3. Continuous Learning is for Agri-Business Too!
Date: November 14, 2007
Contact Person: Marv Pichla, ThumbWorks!
989-635-3561
Leadership of the Thumb Area Agri-Business 2100 project is pleased to
announce the availability of three very special courses organized
exclusively for the Thumb Region. Marv Pichla ThumbWorks! Director
stated that "In an attempt to enhance and expand trainings designed
specifically for the agri-business community, three unique courses will
be offered on consecutive Thursdays beginning November 29, December 6
and December 13th." Specific courses dates & times are:
November 29th: Agri-Business Opportunities Unlimited!
Presented by: Mark Seamon, MSU Product Center Innovation Counselor
MSU Extension
December 6th: The Nuts & Bolts of Starting Your Own Food Product
Business
Presented by: Ron Steiner, Director
The Starting Block, Inc.
"Growing Entrepreneurs in Food Systems and
Natural Resources"
December 13th: How to Improve Your Farm Profit Margin
Presented by: Robert Pettengill, Senior Instructional Designer
Learning Designs, Inc.
All courses begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude by 3:30 p.m. Seats are
limited and available on a first come-first served basis.
"If these courses are well attended and there is an interest in bringing
more specialized agri-business trainings to the Thumb Area we will get
moving on the next set," Pichla concluded. All classes will be held at
ThumbWorks!, 3270 Wilson Street in Marlette. To register or get more
information call: 989-635-3561.
4. Low Cost/No Cost Land Opportunity for New Organic Farmers in Michigan
[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christopher Bedford
Everyone,
The Sweetwater Local Foods Market operates with a "Pledge to Our
Customers" that specifies organic (whether certified or not) production
practices for growing the food sold at our market. As a result, we have
about 1,000 customers who increasingly care about and understand the
need for ecologically intelligent farming that works with nature's
processes.
One of our customers has just purchased 40+ acres of land near
Fruitport, Michigan. They are a family of four with two working
professionals who want to learn how to grow food. They are willing to
offer land to new, organic farmers in exchange for food and guidance on
growing. I think this is a long term deal because both parents are
professionals committed to their work.
They have asked me to help them find new/transitioning/established
farmers who might be interested in such an arrangement.
Contact me DIRECTLY, off the listserves listed above, if you are
interested personally in this arrangement or know of someone who might
be interested.
Let me know.
Peace and good food,
Chris Bedford
Christopher Bedford
Sweetwater Local Foods Market
#6543 Hancock Road
Montague, MI 49437
231-893-3937
231-670-4817 (c)
231-893-0323 (h)
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www.sweetwaterlocalfoodsmarket.org
5. Farm bill amendment deal 'close'
Nov 30, 2007 9:26 AM, By Forrest Laws
Farm Press Editorial Staff
Senate leaders appeared to be edging closer to an agreement on the
number of amendments that could be offered for the new farm bill as
Congress returned to Washington from its Thanksgiving break.
But negotiators were still trying to iron out last-minute differences on
what Democrats were calling "non-relevant" amendments that kept the
Senate from deliberating the new legislation for most of the month of
November.
While press reports had Senate leaders agreeing to a plan in which five
amendments could be offered by Democrats and 10 by Republicans, Senate
Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Ranking Member
Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and their staffs were still working on those
numbers at press time.
"Chairman Harkin certainly hopes to get the farm bill back on the Senate
floor next week (the week of Dec. 3), and an agreement to limit
amendments to between five and 10 per side would allow passage within a
few days," said a spokesman for Harkin's office Thursday (Nov. 29).
"Party leaders will need to determine which non-relevant amendments can
be debated and voted on, but the chairman will do everything in his
power, working closely with Ranking Member Chambliss, to speed
completion of this important bill."
The current stalemate began Nov. 5 when Majority Leader Harry Reid of
Nevada announced he was asking senators to limit amendments to those
that were "germane" to the farm bill so the Senate could finish its
calendar for the year.
Republican senators, such as Pete Domenici of New Mexico, who wanted to
introduce a renewable fuel standard amendment to the farm bill's energy
title, said Reid was trying to stifle debate. Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell of Kentucky agreed and Republicans began a series of
filibusters against the farm bill.
Meanwhile, the list of potential amendments has grown from a few dealing
with such issues as fixing the alternative minimum tax and eliminating
the estate tax to more than 270. Reid probably will allow consideration
of the former once the Senate begins debate, observers say.
Farm organizations have been urging Senate leaders to put aside their
differences and complete action on the $288-billion farm bill so a
House-Senate conference committee can get to work on reconciling the
differences between the Senate bill and the bill passed by the House
back in July.
In a letter signed by 19 groups, including the American Soybean
Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn
Growers Association, the National Cotton Council and the USA Rice
Federation, the organizations said they were disappointed in the
Senate's lack of progress on the legislation.
"We respectfully urge you to agree on a process for completing the 2007
farm bill before the end of this year that reflects the broad and
bipartisan support for new farm legislation," the letter said. "The
Senate Agriculture Committee's farm bill has broad support throughout
U.S. agriculture and rural America and in the nutrition, conservation
and energy communities."
The letter demonstrates the change in farm bill sentiment House
Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and others have noted
among farm and interest group constituents in recent months.
Although several of the groups signing the letter initially favored an
extension of the 2002 farm bill, they said they now prefer enacting new
farm legislation to keeping the current law.
With the 2007 farm bill's baseline "already substantially lower than
previous years, extending current law could also result in a substantial
reduction in the funding available for writing the next farm bill," the
letter said. "A further reduction would only make writing new
legislation that much harder."
Most farm leaders believe the Senate holds the trump card on the farm
bill. Chairman Peterson has said he believes a House-Senate conference
committee can resolve most of the differences in the House and Senate
versions of the bill - once the Senate passes the measure.
"I think about 75 percent of this stuff could be worked out fairly
easily by the time we come back here in January, assuming the Senate
passes the bill in December," Peterson told reporters. "And I think the
rest of it could be worked out in a week or so."
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the
nation's largest farm organization, said he was cautiously optimistic
about the chances of the bill clearing the Senate and going to a
conference committee.
If the process drags into 2008, it would not be the first time Congress
completed work on a farm bill a year after it was scheduled. Both the
1996 and 2002 farm bills would have been dated a year earlier if
Congress had finished work on them in the year in which it started.
One of the amendments that is almost certain to be allowed is one
dealing with payment limits that is expected to be introduced by Sens.
Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. The measure would put
a "hard cap" of $250,000 on payments to individual farmers and their
spouses.
The Senate passed a similar amendment to the 2002 farm bill, but the
language was removed from the bill at the insistence of House
negotiators during the conference committee deliberations.
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