Old Congress / New Congress Ag. Update
By the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
 
Old Congress
 
Lame “Duckling” Session Limps to a Close:  With minutes to spare before a midnight government-shutdown deadline, the 109th Congress passed a Continuing Resolution until February 15 which sets funds FY2007 funding levels temporarily at 2006 or lower levels for the nine of eleven FY2007 Appropriations bills.  Only the FY2007 Defense Appropriations and Homeland Security Appropriations have been enacted.  Never at a loss for words, incoming House Appropriations Chair David Obey (D-WI) called the need for the Continuing Resolution “a blatant admission of abject failure by the most useless Congress in modern times.”  The new Congress and new Democratic leadership will now have the chance to finish this year’s unfinished appropriations work early next year, most likely in the form of a large omnibus bill combining all nine unfinished bill.
 
Congress then limped to a close early Saturday morning after passing a large bill reviving expiring tax breaks, increasing offshore oil drilling, extending trade benefits to certain developing countries, and protecting doctors from cuts in their Medicare payment structure.
 
Disaster Aid:  This week saw only limited action on FY2007 Agricultural Appropriations, with an amendment to the Senate bill offered on Tuesday by Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND).  The amendment would have added raised emergency agricultural disaster assistance for crop and livestock producers affected by drought and other disasters in 2005 and 2006 from $3.5 billion to $4.9 billion. Farmers would have the option of disaster payments or a 25 percent increase in commodity program direct payments, the latter available if an economic loss actually occurred. The direct payment option increased the cost of the amendment from $4.5 billion to $4.9 billion.
 
The amendment was blocked Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), chair of the Senate Budget Committee who raised a point of order under the Budget Act challenging the amendment for the lack of offsets.  Gregg also noted that some of the assistance is not tied to directly to production losses.  A waiver of the point of order required 60 votes and only 57 Senators voted for the waiver.  According to Conrad, three Senators who were not present – Joe Biden (D-DE), Chris Dodd (D-CT), and Sam Brownback (R-KS) - would likely have voted for the waiver, enough to hit 60.  Conrad noted that the close vote on the point of order indicates that the measure may well pass in the next Congress, even if President Bush continues to threaten to veto agricultural disaster assistance which is not offset by cuts in other programs.
 
The only Democrats to oppose the waiver were Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Mark Pryor (D-AR).  They did so because they favored the underlying provision already in the Senate bill which the amendment would have replaced.  That provision would provide a 30 percent direct payment bonus without having to prove even an economic loss, much less a production loss.
 
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) attempted to amend the agricultural appropriations bill with a rider prohibiting the EPA from regulating dust and particulate matter from agricultural operations.  EPA says it will not rule on the matter until finishing a scientific review and then taking up the matter when the rule comes up for review in about 5 years.  Grassley’s amendment has so far been effectively blocked by incoming Environment and Public Works chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
 
Farm Bill Comments from New Chairs:  Incoming House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-MN) spoke this week at a Farm Foundation Forum on the 2007 Farm Bill.  Peterson reiterated his strong interest in keeping the commodity title essentially unchanged, adopting a new permanent disaster payment program, and starting a new program to enroll and pay rental payments on 5 million acres of land that farmers dedicate to growing switchgrass and other potential biomass feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production.  These three points have become the new chairman’s mantra for the upcoming farm bill.  Peterson also mentioned his lack of interest in adopting a comprehensive competition title, but noted he realized that Senate Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) would be pushing that point.  In a similar vein, he mentioned that the House Committee would have to deal with the Conservation Security Program because of the interest in it in the Senate Committee.
 
Turning to Committee structure and process, Peterson confirmed that there will likely be six rather than five subcommittees, with one likely to deal with energy, conservation and research.  Currently conservation and research are in the same subcommittee as rural development and credit, which would now likely be a separate subcommittee or added to existing subcommittees.  Energy is currently in the subcommittee that handles food stamps and nutrition, so the switch to conservation and research certainly makes logical sense.
 
The new Chairman also reiterated that the new subcommittee chairmen will be Tim Holden (PA), Mike McIntrye and Bob Ehteridge (both NC), Joe Baca and Dennis Cardoza (both CA), and David Scott (GA) – making the chairman himself the only Midwest member of the leadership team.  Final decisions on the names and chairs of each subcommittee are not likely to be known until January.  Peterson has clearly stated his intent to allow each subcommittee to mark-up its section(s) of the farm bill independently, before any farm bill legislation is brought to the full committee.  This constitutes a move back to “regular order,” a practice which has been suspended for the most part during consideration of the past two farm bills developed under Republican control in 1995/6 and 2001/2.
 
New Senate Chair Tom Harkin met with Peterson this week to start reviewing farm bill process.  In a press conference on Thursday, Harkin said they agreed to have the farm bill finished in both chambers by the August recess, and then move to a House-Senate conference committee in September.  That strikes some observers as an optimistic scenario, but if nothing else clearly signifies an intent for full-scale consideration of the bill in the committees by late spring.
 
Cochran Aid Keenum Confirmed in Number 3 Slot at USDA:  The Senate this week confirmed Mark Keenum, long time agricultural assistant to Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS), as the new Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, generally considered the third most important position at USDA.  Keenum, who has handled farm bills and agricultural appropriations for Cochran since 1989, has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Mississippi State.  The move to USDA, widely supported by general farm and commodity organizations, is widely viewed by observers as a move by farm bill interests to keep more reformist elements around the Secretary from going too far.  Keenum has been a leader in formulating cotton and rice commodity provisions in the last three farm bills.
 
NEW CONGRESS NEWS
 
Democratic Leadership Sets Opening Agenda for 110th Congress:  Democratic leadership has set an ambitious agenda for the opening days of the 110th Congress which begins Jan. 4, 2007.  The plan calls for approval of the Democratic “100-hour” legislative agenda by the time of the President’s State of the Union address to Congress, tentatively scheduled for January 23.  The legislative agenda will start with the first increase in the federal minimum wage in a decade and advancing federally-funded stem cell research.  These measures will be followed by legislation to given Medicare the right to negotiate drug price discounts, make college loans cheaper, and roll back oil industry tax breaks.  The agenda also includes a House ethics package, which might include earmark reform.
 
House Republicans Ratify Committee Ranking Members: On Thursday, the House Republican Conference confirmed its slate of committee ranking members for the 110th Congress.  As expected Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) will be the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee and Jerry Lewis (R-CA) will take the position on the House Appropriations Committee.  Rep. Don Young (R-AL) will be Resources ranking member and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) takes over as Judiciary ranking member. Contested ranking memberships included the House Budget Committee with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) a relatively new House member beating out Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL).  As Budget Committee ranking member, Ryan will have key GOP role in the debate over the farm bill spending.
 
Congressional Recesses Announced:  Attention all organizers!  We now have the rough congressional schedule for the coming year.  Mark your calendars now for the times to be asking for meetings in the state/district with your Senators and Representatives!
 
Contrary to normal practice, Congress will be in session for most of January, as the Democratic leadership attempts to pass its first 100-hour agenda.  The first major recess will be President’s Day week, from Feb. 19-23.  The House will be home for two weeks at Easter – the weeks of April 2 and 9, with the Senate only taking the first of those weeks.  Both houses will be off the week of May 28 for Memorial Day and the week of July 2 for the Fourth.  Both expect to go on summer recess August 6 for four weeks.  All told, the new leadership plans on many more working days in Washington than has been true in recent years, leading some Congressmen this week to complain about the reversal of the “family friendly” three day a week work schedule and additional recess weeks of recent years.
 
URGENT ACTION NEEDED
 
Reminder – Sign onto the Competition Agenda Letter:  We are continuing to circulate for sign-on the letter calling on the new Congress to enact a comprehensive farm bill competition title.  Please sign on and also circulate the letter to other groups you work with for their consideration.  The letter is now available on our website at www.msawg.org.
 
USDA NEWS
 
Conservation Innovation Grants RFP:  On Monday, the Natural Resources Conservation Service issued the FY2007 Request for Proposals for up to $20 million for Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG).  The CIG program is designed to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies.  Funds for single- or multi-year projects, not to exceed three years, will be awarded through a nationwide competitive grants process.  There are three CIG categories available in FY 2007: Natural Resource Concerns, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and Technology.  Applications are due Feb. 2, 2007.  The RFP is posted on the web at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig.
 
USDA Taking Comments on Label for “Natural” Meats:  In a news release that seems to have caught many groups by surprise, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced plans to develop a new definition for the “natural” labeling claim used on meat and poultry products.  FSIS has scheduled a public meeting on December 12 to initiate discussion of the issue, and will be accepting general public comments until January 11, 2007.  Following this period of information gathering, the agency will issue a proposed rule for a new standard.  See www.fsis.usda.gov/ to view the complete announcement.
 
Interest in revisiting the 24-year-old definition of “natural” has peaked since a 2005 FSIS decision to allow products containing chemical preservatives (including sodium lactate) and synthetic ingredients appearing on the National Organic Policy list (NOP list) to carry the “natural” label.  This past October, Hormel Foods, marketer of the well-known Spam products, submitted a petition to FSIS requesting the agency codify the definition of natural, and clarify the circumstances under which a meat or poultry product may use the label.  The petition echoes earlier calls from trade industry groups and consumer organizations for FSIS to resolve what many describe as significant inconsistencies created by the exceptions for preservatives and NOP list synthetic ingredients, which seemingly contradict “natural” claim regulations prohibiting “any artificial flavor or flavoring, coloring ingredient, or chemical preservative...or any other artificial or synthetic ingredient.”
 
In addition to the FSIS decision to initiate a new rulemaking for the “natural” labeling claim, the Agricultural Marketing Service will conduct several public listening sessions on the proposed development of a voluntary marketing claim for “naturally raised” livestock beginning Monday, December 11 (see www.ams.usda.gov/news/283-06.htm).  This flurry of labeling claim activity may be further complicating USDA’s ongoing development of standards for a grassfed beef label (a final rule is expected early next year) and three associated labeling claims addressing livestock pasture requirements, and the use of hormones and antibiotics.
 
Consistent with its involvement in the development of the grassfed beef labeling claim standards, SAC will continue to work with its partners and the USDA to ensure that all labeling claims provide clear and meaningful guidance to both producers and consumers.
 
Section 2501 Program FY2006 Grants Awarded:  On Monday, USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) announced the award of 21 competitive Section 2501 program grants, totaling more than $5.6 million in FY2006 funding, to strengthen efforts aimed at serving minority and disadvantaged farmers.  Among the grantees is SAC member Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) in Salinas, California, which received a grant of $289,679.  Other non-profit organizations receiving grants included the Federation for Southern Cooperatives, Indian Nations Conservation Alliance, National Tribal Development Association, Rural Coalition, and Winrock International.  The other grants went to 1862 and 1890 land grant universities around the country.  The full list of grant awards and links to more information on the Section 2501 program are on the web at http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2006news/oasdfr_06.html.
 
New Members of the National Organic Standards Board:  On Tuesday, USDA announced the appointment of four new members to the NOSB, who will serve terms running from Jan. 24, 2007 to Jan. 24, 2012.  Tracy Miedema, a Consumer/Public Interest member, who is the national sales and marketing manager of Stahlbush Farms in Oregon, has served as an adjunct professor in consumer behavior at Western Washington University, and created an organic learning center for retailers and stakeholders within Small Planet Foods. Tina Ellor, an Environmental member, is the technical director of Phillips Mushroom Farms, a member of Pennsylvania Certified Organic, and active in small farm and rural development in Pennsylvania.  Steve DeMuri, a Handler member, is the senior manager for commercialization and improvement for Campbell Soup Company in California and the technical expert and manager of their organic production.  Katrina Heinze, the scientist member, has a doctorate degree in chemistry and is the manager of global regulatory affairs for General Mills, responsible for food safety and regulatory matters.  The NOSB has 15 members representing all sectors and interests of organic producing, handling, and consuming (4 producers, 2 handlers, 1 retailer, 3 environmentalists, 3 consumers, 1 scientist, and 1 certifying agent).

SAC/MSAWG Winter Meeting and Farm Bill Campaign Conference and Fly-In:  Prepare to come to Washington DC on March 6-8, 2007!  Along with our regular SAC and MSAWG business and committee meetings, we will also hold capacity building and strategy sessions for our work on the 2007 Farm Bill to be followed by visits to Capitol Hill.  We will be inviting other national and grassroots partners to join us for the last two days as we begin our work to win passage of sustainable agriculture priorities in the Farm Bill.  More details will be announced soon.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, contact Margaret Hueslman at 317-536-2315 or mhuelsman@msawg.org.