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Consequence for Ag

O

OldDog/NewTricks

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Victory for Obama - consequence for agriculture 07 Nov 2008

Following Barack Obama's election night victory and promises of change, those in the agriculture industry are waiting to see what changes are expected with in agriculture. Some of his stances are highlighted on his official website and include:

• Plans to ensure economic opportunity for family farmers: Obama and vice-president elect Joe Biden will fight for farm programs that provide family farmers with stability and predictability. They will implement a $250,000 payment limitation so that will help family farmers - not large corporate agribusiness.

• Regulate CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations): In the Obama Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency will strictly monitor and regulate pollution from large CAFOs, with fines for those who violate tough air and water quality standards. Obama said he strongly supports efforts to ensure meaningful local control.

• Limit EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) Funding for CAFOs: Obama supports reinstating a strict cap on the size of the livestock operations that can receive EQIP funding so that the largest polluters have to pay for their own environmental clean up.

• Encourage Organic and Sustainable Agriculture: Obama said he will increase funding for the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program to help farmers afford the costs of compliance with national organic certification standards. He will also reform the US Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency's crop insurance rates so that they do not penalise organic farmers.

• Develop the Next Generation of Biofuels: Obama plans to invest federal resources, including tax incentives, cash prizes and government contracts into developing the most promising technologies with the goal of getting the first 2 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol into the system by 2013. He will also work to improve the national supply of advanced biodiesel. From here the Clean Technologies Deployment Venture Fund will speed the deployment of multiple facilities, according to Obama.

• Invest in Energy Efficiency: Improving energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest, most cost-effective method to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and it results in significant savings for the US government, economy and consumers, Obama said. Cost-effective energy efficiency should take priority over the construction of new generation facilities. Obama will set a national goal of reducing the energy intensity of our economy 50% by 2030.

• Support small business development: Obama and Biden will provide capital for farmers to create value-added enterprises, like cooperative marketing initiatives and farmer-owned processing plants.

• Country of Origin Labelling: Obama said he supports the Country of Origin Labelling law. He said American producers should be able to distinguish their products from imported ones and that consumers deserve the right to know where their food comes from.

• Improve Food Safety: The USDA and Food and Drug Administration need more authority to issue and enforce recalls for contaminated food, according to Obama. He supports efforts to improve federal food-safety surveillance to better improve the country's ability to identify, contain and prevent outbreaks. He said he is committed to expanding resources to inform the public when an outbreak happens so that they can make good decisions about food safety.

• To spur the development of small business and value-added agriculture in rural America, Obama intends to help develop value-added products: The Value Added Producer Grant Program provides capital for farmers to create value-added enterprises, such as cooperative marketing initiatives for high-value crops and livestock and farmer-owned processing plans. These grants are the seeds of new rural business and provide capital for farmers to create value-added enterprises and cooperatives, such as onsite or farmer-owned processing plants. Obama said he will increase funding for this important program.
 
11/5/08: California Prop 2 Passes (source: Farm Futures)
New rules will close down the state's egg industry, observers report.
The California ballot initiative on farm animal housing has passed by a fairly large margin with 63% for to 37% against as of 5:30 a.m. Central with 87% of the vote in.
The initiative, listed as Proposition 2, or "Prop 2," closes down the California egg industry -- affecting 95% of the state's egg production and forcing California consumers to buy eggs from other states and from Mexico. Prop 2 will become effective in 2015.
Passage represents a huge victory for Prop 2's supporters, the main two of which are the animal rights groups Farm Sanctuary and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the latter of which supports vegetarianism. It is largely expected that Farm Sanctuary and HSUS will employ momentum from their victory to carry the measure to other states that have ballot initiatives and directly to state assemblies in those states that do not.
HSUS chief executive officer and president Wayne Pacelle, in a statement issued late last night, declared that California voters "have taken a stand for compassion and decency and said systematic mistreatment of animals on factory farms cannot continue. All animals deserve humane treatment, including animals raised for food."
Californians for Safe Food, which opposed Prop 2, issued its own statement last night, saying the coalition led by Farm Sanctuary and HSUS "led an emotionally manipulative, dishonest and often deceptive campaign." Safe Food commended its supporters and listed a number of accomplishments, including the fact that more than 30 of California's major newspapers came out in opposition to Prop 2.
Prop 2 requires that all farm animals, "for all or the majority of any day," not be confined or tethered in a manner that prevents an animal from lying down, standing up, turning around or extending its limbs without touching another animal or an enclosure such as a cage or stall. It specifically addresses modern cage housing for hens and stalls for sows and veal calves. It carries criminal penalties for violations, including fines and jail terms.
The pork and veal industries already have been researching group housing systems to phase out stalls as the science and technology to do so becomes available, and modern cage housing for hens already provides the highest standards of animal welfare as prescribed by animal ethicists and scientists.
Hens in cage housing systems can express almost all natural behavior but cannot extend their wings without touching another hen or their enclosures. Two important studies have concluded that Prop 2 will force all cage and most cage-free egg producers in California to shut down and will cost California thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenues.
 
The so-called thousands of Californians that will be unemployed could always take their expertise and knowledge and apply it to free-range poultry and egg production. Wouldn't that be a novel thought? Hard-working honest folk raising birds in healthy environments, producing healthy meat and eggs that NATURALLY contain vitamins, minerals, and Omega3 & 6, without having it added in.........nah, that'd never work, right?
 
Oh come on now, that just makes too much sense.

I can't believe I actually agree with Barry on some issues. A friend of mine, another grass fed producer here in Maine, went to Berkley and know's Michael Pollan, he was here for a talk recently and my buddy had dinner with him. I don't know how many of you actually read the article I posted the link to that Michael Pollan wrote last month, but come to find out, that was a letter to Obama. His campaign asked him to shorten it but he said he couldn't because every word needed to be read, the NY Times made the same request, he said print it all or I'll take it somewhere else. When he spoke at a college here a few weeks ago, the people were packed in there, many standing and flowing out the doors. The students were asked to leave because he said he would do a second talk in the morning for students only. There are a whole lot of people listening to what this guy has to say, and it looks like he has Obama's ear. Could Joel Salatin be considered for Secretary of Ag? Imagine that. I haven't heard any rumors on that, I'm just throwing it out there.
 
Ben H said:
Oh come on now, that just makes too much sense.

I can't believe I actually agree with Barry on some issues.
Click to expand...

Yep- Ben-- I went back over all those listed- and I can't disagree with a one of them...At least one- limit farm payments- is the same as GW's but he wasn't able to carry thru on it..
 
Joel Salatin,Big corporate farms and ranches would never go for it,can you see them running pastured poultry,or moving cows efficiently from paddock to paddock with suffient rest periods.I think it's a great idea.Probably to labor intensive for most though.
 
Is 5.7 million in income for a family operation enough to survive in a year? Yeah the big corporations would never go for it, I doubt it would ever happen, but people are waking up and have more voting power. Look what happened in CA.
 

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