Sorry for duplicate postings! - - - Thanks to all of you food and farming advocates out there, your action has gotten us this far – we can’t stop now! *This is crunch time for the 2012 Farm Bill*: the Senate will vote on farm bill amendments in a big VOTE-O-RAMA* today, including several that are make or break for beginning farmers, rural communities, and conservation. *Voting is happening TODAY – speak out now!<http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5735/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6161> * * * Senators filed over 300 amendments to the bill, and only 25% made the cut for a vote. Your calls and emails proved that these issues matter: now it’s time to speak out once again. *Please call or email your Senators TODAY and ask them to vote for:* *Brown #2445: ENSURE A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR BEGINNING FARMERS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES* Senator Brown’s amendment #2445 will fund critical programs like the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Value-Added Producer Grants, and the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program – these programs create jobs and foster the next generation of farmers and ranchers! *Coburn-Durbin #2439: SPEAK OUT FOR REAL REFORM AND LIMIT SUBSIDIES* Senators Coburn and Durbin’s amendment #2439 will place long-overdue limits on crop insurance subsidies – America’s largest farm subsidy – and build on the current reforms that cap commodity payments in the farm bill. *Chambliss #2438: PROTECT OUR PRICELESS NATURAL RESOURCES* Senator Chambliss’s amendment #2438 (identical to the one filed by Senator Cardin earlier in the process from our previous alerts) on conservation compliance will protect our natural resources by reattaching important on-farm conservation requirements to crop insurance, as it was until 1996. *Every single call or email you make has an impact on how your Senators will vote in the next few hours.* *It takes just a moment – please contact them today!<http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=nbvS%2BC8QPFy%2F7LwVyXvLPCW6LczU85rk> * *Thanks for all that you do!* P.S. When you call, tell the NSAC Grassroots Team how it went! <https://mail.google.com/a/sustainableagriculture.net/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&[log in to unmask]> And help us spread the word by sharing this message! ** A Vote-O-Rama is what it’s called when Congress debates and votes on a big list of amendments in a big hurry!* * * Best wishes and sincere thanks, Lindsey Scalera *Michigan Voices for Good Food Policy* Grassroots Organizer 734-646-2428 [log in to unmask] http://migoodfoodpolicy.wordpress.com/ *Sign-on to NSAC's Farm Bill Platform* http://bit.ly/2012FarmBillSignOn National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition www.sustainableagriculture.net 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