May 2010 Potluck News

1.) The United Regions of America
By Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline Staff Writer, www.stateline.org
April 22, 2010

The Obama administration wants to change the way politicians fight for jobs by encouraging regions, instead of individual states and cities, to compete for economic development projects.

Accomplishing this sea change in economic thinking will be difficult. The current system of states and cities battling for companies, often outbidding each other with ever-higher tax breaks, is pretty ingrained. President Obama’s hand-picked chairman of the Democratic National Committee, former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, was one of the best practitioners; Virginia topped Forbes magazine’s “best states for business” every year of his term.

But the administration believes that economic recovery will be led by a collection of regions around the US, not necessarily individual states. America’s regions will battle those in other countries for supremacy in the global economy. Read more...

2.) USDA seeks proposals for Conservation Partnership Projects in Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Projects will improve water quality in six states

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that US Department of Agriculture is accelerating voluntary efforts toward a healthy and restored Chesapeake Bay through its Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI).

"This administration supports the use of partnerships to pursue innovative ways to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed," Vilsack said. "Using a voluntary approach, USDA is working with landowners and operators to reduce sediments and nutrients, increase carbon sequestration and contribute to a healthy Chesapeake Bay."

USDA will use at least $5 million in financial assistance from two programs – the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program – to carry out CCPI in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in fiscal year 2010. This funding is available for single state- and multi-state partnership projects that address natural resource concerns within six Chesapeake Bay Watershed states: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Approximately $500,000 of the total funding is reserved for multi-state projects. Proposals for single state projects must be submitted to the appropriate USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) state conservationist by close of business on May 24, 2010. Multi-state and regional projects must be submitted to Financial Assistance Division, NRCS's National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. by close of business (Eastern Time) on the same date. Learn more...

3.) State Fact Sheets

The USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) State Fact Sheets contain frequently requested data for each state and for the total United States. These include current data on population, per-capita income, earnings per job, poverty rates, employment, unemployment, farm characteristics, farm financial characteristics, top agricultural commodities, top export commodities, and the top counties in agricultural sales. The latest (2009) state and county population estimates are now available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/.

4.) Up to 200 Vermont dairy farms could fail soon, state says
By Dan McLean, Burlington Free Press
April 24, 2010

As many as 200 Vermont dairy farms could be forced out of business by year’s end, the result of volatile milk prices that hammered farmers’ finances during the past year’s price collapse, the state Department of Agriculture has concluded.

“That’s the worst-case scenario,” Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee said Friday. “There is a lot of stress and problems out there.”

He added, “This is absolutely the worst situation I have seen in the dairy industry in my lifetime.”

In 2009, milk sold for about $12 a hundredweight, down from about $18 a hundredweight in 2008. A hundredweight, the unit commonly used to sell milk in bulk, is 11.6 gallons.

There were 1,017 dairy farms in Vermont on April 1, according to the state. Under the Agriculture Department’s worst-case scenario, the count would plummet to 817 dairy farms in less than eight months. Read more...

5.) Will a billion pounds of cheese stink up markets?
By Jim Dickrell, www.AgWeb.com
April 26, 2010

A billion pounds of cheese in storage is one heckuva lot of cheese.

Last Thursday, USDA released its March Cold Storage report, saying there are 601 million pounds of American cheese, 27 million pounds of Swiss cheese and 373 million pounds of other types of cheeses now sitting in warehouses across the country. The grand total: 1,000,778,000 pounds.

The last time cheese stocks hit 1 billion pounds was in 1984—back in the depths of another dairy recession/depression. With a billion pounds of cheese sitting in warehouses and Kansas City caves, manufacturing milk prices collapsed below $12 for a stretch of 18 months through 1985 and 1986. Like now, it was an ugly time for U.S. dairy farmers. Read more...

6.) Geographic preference option for the procurement of unprocessed agricultural products in Child Nutrition Programs

Proposed rule summary from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service: The 2008 Farm Bill amended the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct that the Secretary of Agriculture encourage institutions operating Child Nutrition Programs to purchase unprocessed locally grown and locally raised agricultural products. Effective October 1, 2008, institutions receiving funds through the Child Nutrition Programs may apply an optional geographic preference in the procurement of unprocessed locally grown or locally raised agricultural products.

This provision applies to institutions in all of the Child Nutrition Programs, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program, as well as to purchases made for these programs by the Department of Defense Fresh Program. The provision also applies to State Agencies making purchases on behalf of any of the aforementioned Child Nutrition Programs.

The purpose of this proposed rule is to incorporate this procurement option in the Programs' regulations and to define the term "unprocessed locally grown or locally raised agricultural products" to ensure that both the intent of Congress in providing for such a procurement option is met and that any such definition will facilitate ease of implementation for institution participating in the Child Nutrition Programs. The proposed rule is intended to be implemented by institutions choosing to apply the geographic preference option for the procurement of locally grown and locally raised agricultural products.

The Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, invites interested persons to submit comments on this proposedrule. Comments must be received on or before June 18, 2010 to be assured of consideration. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.

7.) Delaware schools: First play, then eat – Better behavior, less waste are benefits of scheduling recess before lunch
by Nichole Dobo, The News Journal
April 2, 2010

Principals of scores of schools who moved recess before lunch discovered that not only do students eat more and waste less food, but behavior improved and teachers gained instructional time. Children waste significantly less food when they play before sitting down to eat, according to a 2004 study published in the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management. Students threw away about 40 percent of their food when lunch was held before recess. When the schedule was flipped, waste dropped to about 27 percent. Read more...

8.) Food vs. Fuel: Growing grain for food is more energy efficient
www.sciencedaily.com
April 20, 2010

Using productive farmland to grow crops for food instead of fuel is more energy efficient, Michigan State University scientists concluded, after analyzing 17 years' worth of data to help settle the food versus fuel debate.

"It's 36 percent more efficient to grow grain for food than for fuel," said Ilya Gelfand, an MSU post doctoral researcher and lead author of the study. "The ideal is to grow corn for food, then leave half the leftover stalks and leaves on the field for soil conservation and produce cellulosic ethanol with the other half." Read more...

9.) US organic food sales grow 5.1% in 2009
by Bryan Salvage, www.MeatPoultry.com
April 22, 2010

Despite the distressed state of the economy, US sales of organic products continued to grow during 2009. The Organic Trade Association revealed in its 2010 Organic Industry Survey, organic product sales in 2009 grew by 5.3% overall, to reach $26.6 billion. Of that figure, $24.8 billion represented organic food. The remaining $1.8 billion were sales of organic non-foods. Read more...

10.) Controversial farmworker bill defeated in New York State Senate committee
By Jon Campbell, www.Pressconnects.com
April 21, 2010

Legislation that would have given farmworkers mandatory overtime pay and rest periods, was defeated by the Senate Agriculture Committee, ending the controversial bill's chances of becoming law.In other action, the committee approved a tax- and mandate-relief package that would provide financial breaks to farmers if passed by the Legislature.Farmers lobbied extensively against the farmworkers bill, which would have given farm laborers overtime pay after 55 hours of work in a week or a 10-hour shift, as well as unemployment insurance and workers' compensation benefits. Read more...

11.) Seattle takes to urban farming and then some
By Lisa Stiffler, Seattle Post Intelligencer
April 22, 2010

2010 is officially the Year of Urban Agriculture in Seattle, and its residents' passion for tilling the urban jungle is growing like zucchini in August.

A Lutheran church in Broadview tore out its rhodies, junipers and beauty bark to make way for garden plots. Seattle Central Community College on Capitol Hill is offering what could be the first U.S. program focused onsustainable urban agriculture. And city leaders are taking steps to encourage more city gardening and to support businesses looking to grow, sell and process fruits and veggies in Seattle.

The interest in urban agriculture "has just exploded," said Jason Niebler, director of the Sustainable Agriculture Education Program at Seattle Central. Read more...

12.) Department of Justice and USDA announce Poultry Workshop

The US Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will hold a joint public workshop May 21, 2010, at Alabama A&M University in Normal, Alabama, to explore competition issues affecting the poultry industry and the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement.

This workshop is the second in a series of joint Department of Justice/USDA workshops being held to discuss competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry. The goals of the workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with real-world experience in the agricultural sector.

The workshop will address the dynamics of competition in poultry. It will examine legal doctrines and jurisprudence, as well as current economic learning, and will provide an opportunity for farmers, ranchers, consumer groups, processors, agribusiness, and other interested parties to provide examples of potentially anticompetitive conduct and to discuss any concerns about the application of the antitrust laws to the agricultural sectors. Read more...

13.) Mondays now meat-free in San Francisco
By Joshua Sabatini, San Francisco Examiner
April 6, 2010

Monday in San Francisco is officially the meat-free day of the week. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation Tuesday declaring the first day of the week meat-free Mondays, now known as Vegetarian Day or Veg Day.

“With this resolution, San Francisco can join the growing list of communities that have taken action to encourage citizens to choose vegetarian foods as a way to protect the planet and their health,” said Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, a vegetarian for 40 years who introduced the resolution. Read more...

14.) Farmers, consumers take advantage of online farmers market
By Kate Roy, The Hartford Courant
April 8, 2010

Just in time for the start of growing season, farmers and consumers on the hunt for fresh, local fruits, vegetables, eggs and other farm products have found each other on a new online match-making service. The Shared Harvest Connecticut website, launched in March, is a fast-growing virtual farmers market that is helping to build a bridge between farmers and consumers.

Shared Harvest Connecticut, found at www.sharedharvest.net/connecticut, is an offshoot of the Edibles Advocate Alliance, which offers small business consulting and support for grassroots, agricultural and socially innovative organizations. Read more...

15.) A Resource Guide to Direct Market Livestock and Poultry

The Cornell Small Farms Livestock Program announces the publication of "A Resource Guide to Direct Market Livestock and Poultry" to clarify and explain the complex laws in layman terms, discuss slaughtering and processing at the custom, state, and federal levels and guide farmers through the logistics of the various market channels. While the guide is intended for farmers, it is also helpful to buyers, restaurants, market managers, small processors, extension educators, and others.

The first version of this guide was written in 2005 and published in early 2006. Over the years, changes have been made to the rules and regulations, resulting in a need for an updated edition. The Cornell Small Farms Work Team on Livestock Processing Issues took on the challenge to update and expand this resource with funding from the Niche Meat Processors Assistance Network (NMPAN) and the New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI). The 2010 revised edition has been reviewed by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Download the 155-page guide here.