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1/7/04
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1. Farm Bill Conservation:
Getting the Ominbus Axe?
2. More Women Picking Up the Plow
3. Where's the Safe
Beef?
4. Almanacs For Sale!
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1. FARM BILL
CONSERVATION: GETTING THE OMNIBUS AXE?
The passage of the last farm bill
was hailed by the "New York Times" as "the most
important environmental legislation since the Clean Air
Act" because of the high level of spending mandated for
conservation programs.
With these new conservation tools
and increased funding, US farmers and ranchers looked forward to
making environmentally sound changes in production. But
much of the hoopla may fade like a pipe dream in the new year
when Congress returns to work on January 20th.
On queue for quick passage is an
omnibus appropriations bill that takes the axe to previously
approved mandatory farm bill conservation dollars. As
reported in the December 5 issue of RU! the FY04 omnibus
will fund fiscal year 2004 farm bill conservation spending at
$242 million less than what was laid out in the Farm Bill! This
is a 15 percent less than what was promised to these
programs.
Moreover, the cuts
disproportionally hit the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program,
which will get 30 percent less than what the farm bill
authorized. On a more positive note, the "Washington
Post" reports today that Senators plan to renew their push
to remove from the Omnibus appropriations bill a provision that
would delay implementation of Country of Origin Labeling.
2. MORE WOMEN PICKING UP
THE PLOW
Ames, Iowa is the very heartland
of corn and soybean production in the United States. There a new
breed of farmers are emerging to pick up the plow: women.
Mary Swalla Holmes,
communications coordinator with Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa
said in an interview with the Ames
Tribune, "More and more agricultural land in Iowa is
owned by women" and that "women in particular seem to
be more focused on making the land a legacy for the future and
less focused on commodity agriculture."
Holmes said a recent survey
produced by the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, Cass County
women landowners were asked for a wish list of what they would
like to see on their land. "They said they wanted
more forests, more ponds, more animal habitats and vineyards.
They want to see what the land is capable of
being."
To help these women stewards get
started, an alliance of Iowa groups is sponsoring a workshop
entitled, "Women, Land and Legacy," to be held at the Practical
Farmers of Iowa annual conference this Friday.
Sponsoring organizations include
the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, the National Catholic
Rural Life Conference and the Iowa National Resources
Conservation Service.
3. WHERE'S THE SAFE
BEEF?
The Organic Trade Association
(ATA) this week sent out a press release reminding consumers
that in a marketplace brimming with worries over mad cow
disease, "organic
beef is a smart choice."
Speaking on behalf of the
Nation's $12 billion organic industry, Katherine DiMatteo,
Executive Director of OTA said, "The green and white 'USDA
Organic' seal may be little, but it carries a big message: the
organic product being purchased is fully traceable, has passed
rigorous inspections, and, in the case of organic beef, has
never been fed any animal by-products in any form."
OTA's press release points out
that the discovery of mad cow disease in the United States has
prompted the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to
consider revising conventional beef production and handling
procedures." In the meantime they say,
"consumers can purchase certified organic beef that already
meets tougher safety standards."
Since the announcement in
December of the discovery of mad cow disease, beef futures have
been racked with losses and beef prices are expected to drop by
20%.
4. ALMANACS FOR SALE!
Last week when the FBI sent out a
terrorist update telling 28,000 law enforcement agencies to be
on the watch for people carrying Almanacs, it was hard to take
the notion seriously. Yet, the Farmer's Almanac,"
first printed 16 years after our founding fathers signed the
Declaration of Independence, has become a "red flag"
for law enforcement.
Puzzled, two Washington Post
writers set out this week to understand why the
"Almanac" was on the FBI's bad-book list. After
sloshing through tidal charts, moon phases and advertisements
for hair rejuvenating potions they stumbled upon one plauseable
reason: chicken brainwashing.
Yes, one version of the Almanac,
the "Old Farmer's Almanac," actually contains
information on how to hypnotize chickens. The intelligence
source for this little known factoid was the Almanac's very own
editor Judson Hale. Mr. Hale bravely suggested that
terrorists might "want to learn how to hypnotize every
chicken and cripple the whole U.S. poultry industry."
Ok. If you don't want to stare in the Doc's eyes while he
slowly drones, "Now you are getting sleepy," check
out the fun, or see the Almanac's official
press response.
Cultivating a vision where
rural and urban communities join together
to ensure abundant family farms, healthy critters, clean water and
a wild Earth.
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Rural Updates!
Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org
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