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What's Happening In Organic Ag Production?? Feb 14-March 1, 2007 IT"S NOT TOO LATE TO GO TO THE MICHIGAN ORGANIC CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY MOFFA. SAT MARCH 3 8:30-6 PM IN EAST LANSING GO TO WWW.MOFFA.ORG <http://www.moffa.org/> TO SEE THE AGENDA, FEATURING ELIZABETH HENDERSON, FROM PEACEWORK FARM IN NY AND JEFF Moyer from Rodale Research Institute in PA. 1. New MSU organic Production WEB site www.michiganorganic.msu.edu <http://www.michiganorganic.msu.edu/> 2. Subcommittee Reviews USDA Farm Bill Proposals for Specialty Crops and Organic Agriculture 3. Bush's farm bill outlines bold move 4. Seeking Friends of Lansing City Market 5. Whole Foods to buy Wild Oats for $565 million 6. EPA Seeks Public Comment on U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory-a chance to voice your opinion 7. Assistant Grower Position-AmeriCorps position 8. Slow Food Red Cedar Dinner: A Celebration of Slow Food-Tue March 6 in East Lansing 9. MSU MUSEUM PRESENTS 'VOICES OF AMERICAN FARM WOMEN' EXHIBIT March 2, - 10 in East Lansing 10. Food System Economic Partnership conference, On Thursday, March 29th in Ann Arbor 11. Tri-State Organic Agriculture Production Sessions-IP Educational Video conference series March 15-Nov 15, 2007. 1. New MSU Organic Production WEB site, "Organic Farming Exchange".!!!!! Please take a few minutes to check out this NEW resource for farmers like you. The goal of offering this site is to put information of interest to you at your fingertips-from events to practical production information. Go to www.michiganorganic.msu.edu <http://www.michiganorganic.msu.edu/> and let me know what I can do to improve the site and make it more useful for you. Thanks and remember-Keep your spades up and your feet done because spring IS coming. Vicki Morrone Organic vegetable and field crop production outreach specialist. News on the Upcoming Farm Bill FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Media Contact: Scott Kuschmider (202) 225-1496 [log in to unmask] 2. Subcommittee Reviews USDA Farm Bill Proposals for Specialty Crops and Organic Agriculture WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture held a hearing to review the U.S. Department of Agriculture's proposals for specialty crops and organic agriculture in the 2007 Farm Bill. Congressman Dennis Cardoza of California is Chairman of the Subcommittee. "Many of the crops covered by this subcommittee have waited far too long to become part of federal farm programs," Chairman Cardoza said. "Specialty crops comprise a substantial percentage of American agriculture, but receive far less than their fair share in federal support. We must look for resourceful and innovative ways to weave non-traditional commodities into existing programs and create new ones that suit the unique needs of these industries." "Fruits and vegetables are a large and important segment of American agriculture. As this Subcommittee begins its work on the 2007 Farm Bill, I look forward to hearing input from producers to determine how any new funding that might be available would provide the most benefit for the specialty crop sector," said Ranking Member Randy Neugebauer of Texas. The subcommittee heard testimony from U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner. Deputy Secretary Conner answered questions from subcommittee members about the specialty crop title to the USDA 2007 Farm Bill proposals the agency released on January 31. The Horticulture and Organic Agriculture Subcommittee will be one of six House Agriculture subcommittees involved in reauthorization of farm programs in the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill authorizes commodity support, agricultural trade, marketing, food assistance, and rural development policies over several years. The current farm bill was written in 2002, and many of the provisions in that bill will expire in September of 2007. Deputy Secretary Conner's opening statement is available on the Committee website at http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html <http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html> A full transcript of the hearing will be posted on the Committee website in 4-6 weeks. ORGANIC FARMING INITIATIVES Recommendation in Brief Re-authorize and expand the Organic Certification Cost Share Program and provide funding for organic farming research and comprehensive market price information gathering. These organic farming initiatives total $61 million in additional funding over 10 years. Problem There is increased demand for organic supply and more farmers are interested in transitioning from traditional farming to organic farming but barriers exist. The requirements to be certified organic are lengthy and can be quite costly, especially for small farmers. In addition, a key deterrent to transition is the lack of solid production and market data to inform farmers, processors, wholesalers and retailers about the supply of key organic commodities and pricing data for those commodities. Organic food consumption now constitutes about 2.5 percent of the food market. Retail organic sales are currently at $15 billion and growing by about 15-20 percent annually. U.S. sales of organic food and fiber now constitute one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture. Organic farmers, just like traditional farmers, are also looking for opportunities in the global market place. More and more trading partners are seeking organic certification recognition to gain access to the U.S. organic consumer market. Finally, with rapid growth in the organic market comes an inevitable increase in the number of alleged violations many due to lack of knowledge about the program and the regulations. But a growing number are due to willful attempts to circumvent the regulations to capture profits at consumers' expense. In some cases, the regulations themselves appear insufficient to support enforcement activity. To address these problems, gaps in the regulations must be addressed and compliance and enforcement activity must be increased. Recommended Solution The Administration proposes enhancing the role of U.S. organic production agriculture and organic markets through the following authorities: 1. Increase the cost share program from the current 15 states to all 50 states and permit producers and handlers to be eligible. Increase cost share reimbursement from $500 to $750 maximum or 75 percent of costs incurred, whichever is lowest. This provision is helpful to small organic farmers who have trouble with the cost of the certification. The program should be authorized to expend up to $5 million annually in mandatory funding. 2. Reauthorize and fund data collection to identify and publish organic production and market data initiatives and surveys. Additionally, authorize and fund comprehensive price reporting. Organic farmers and those wishing to transition into organic farming lack solid production and market data about the supply of key organic commodities as well as pricing data for these commodities. Conventional farmers have access to USDA data which they can use to plan crop plantings and make marketing decisions. Similar data is not available to organic farmers. The farm bill should authorize $1 million in mandatory funding to be available until expended for this data collection and publication. 3. Invest an additional $10 million in mandatory funding to be available until expended for organic research. This new funding would focus on conservation and environmental outcomes and new and improved seed varieties especially suited for organic agriculture. 4. Eligibility for the proposed enhanced Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) cost-share assistance would include a broad range of land uses including organically farmed land. (For further information, see the proposal entitled Environmental Quality Incentives Program on pages 43 45.) 5. Expand mandatory funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) by $250 million over 10 years and focus the additional funds on non-program commodities. Organic agriculture would be allowed to compete for Market Access Program funding to help develop and increase the organic export market. (For further information, see the proposal entitled Enhance the Market Access Program on pages 69 70.) Background The National Organic Program (NOP) originated with passage of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. The NOP regulations provide voluntary, uniform marketing standards for the production and processing of organic products that are to be labeled as 100 percent organic, organic, or made with organic ingredients, based on their final organic ingredient content. Essentially, the standards are a set of sustainable agricultural production and processing practices, using little or no chemicals, synthetics, irradiation, genetically modified organisms, or sewage sludge. All operations must be certified, by an accredited USDA certifying agent a private entity licensed by USDA that verifies that each operation is producing to the NOP standards. Products that meet the standards are eligible to apply a USDA seal, for 100 percent and organic (95 percent) content product. Additionally, the Certification Cost Share Program helps defray the cost of annual organic certification, particularly important to smaller producers and processors. Current NOP resources include an annual budget of approximately $2.3 million. 3. Bush's farm bill outlines bold move While environmentalists applaud some measures, farmers are concerned about financial curbs. By Amanda Paulson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor CHICAGO - The Bush administration's recent proposals for the next farm bill - due for reauthorization this fall - have been winning accolades and criticisms from some surprising quarters. Environmentalists have lauded it as an important step in the right direction, even as the largely Republican agricultural community has met many of its proposals - such as a plan to scrap subsidies for any farmer with an adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 a year - with skepticism. Conservation and energy programs get a boost in the administration's plan, while several billion dollars are cut from payments to some of the nation's largest farmers. In comparison with the 2002 farm bill, the overall bill would spend $10 billion less over the next five years, according to the Department of Agriculture. "We have some major concerns," says Mary Kay Thatcher, director of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation, which bills itself as "the voice of agriculture." "We're supportive of [conservation, energy, and rural development] getting additional funding, but we don't think you ought to reduce farmers' safety net to do that." One of the most significant elements of the proposed bill would change the countercyclical program - the means by which the federal government helps farmers in an off year. It would go from one that's price-based to one that's revenue-based. That responds to complaints some farmers have had for years that they can face, say, a disastrous drought - which lowers supply of a crop enough that prices go up - and receive no payments. Vicki Morrone Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist Michigan State University C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems 303 Natural Resources Bldg. East Lansing, MI 48824 517-353-3542 517-282-3557 (cell) 517-353-3834 (fax) http://safs.msu.edu/ http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/ If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html