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Farm Bill / Centerpiece Farm Program / MDA Biennial Budget / Congress passes appropriations bill /A Bad Element /

CSP Heads Up: Rules by August?

1. Rules
The CSP draft rules are cranking along and are likely to be published as soon as the end of July, with a 30-45 day comment period. While August is a difficult time to get people to comment, USDA is diligently trying to launch the program by October. We hear prepatory meetings with the Office of Management and Budget went relatively well, although there were some contentious issues. USDA plans to formally send the draft rule to OMB in the next week or so, and OMB can take as much time as they want to approve the draft for publication. USDA is pushing hard for a July release. We'll keep you posted! Thanks to your input, both Senator Coleman and Senator Dayton signed the bipartisan letter to USDA asking for quick publication of rules, a 30 day comment period, and the start of enrollment in the CSP this fiscal year. Eleven Republicans and thirteen Democrats signed the Senate letter, attached.

2. Appropriations
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up the agriculture funding bill July 15, followed by full committee action July 17. They have been allocated huge overall cuts to make in agriculture programs, but we are strongly hopeful CSP will survive. In addition to strong Democratic support, there is good Republican support. Again, our Senators are not on the committees. If your national affiliates are active on CSP, we suggest Chairman Bennett (UT), Spector (PA), Brownback ( KS), and Bond (MO) as extremely important votes. The House Appropriations full committee kept zero funding for CSP in their 2004 funding bill. (Correction from last memo: Minnesota did have a member on the full committee, Rep. Martin Sabo.) It is likely the full House will not alter the plan when they vote. Once again we are likely to have no House support and strong Senate support when Congress goes into conference committee to battle it out. Since the $3.77 billion 10-year funding cap for CSP was so recently agreed to, we can hope for the best. It all hinges on whether funding cuts will be dumped on new farm bill initiatives, or spread out amongst all programs. Weigh in with your voice!

3. Resources of Concern
Every NRCS State Conservationist has been asked to review a national list of Resources of Concern and add modifications appropriate for their state by August 15. Recall that CSP contracts must address one (Tiers 1 and 2) or all (Tier 3) Resources of Concern. Also, Bill Hunt is being asked to update Quality Criteria for the field office technical guide, which will define when a resource of concern has been solved to a nondegradation level. Nothing about this or CSP is on the agenda for the next State Technical Committee meeting July 17 in St. Cloud. No meetings of either the CSP Subcommittee or the Field Office Technical Guide Subcommittee have been scheduled.

Enjoy this beautiful green summer.
--Loni Kemp

Amanda Bilek, Program Assistant
The Minnesota Project
1885 University Ave. Suite 315
St. Paul, MN 55104
P: 651-645-6159 x 6
F: 651-645-1262

CENTERPIECE FARM PROGRAM AWAITS LAUNCH
Conservation Security Program Widely Supported

Canton, MN Ð Today, on the one year anniversary of the signing of the 2002 farm bill, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition released its analysis of public comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the Conservation Security Program (CSP). The CSP will provide incentives to farmers for conservation systems that solve critical natural resource concerns. President Bush cited conservation provisions as one of the best things about the farm bill when he signed it.

ÒThe public responded with a remarkable show of support for this exciting program,Ó said Loni Kemp of the Minnesota Project, a member of the Coalition. ÒOur coalitionÕs analysis shows wide agreement on implementation questions, and a desire to launch the CSP now.Ó

According to the analysis of over 700 responses from 45 states, practically all supported the program, with only 6 negative responses.

With the comments in hand, USDA is now putting final touches on proposed rules. At a Senate hearing last week, USDA Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley confirmed the DepartmentÕs intent to start the program by the end of this summer.

ÒDelay serves no one Ð not the stewardship-minded farmers who have been waiting for it, nor the general public which deserves a smarter approach to conservationÓ said Ferd Hoefner, Washington Representative of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. ÒOur review of comments found great unanimity that priority resource concerns should be resolved in CSP conservation contracts, using strict but reasonable requirements for program participation.Ó

In addition, the Coalition found that:
94% of those responding to a USDA question concerning the scope of the program called for it to be implemented as an open enrollment program, as the farm bill envisions, without excluding qualified applicants.

90% of those responding to a USDA question about whether there should be a per farmer payment limitation said CSP should stick to single contracts, with payments kept at the limits of up to $20,000, $35,000, and $45,000 per farmer (graduated based on the conservation level or ÒtierÓ at which the producer enrolls.)

Earlier this year, congressional leaders regrettably capped CSP expenditures at $3.77 billion through 2013. However, Senate leaders committed to removing the cap and restoring full future CSP funding later this year. At the same time, House Agriculture Committee chair Bob Goodlatte and ranking member Charlie Stenholm also expressed their deep concern over the cut made to the CSP.

ÒWe now have enough funding in place to run CSP for several years. The Administration ought to rally behind restoring future funding, and begin immediate implementation of the CSP,Ó said Kemp. ÒEverybody benefits when farmers take care of the land.

For the complete Sustainable Agriculture Coalition analysis of CSP comments, or background information on the CSP, contact Loni Kemp at lkemp@mnproject.org or 507-743-8300.

The Minnesota Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental protection and sustainable development in greater Minnesota. The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition represents farm, rural, and conservation organizations that advocate policies supporting the long-term sustainability of agriculture, natural resources and rural communities.

--30--

Loni Kemp
Senior Policy Analyst
The Minnesota Project
RR 1 Box 81 B
Canton MN 55922
507-743-8300
www.mnproject.org

To give you a better idea of what the MDA Biennial Budget 2004-2005 will do to some of our key organic and sustainable agriculture programs and efforts...refer to the attachment. Click here to download a Microsoft Word Document

Last week Congress passed an appropriations bill which overturns USDA regulations requiring all organic livestock to be fed 100% organic feed. Under pressure from the Georgia House delegation, Congress caved in to corporate agribusiness interests and once again ignored the wishes of millions of organic farmers, consumers, and retailers.

*****Take Action to Protect The integrity of Organic Standards*****

Senator Leahy (D-VT) is taking the lead in introducing a bill to repeal this rider, and is expected to do so shortly after Congress re-convenes on February 24th. He will need co-sponsors in the Senate - both Republicans and Democrats, and sponsors from both parties in the House. Representative Sam Farr will introduce the bill in the House. For the repeal bill to be successful, we must generate a lot of interest and public comment on the bill all across the nation. It is important that everyone - farmers, consumers, environmentalists, and the entire organic industry - talk to their members of Congress and to create a buzz in local and regional media.

****What You Can Do - Take Action!******

1. Contact your representatives in Washington and demand that they repeal the language inserted into Section 771 of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill undermining the integrity of the organic label for meat, poultry, eggs and dairy.

2. Encourage your legislators to co-sponsor the bill with Senator Leahy.

3. Write Op-Ed articles and letters to the editor - get in the media. (Feel free to use the OCA press release as a template for your own media work) http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/degrade021403.cfm

4. Let your local health food store know what you are doing. Make your voice heard loud and clear.

5. Forward on this email to any like minded people you may know ANYWHERE in the US.
The message is simple: Urge your Senators and Representatives to support efforts by Senator Patrick Leahy to repeal Section 771 of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill.
Tell them: Repealing this section is in the interest of consumers, organic farmers and the environment. Repealing this section will encourage continued growth of organic agricultural production in the United States, one of the bright prospects for U.S. agriculture overall.

Repealing this section prevents special interests from circumventing new national regulations that were in public discussion for over a decade.

February 16, 2003
A Bad Element By ROBERT F. KENNEDY Jr.

Here's why the environmental community isn't ecstatic over President Bush's call to spend more than $1 billion over five years to develop a hydrogen-powered car to wean us from our addiction to Middle East oil.

Certainly, fuel cells that use renewable resources like wind and solar power to extract hydrogen from water promise America a safe, clean energy solution. However, in a sop to the energy industry, the White House wants to extract hydrogen instead from coal and natural gas (without controlling carbon emissions), thereby increasing global warming and fouling our landscape. Worse, the president wants to build a new generation of nuclear power plants specifically for hydrogen production.

The president's hydrogen plan will further reduce our national commitment to renewables by cutting our already anemic financing for research into wind, solar and other energy-saving technologies.

Fuel cells offer bright prospects but it will be 10 to 20 years before economical hydrogen vehicles are on the road. Meanwhile, Americans are buying 17 million new cars, trucks and S.U.V.'s a year Ñ vehicles that could be much more fuel efficient. It's no secret that right now we have the technology to make cars that get better mileage and pollute less. But the administration has repeatedly scuttled efforts to put these innovations in place, fighting tougher fuel economy standards for all vehicles, refusing to compel S.U.V.'s to meet the same mileage standards as cars and creating tax incentives for Americans to buy the largest gas guzzlers.Last week, in an astonishing move, government lawyers joined General Motors and DaimlerChrysler in a federal lawsuit challenging a California law that rewards carmakers for selling low-emission, gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.

Hybrids are just one of the proven technologies that could start saving oil right now. They can increase fuel economy 50 percent, and never need plugging in. Other technologies that can lift fuel economy include more advanced transmissions; improved engine and valve train design; and tires that promote fuel-efficiency. Available now, these solutions won't be widely used until Washington gets serious about the arithmetic of oil security: we use a quarter of the world's oil, yet we have only 3 percent of the known reserves.

Requiring cars to average 40 miles per gallon by 2012 would save nearly 2 million barrels a day; that's more than we imported from Saudi Arabia last year, and three times our Iraq imports. Raise that to 55 miles per gallon by 2020, and daily savings grow to nearly 5 million barrels, almost twice our current Persian Gulf imports. We have an oil security problem and we have an air pollution problem.

We also have the technology to fix these problems Ñ if only we would have the will to use it.