I explained to Mr. Brown in a private message when he began to lecture me on the Dust Bowl, my husband is a former Soil Conservation Service employee. That agency was formed as a result of the Dust Bowl. I have heard enough of his rants about government waste and mismanagement from his years with the agency.
 
Most of the best USDA employees have now retired. The institutional knowledge that they took has left agencies with little more than spreadsheet managers with little understanding of agriculture in the field. Money is being paid to millionaire farmers and ag corporations who do not need the money. Big ag has infiltrated USDA to where the programs now benefit only the big farmers. If I apply for an organic cost share for EQIP, my contract is limited to $60,000 over 3 years. I have neighboring farmers that get more for that every year and they abuse the environment much more than should be allowed.
 
As I mentioned prior, get the government out of farming and we will all be better off. I stick that that statement. Small farmers and organic growers will flourish and rural economies will be rejuvenated. I have written to Senator Stabenow twice. She is oblivious to what is going on at the grassroots level organically and supports GMO's.

--- On Tue, 6/7/11, Jim Moses <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Jim Moses <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Act Now: Call Sen. Stabenow About the Ag Budget
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2011, 11:20 PM

Just another prospective--
 
     It would be unfair to suggest that government was uninvolved in agriculture until the New Deal.  Many of the excesses of the twenties were the result of governments encouragement of farmers to take advantage of profitable European markets following  WW I, our first big venture into the Global Marketplace.  We would eventually lose these markets when domestic production resumed.  But that boom of easy money had consequences beyond the farm, good profits for farmers were siphoned off to any number of "middle-men" and grain futures trading was established( after a number of tries) in 1922.  This led to speculation in grains which led to speculation in farmland.  As profits declined farmers worked harder and more recklessly borrowing on their land to "make ends meet.  When the "bubble" of the 1920's burst, much like our recent housing bubble, many were hurt. In the 20's  these were disproportionally rural people forced off their land.
 
     I can't defend some of the practices of the 1920's any more than I can many of the agricultural practices of today.  But I see in both cases farmers in dire straights economically making tough decisions and I feel some compassion for them.  I see farmers without a clear understanding of ecology and ecosystems, let down by the educational system that teaches us that money and government and science is the province of experts.  But I am surprised anyone from this state would want to credit a president born to wealth in New York for those government programs that helped rural people when the truth clearly is that a farm boy from Michigan was the one most responsible for these programs.  I am talking, of course, about Liberty Hyde Bailey.
 
     I would be most pleased if we could judge government involvement by Dr. Bailey's goals.  Here I must judge government harshly.  Liberty Hyde Bailey left us in his writing his grave concerns about Industrial Agriculture.  He identified a mechanistic, materialistic aspect of this industrialism that in its soullessness he felt a threat.  Rudolf Steiner said the same earlier in the 20th century.
 
     Though out my lifetime, and I was born when Truman was president, governmental organizations have lead the way to centralization and industrialization of agriculture.  It is easy to draw parallels with Soviet Russia.  Men in ugly suits in offices far away "manage" agriculture and men in much nicer suits have large profits and subsidies arrive at their much nicer addresses.  Just like Russia, many agricultural workers are terribly treated with obvious effects on issues like food quality and Food Safety.  Small agriculture is seen as unimportant but suppressed anyway.
 
     In spite of paid announcements to the contrary, Industrial Agriculture is not sustainable and its collapse will be very Soviet like, sudden and unexpected.  When that day comes I just hope the small farmers in America have saved enough rakes and hoes for a lot of people who once were in the Industry of Agriculture and must now come face-to-face with the Earth Mother at a much lower pay grade.
 
     I would like to make one more point about how we should judge the value of government involvement in Agriculture and Food Safety.  Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle over 100 years ago.  The Federal government has managed Food Safety in meat for that long.  And.....we have MERSA beef and Consumers Union says 2/3's of chickens have dangerous organisms.  I do not know how things work in government and in our Land Grant colleges but on this farm....no matter what your age or your education level  you must prove that you can do smaller jobs successfully before you get more authority.  Show me that a government agency can control the cruelty and filth that continue to be problems and then maybe we can expand the mission.
 
Jim Moses
 
    
 
--- On Tue, 6/7/11, Morse L. Brown <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Morse L. Brown <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Act Now: Call Sen. Stabenow About the Ag Budget
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2011, 12:29 PM

Buggy,
I replied to your e-mail on May 25th the day I received it, however I got passionate in my response and copied some information that had photos and it came back. I'm trying this again. I caution that we be careful about our exuberance in eliminating government from our agricultural programs. Admittedly, I am biased as a former government employee  but the federal as well as state governments serve a very vital function. In general they both do a lot of the dirty work that others do not want to do either because of the size and complexity of the work or because of its initial lack of profitability. I reflect back on the 1930's (I was not on earth at the time) but history tells of the time in this country when farmers were fairly profitable and planted from fence row to fence row in many cases and the result was the
"dust bowl era."  This was not a football play off game either. It was a national disaster of major proportions. Out of this era  came the Cooperative Extension Service, The Soil Conservation Service, Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Agricultural Experiment Stations and and others that I will not list. We have been very blessed that our forefathers and foremothers saw the need and organized these great government organizations that have made the United States the great nation that it is. Lest we forget, we need to be careful that we pass this history on and not repeat it.  I am copying a piece that I googled:

Morse Brown

 
It is my belief that we would all be better off if the government got out of farming altogether. Level the playing field. Let the free market prevail!
 
I am an organic grower/cattle producer and will not take a penny from the Federal or State Government. It is time we all become more self sufficient and quit relying on government programs and bail outs. They only lead to more taxes and special interests.
 
We have more environmental problems than ever. Soil erosion and water quality issu

U.S. Government response

During President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first 100 days in 1933, governmental programs designed to conserve soil and restore the ecological balance of the nation were implemented. Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes established the Soil Erosion Service in August 1933 under Hugh Hammond Bennett. In 1935 it was transferred and reorganized under the Department of Agriculture and renamed the Soil Conservation Service. More recently it has been renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).[17]
Additionally, the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) was created after more than six million pigs were slaughtered to stabilize prices. The pigs went to waste. The FSRC diverted agricultural commodities to relief organizations. Apples, beans, canned beef, flour and pork products were distributed through local relief channels. Cotton goods were later included, to clothe the needy.[18]
In 1935, the federal government formed a Drought Relief Service (DRS) to coordinate relief activities. The DRS bought cattle in counties which were designated emergency areas, for $14 to $20 a head. Animals unfit for human consumption – more than 50 percent at the beginning of the program – were killed. The remaining cattle were given to the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) to be used in food distribution to families nationwide. Although it was difficult for farmers to give up their herds, the cattle slaughter program helped many of them avoid bankruptcy. "The government cattle buying program was a God-send to many farmers, as they could not afford to keep their cattle, and the government paid a better price than they could obtain in local markets."[19]
President Roosevelt ordered the Civilian Conservation Corps to plant a huge belt of more than 200 million trees from Canada to Abilene, Texas to break the wind, hold water in the soil, and hold the soil itself in place. The administration also began to educate farmers on soil conservation and anti-erosion techniques, including crop rotation, strip farming, contour plowing, terracing, and other improved farming practices.[20][21] In 1937, the federal government began an aggressive campaign to encourage Dust Bowlers to adopt planting and plowing methods that conserved the soil. The government paid the reluctant farmers a dollar an acre to practice one of the new methods. By 1938, the massive conservation effort had reduced the amount of blowing soil by 65 percent. Nevertheless, the land failed to yield a decent living. In the fall of 1939, after nearly a decade of dirt and dust, the nearly decade long drought ended as regular rainfall finally returned to the region

 

 

From: [log in to unmask]" target=_blank rel=nofollow>[log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 12:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]" target=_blank rel=nofollow>[log in to unmask]
Subject: Act Now: Call Sen. Stabenow About the Ag Budget

 

 

Help Protect Organic Farming and Conservation Funding

Call Senator Stabenow Today!

 

Please call Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown today and tell him to protect funding for organic agriculture programs in the 2012 budget. Senators only have until Friday, May 27th so it’s important that you call today!

 

Congress is working on its budget negotiations for 2012. The House 2012 Appropriations Bill currently being debated would cut research, conservation, and organic programs, which provide crucial resources for organic and sustainable farmers.

 

The Senate is developing their budget right now, and it needs to offer a clear alternative to the current House bill.

 

Here's Why:

- Under the House Appropriations Bill, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) would be cut by 10 percent relative to FY 2011.  The National Organic Program (NOP) will share in these cuts.

 

- The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA) would be funded at $2 million, down from the FY 2010 level of $2.8, and up from the zeroing out it received for FY 2011.

 

- Farm bill conservation funding would be cut by nearly $1 billion.  The bill would even force the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to break contracts it has already signed with farmers enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program!

 

- Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) funding would be cut by $3 million.  The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) would be cut by $40 million.

 

- The Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program would be cut by $6.4 million. The Rural Micro-Lending program would be completely eliminated.

 

- Doing the bidding of multinational meat and poultry conglomerates, the bill forbids the USDA from using any funds to write or publish the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule to make livestock and poultry markets fairer and more competitive, a rule Congress directed USDA to write as part of the 2008 Farm Bill.

 

Senator Stabenow heads on the subcommittee that decides agricultural funding levels.

Your quick call to Senator Stabenow today is crucial to ensure organic and conservation program funding in 2012.

 

Senator Stabenow can be reached at 202-224-4822.

The Points to Make are Simple:
- As a constituent of Senator Stabenow, I’m asking that she please support funding for critical research, organic, and conservation programs in 2012 that are important to organic agriculture.

- Please fund the National Organic Program at $9.89 million. Organics is the fastest growing agricultural sector in the U.S., and organics need full funding to respond to growing consumer demand. 

- Please fund the Organic Transitions Integrated Research Program (ORG) at $5 million, and the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (also known as ATTRA) at $3 million, both of which help meet farmers’ research and information needs.

- The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and other conservation programs must retain maximum funding to support rural economies and protect soil and water quality.

- The cuts proposed are unjust, threatening economic recovery in rural communities struggling to create jobs, find new markets, and renew economic life.

 


To learn more about how the House 2012 Appropriations Bill would slash conservation, organic, rural development, and research programs, go to http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/houe-ag-fy12-approps-bill/.

 

Your calls make a difference—THANK YOU!

-- 

 

Vicki Morrone

C. S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

Outreach Specialist for Organic Vegetable and Field Crops

303 Natural Resources

East Lansing, MI 48824

517-353-3542/517-282-3557 (cell)

517-353-3834 (Fax)

www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu

If you would like to access a searchable archive of the all the previous Mich-Organic listserv postings copy this URL and paste in your browser address field http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html


-- 
**********************************
Morse L. Brown, Program Manager
Michigan Food and Farming Systems
Multicultural Farmers Program
15565 Stonehouse Circle
Livonia, Michigan 48154-1531
Phone: 269.208.1443
Fax: 734.432.9763
************************************
Mission  Statement: To help small and medium-sized farms operate profitably, produce healthy food for all people and protect the environment for future generations.
If you would like to access a searchable archive of the all the previous Mich-Organic listserv postings copy this URL and paste in your browser address field http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html
If you would like to access a searchable archive of the all the previous Mich-Organic listserv postings copy this URL and paste in your browser address field http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html
If you would like to access a searchable archive of the all the previous Mich-Organic listserv postings copy this URL and paste in your browser address field http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html