March 28,
2008
NATIONAL
AFFAIRS
Bush Administration
Tweaks "No Match" Proposal - The Bush administration unveiled a slightly altered version of
its proposal to put employers on notice about suspected undocumented workers. The administration wants to use the
so-called "no match" letters, which are sent by the Social Security
Administration, against employers by forcing farms and other businesses to
resolve questions about their workers' identities or fire them within 90 days. The latest version of the proposal makes
mostly technical changes to the administration's original proposal. It includes
a statement about the regulation's financial impact on small businesses, which
predicts compliance would cost companies with fewer than 100 workers between
$3,000 and $7,500 overall. These estimates do not include costs associated with
firing and replacing workers who lack proper documentation. Farm Bureau originally filed comments
expressing concern about the proposal in 2006 and continues to monitor changing
proposal.
EPA Proposes to
Exclude EPCRA Reporting of Animal Waste Emissions - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is proposing a rule that would provide an administrative exemption from
specific notification requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA),
as amended, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), together also known as Title III of the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act, the provisions of which are commonly
referred to as "EPCRA reporting requirements." This administrative proposal is limited
to exempting a facility's need to report emissions to the air of otherwise
regulated hazardous substances, such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, where the
source of those hazardous substances is animal waste from farms. If finalized,
this proposed rule would reduce the burden on the potentially regulated farm
community of complying with EPCRA reporting
requirements. In fact, EPA goes so far as to suggest that this reporting
is unnecessary because there is no reasonable expectation that federal, state
or local emergency officials have responded or expect to respond to such
report(s) or find them helpful in responding to emergency events that could
occur on livestock facilities. EPA is also seeking public comment on the
usefulness of emergency release notification and written follow-up emergency
notices that are submitted to State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs) and Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) when there is an emission to the air from animal
waste at farms of any hazardous substance at or above the reportable quantity (RQ) for those hazardous substances. Farm Bureau will submit
public comments supporting EPA's proposal.
Farm Bureau Supporting an Increase in Perkins Funding -
Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Hillary Clinton
(D-N.Y.) are urging their colleagues to support an increase in FY09 funding for the Perkins Act career and technical
agricultural education and FFA student
organizations. The senators are
circulating a 'Dear Colleague' letter throughout the Senate. The letter will be
sent to Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)
of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations
Subcommittee. At this time, 14 senators have signed the letter supporting the
effort. Senators may add their signatures to the letter until March 28. Farm Bureau is encouraging both Ohio
senators to sign on.
Farm Bill
Back-and-Forth Continues
- With Congress in the second week of a two-week recess, House and Senate staff
members are trying to hammer out farm bill details. The current farm bill
has been extended until April 18 to allow time for a compromise to
emerge. Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the sponsor
of the Senate disaster provisions, said the latest proposal from Senate
Agriculture Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and House Agriculture Committee
Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) is "dead on arrival." Senate Budget
Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said it's
"unacceptable." The Harkin-Peterson plan, proposed
Tuesday, would spend $2.2 billion over 10 years on the disaster program, much
less than the $5.1 billion over five years the senators support. Meanwhile, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said there's some agreement with
senior staff of the House Ways and Means Committee on funding. In addition,
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer told reporters that just because President
Bush said he would accept a long-term extension of the current farm bill
doesn't mean he sees that as a desirable outcome. Schafer said a long extension
would not help producers of specialty crops, and it would not provide a
revenue-based countercyclical program, boost the renewable fuels industry or
increase nutrition spending.
Ohio Farm Bureau
Comments on H.R. 1108 - In a letter to
members of Ohio's congressional delegation, OFBF relayed concerns about HR 1108
(the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act). While the bill
attempts to shield some tobacco farmers from on-farm FDA regulation, it also
contains an exception to this provision that would subject tobacco farmers
"controlled" by a tobacco product manufacturer to FDA regulation in
the "capacity of a manufacturer." If this language is construed to
apply to tobacco farmers who grow tobacco under contract, H.R. 1108 would
essentially grant FDA the authority to regulate tobacco production at the farm
level, which Farm Bureau opposes. This is a concern because a vast majority of
burley tobacco produced in southern Ohio is grown under contract. To ensure
H.R. 1108 does not subject Ohio's tobacco farmers to the burdens of FDA
regulation, in its letter OFBF strongly urged members of Ohio's congressional
delegation to work with their colleagues to either strike this exception from
the proposed legislation or clarify the language to ensure contract tobacco
farmers are not subject to FDA regulation. To read the letter
from OFBF click here
.
Donations to
Animal Rights Groups Increase - According to the Animal
Agriculture Alliance, charitable donations to animal-rights groups rose 5
percent in 2006, the latest statistics available. And donations to People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an extreme
animal rights group, increased by 17 percent. Additionally, donations to PETA's so-called Foundation to Support Animal Protection (FSAP) also posted a double-digit increase, jumping 18
percent.
The findings come from the 2007 Animal People Watchdog Report on 150 Animal
Charities - the newspaper Animal People's annual review of animal
charity budgets which is based upon Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 990
filings the groups are required to file. The report also revealed that the
largest animal-rights activist group in the United States, Humane Society of
the United States (HSUS), increased donations by 9
percent, including its subsidiary organizations The Fund for Animals, Doris Day
Animal League (DDAL) and Doris Day Animal Foundation
(DDAF). Importantly, this increase builds on the
striking 62 percent increase in donations the organization garnered in 2005. It
is important to note that all numbers for HSUS
exclude Humane Society International, the international branch of HSUS, which was estimated to have revenues of $3 million.
The extreme approach of PETA may have garnered
markedly more funds in 2006, but some more moderate groups also made big gains. The moderate vegan group Friends of Animals (FoA),
based in upscale Darien, Conn., boosted donations 12 percent. In 2005, FoA raised its revenues about 27 percent, from $3.9 million
to $5 million. Outside the United States, the British group, Compassion in
World Farming (CWF) more than doubled its donations,
exploding 114 percent.
Total donations to animal rights groups expanded by about 5
percent, reaching $295.8 million. This follows a year where HSUS successfully raised its revenues by a stunning 62
percent, but overall donations to groups with animal rights campaigns were
essentially flat. Though revenue for groups with animal rights and anti-animal
agriculture programs was up, total assets actually shrank 4 percent, despite a
relatively benign investing climate in which the S&P
500 rose nearly 14 percent for the year. Animal rights behemoth HSUS had assets decline 3 percent, slightly less than the
average. However the group still retains enough assets to fund itself for over
2 years and 2 months at its 2006 budget level. This 3 percent decrease hardly
makes a dent in the $89.1 million asset increase the group experienced in 2005.
WSJ Examines
Farm Bill Lobbying Farm Bureau - The front page of the March
28 edition of The Wall Street Journal includes an in-depth look at the
agricultural community's lobbying efforts for the new farm bill. The article
includes half-dozen references to Farm Bureau. Graphics, including one that illustrates
the top 20 congressional districts that receive farm program payments,
accompany the article. Under the headline, "Farm Lobby Beats Back Assault On Subsidies," Lauren Etter
and Greg Hitt report, "With grain prices
soaring, farm income at record highs and the federal budget deficit widening,
the subsidies and handouts given to American farmers would seem vulnerable to a
serious pruning. But it appears that farmers, at least so far, have succeeded
in stopping the strongest effort in years to shrink the government safety net
that doles out billions of dollars to them each year." The article also
reports, "Farmers argue that it's worth supporting a vital part of the
U.S. economy. 'What's important for the overall
economy, and our piece of it in America, is maintaining strong production
agriculture,' says Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau
Federation." AFBF is described as the
leader of the "pro-subsidy force [that] includes trade associations
representing farmers of corn, wheat, cotton, soybeans, sugar, rice and peanuts. Many of these groups have their own lobbyists and entire teams devoted to farm
bill strategy. "Equally important are the thousands of smaller farmers who
take time off to travel to Capitol Hill to lobby. And "Through the spring
of 2007, roughly 3,000 Farm Bureau members came to Washington to lobby
lawmakers as part of a well-organized 'fly in.' The farmers found receptive
ears on the House and Senate agriculture committees that write the farm
bill."
STATE AFFAIRS
Proposed Dairy
Labeling Rule Update - The Ohio Department of Agriculture
(ODA) announced that it was modifying the proposed
dairy labeling rule that was originally announced February 7. As a result, the
rule will be re-filed and have a public hearing on April 8 at 10:00 a.m. at ODA, 8995 East Main Street, Reynoldsburg. The Joint
Committee Agency on Rule and Review (JCARR) hearing
for the proposed rule was originally scheduled for March 31, 2008. It has been
tentatively re-scheduled for the modified/re-filed rule on April 21.
Under the
modified/re-filed rule, dairy product labels:
Generally may
not make "compositional absence claims" like "Hormone
Free," "Antibiotic Free" or "rbST
Free." These claims are either not provable or disclaim the presence of
substances which may not legally be present in milk products.
May make
accurate "production claims" which reflect the way a dairy product
was produced. For example, claims that milk was produced from cows not
injected with antibiotics, if true, may appear on the product label. (This
would apply to certified organic dairies that participate in USDA's organic
program and undergo a third-party audit/verification process.)
Must include, along with any permissible production claim about the use
of rbST, a statement regarding the FDA's
determination that no significant difference has been shown between milk
derived from rbST-supplemented and non-rbST-supplemented cows.
Must display the FDA determination contiguously to any accurate rbST production claim in a font size no less than one-half
the font size of the rbST production claim.
Milk product
processors will have 120 days to come into compliance with the rule.
OFBF supported
the original rule and generally supports the modified/re-filed rule. We still
encourage members to contact their legislators, particularly JCARR members, and ask them to support the
modified/re-filed rule. Contacts should be made prior to the JCARR hearing tentatively scheduled for April 21. If you
have any questions/concerns or need additional information/assistance, please
contact David White at (614) 246-8261 or dwhite@ofbf.org.
Ohio Farm Bureau Launches AgriPOWER
Institute - A new program created by Ohio Farm Bureau
Federation (OFBF) will help farmers gain influence over public policy issues
that impact their businesses.
The AgriPOWER Institute is an intensive, year-long
leadership course designed to develop advocates for the farming industry. OFBF
will enroll 20 individuals in the institute's inaugural year.
Starting this summer, selected farmers will engage in seven two- to three-day
training sessions. The program is designed to make efficient use of
participant's time, and dates have been selected with respect to a farm's busy
calendar.
Both OFBF staff and outside experts will provide extensive instruction on the
policy issues that face local communities, Ohio, the nation and the world. Specific sessions will focus on important leadership skills such as public
speaking and parliamentary procedure. The program will also offer external
educational experiences, including a planned trip to Washington, D.C.
Tuition is $4,000 and includes lodging, meals, group travel, materials and all
course contents. OFBF is offering 14 full scholarships in the program's first
year. Additional scholarships may be available through the support of other
organizations.
"Farm Bureau has always been about leadership. This program is a
concentrated effort to help our members become even more effective in the
public policy arena," said Keith Stimpert, OFBF
executive vice president of public policy.
Those accepted are asked to commit to all of the sessions. Applications, as
well as session dates, locations and descriptions are available at
www.ofbf.org. Applications are due May 30.
Ohio Farm Bureau Takes Action on SB 221 - Ohio Farm Bureau was the first major statewide organization to support
Gov. Ted Strickland's plan to stabilize the state's electricity rates, as laid
out in Senate Bill 221 (SB 221). Now the governor is asking Farm Bureau members
across the state to band together in a united grassroots effort to urge Ohio
House members to pass the legislation as quickly as possible.
OFBF is responding by asking members to contact
their representatives and ask them to support SB 221, creating more than 7,000
Farm Bureau contacts to the statehouse.
OFBF is providing members who wish to take action with the resources to
get their message to the Capitol through the following means:
Ready-made postcards: OFBF-produced cards ask representatives to support SB 221
and promote Farm Bureau's efforts to help them become friends of agriculture. Members should write a message on the back of the card, affix the proper
postage and send directly to statehouse offices. Postcards can be obtained from
your County Farm Bureau office.
Farm Votes Matter e-mails: E-mails can be sent directly to representatives'
inboxes by visiting www.farmvotesmatter.org
and clicking on the Action Alert! link.
In-District visits with representatives, personal letters and phone calls to
state offices are contact options as well.
Contact your County Farm Bureau office or organization director for more
information.
Ag Power
Briefing for Candidates and Legislators - Led by the Ohio
Livestock Coalition, a one-day conference geared to teach candidates for the
Ohio General Assembly, as well as current legislators, about agricultural
issues is slated for May 6th in the Capital Club of Columbus.
Legislators will
receive a briefing book with details about agriculture in their districts, as
well as a series of briefings by OFBF and commodity group staff. For more information, contact Sandy Kuhn
at skuhn@ofbf.org.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND DATES
Forward to other farmers and invite
them to test-drive Farm Bureau - Ohio Farm Bureau Federation
is currently offering new members an opportunity to join the organization
through 2008 for just $35. The rate reflects a savings of up to 50 percent. "This is a fantastic deal," said Janet Cassidy, director of membership
marketing. "It's an opportunity for new members to test-drive the
organization at a reduced rate." Cassidy said membership provides access
to a variety of benefits and savings, including:
· Legislative representation on important issues including
renewable energy, private property rights, wildlife control and ATV
trespassing.
· Access to legal information.
· Industry information through a subscription to Buckeye
Farm News newspaper.
· Leadership, community involvement and networking
opportunities.
· Promotion of the agricultural industry to consumers
through Our Ohio magazine and television series.
· Savings by the dozens, including: Nationwide family of
products and services including home and car insurance; access to individual
health plans through Medical Mutual of Ohio; $500 cash rebate from Dodge; 25
percent discount on Sherwin Williams paint; savings on major hotels and car
rentals; and much more.
· Peace of mind knowing Farm Bureau is looking out for
farmer interests.
For more information, or to join,
contact your county Farm Bureau office, visit http://GrowWithFB.org or call
888-GrowWithFB (888-476-9948).
