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A publication of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture NASDA MEMBERS MEET WITH CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES ON SPECIALTY CROPS LEGISLATION
NASDA RECEIVES HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT
NASDA POLICY COMMITTEES PLAN ACTIVE AGENDA
NASDA POLICY COMMITTEES PLAN TO DISCUSS A RANGE OF ISSUES DURING ANNUAL MEETING
ANIMAL AND PLANT INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE TO MEET
WATERSHED SUMMIT OFFERS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR STATE AG LEADERS
FDA PROPOSES NEW RULE FOR ON-FARM EGG SAFETY
NRCS CREATES NEW TECHNOLOGY CENTERS AND LABORATORIES
COALITION TO EDUCATE AMERICANS ON U.S. AGRICULTURE CREATED
FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS
State News--NEW DEPUTY COMMISSIONER BRINGS EXPERIENCE TO COLORADO
What's New on the NASDA Website
NASDA Comments on BSE proposed regulation NASDA's Specialty Crop website with final report The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security (AgJOBS) Act of 2003
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NASDA MEMBERS MEET WITH CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES ON SPECIALTY CROPS LEGISLATION This week, NASDA members from New York, California, Maine, Minnesota, and South Carolina met with congressional offices pushing for passage of the H.R. 3242, the "Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act." Representatives Doug Ose (R-Calif.) and Cal Dooley (D-Calif.) are the sponsors of the legislation. The bill currently has 103 cosponsors and NASDA continues to encourage Congressional members to become cosponsors. The legislation permanently authorizes a specialty crops block grant program with $470 million annually. This is modeled after the successful program funded by Congress in 2001. NASDA issued a report earlier this year on the 2001 specialty crops block grant program which can be located on the NASDA website at http://www.nasda.org/specialtycrop/. NASDA has also learned that Senators Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) are planning to introduce similar legislation in the Senate this month. (Contact: Jennifer Yezak) NASDA RECEIVES HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has approved a cooperative agreement with NASDA's Research Foundation for a project to develop best practices for coordinating emergency preparedness/response between federal and state agencies when responding to incidents affecting the U.S. food supply. In addition to FSIS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are participants in the cooperative agreement. An official signing ceremony is being held in Washington, D.C., on September 23. NASDA President and Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson and President-elect and New York Agriculture Commissioner Nathan Rudgers will represent NASDA at the ceremony. Administration officials who will be signing the agreement include Dr. Elsa Murano, USDA under secretary for food safety; Dr. Lester Crawford, FDA commissioner; and Dr. Barbara Masters, FSIS acting administrator. The project is an important step to improve communications and information-sharing between state and federal partners on food safety and security matters. NASDA's Food and Agriculture Security Task Force will discuss the project work plan and other details during NASDA 2004 later this week. (Contact: Charlie Ingram or Rick Kirchhoff) NASDA POLICY COMMITTEES PLAN ACTIVE AGENDA As NASDA's 2004 Annual Meeting approaches, NASDA policy committees are preparing to address a broad spectrum of issues affecting agriculture including homeland security, food safety, and environmental protection. Following the committee meetings this weekend, USDA Secretary Ann M. Veneman will address the morning plenary session on September 28. NASDA's Food and Agriculture Security Task Force will meet on September 26 to hold discussions with officials from USDA, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The task force, chaired by New York Agriculture Commissioner Nathan Rudgers, will also review a proposal to coordinate activities of the state agriculture control laboratories. The Natural Resources and Pesticide Management Committee will meet on September 25 under the leadership of Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Don Ament. Speakers include senior officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USDA. The Food Regulation and Nutrition Committee, also chaired by New York Agriculture Commissioner Nathan Rudgers, will meet on September 26. The committee plans to discuss a variety of food safety and security issues, including the Food Uniformity Act, interstate meat shipment, and nutrition initiatives. (Contact: Charlie Ingram) NASDA POLICY COMMITTEES PLAN TO DISCUSS A RANGE OF ISSUES DURING ANNUAL MEETING Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson will chair the Marketing and International Trade Committee on Sept. 25. The committee will hear U.S. Trade Representative Allen Johnson discuss the latest on the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement and the progress achieved on various free trade agreements. Bill Hawks, USDA under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, will inform the committee about negotiations on beef trade and the developments in opening markets, especially Japan. In addition, he will provide updates on agency activities of the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. W. Kirk Miller, general sales manager for USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service will apprise the committee about FAS efforts to increase exports and the activities of the Consultative Committees on Agriculture (CCAs) for Mexico and Canada. The committee will also hear about recent actions on specialty crops legislation. North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson will chair the Rural Development and Financial Security Committee on Sept. 26. The committee will focus much of their attention on disaster assistance programs, farm bill implementation and funding, and the outlook on farm credit, including the latest on the Rabobank offer to acquire Farm Credit Services of America based in Omaha, Nebraska. A panel with representatives from the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, and the National Association of Wheat Growers will address the committee on farm bill implementation, outlook, and funding. The committee will also hear updates on farm labor legislation and the grain warehouse issue. (Contact: Jennifer Yezak) ANIMAL AND PLANT INDUSTRIES COMMITTEE TO MEET The Animal and Plant Industries Committee will meet on Sunday afternoon, September 26th, at the NASDA annual meeting. West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass will chair the meeting. Bill Hawks, USDA under secretary marketing and regulatory programs, will kick off the dialog. Dr. Ron DeHaven, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) administrator, will also attend. The discussion of APHIS priorities and issues is always an important highlight of the committee's deliberations. Veterinary Services activities during the aftermath of the identification of a single cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Washington state are important issues to the NASDA members: the BSE surveillance and animal identification programs are foremost. On the Plant Protection and Quarantine side of APHIS, the strategic plan to deal with sudden oak death will be of great interest. A presentation of a state-of-the-art communications vehicle by Wildlife Services during the committee meeting has broad application for states. The Food and Drug Administration's animal feed rule is also of high interest and will be discussed. Several affiliate organizations will also participate in the meeting. The affiliate organizations are one of the major technical resources for NASDA members. The Association of American Feed Control Officials and the National Plant Board will brief the committee on their priorities. The committee will also hear form a new group interested in becoming another technical resource for NASDA, the National Food and Agriculture Laboratory Committee. Biotechnology will also be a topic of discussion. NASDA's Biotechnology Task Force, which will meet earlier on Sunday, will report to the full committee. USDA's biotechnology-related activities will also be covered at this time. A panel of industry representatives will also be convened. Representatives from the National Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Association of Wheat Growers will talk about their priority issues vis-a-vis plant and animal industry issues. A representative from Dow AgroSciences will address the use of advances in biotechnology in new ways to fix existing animal health problems. (Contact: Bob Ehart) WATERSHED SUMMIT OFFERS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR STATE AG LEADERS NASDA is jointly sponsoring a series of regional summits entitled "Watershed Working Lands Summit: Better Water Quality Through Better Government Collaboration." NASDA is encouraging state departments of agriculture to participate in these "working" sessions. The second meeting will be held in Sacramento, California on October 26-27, 2004, with a subsequent summits tentatively scheduled in Baltimore, Maryland, next January. A major goal of the meetings is to find better ways to address nonpoint source and other natural resource challenges on working lands in all watersheds. NASDA and other summit sponsors are emphasizing that these meetings will not be just another gathering of "talking heads." These will be "working" meetings involving water quality and other natural resource agency leaders at the federal, state, and local level. Specifically, participants will: (1) assess the efficiency of USDA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other federal agency programs; (2) identify ways to better connect working land programs to watersheds; and (3) communicate consensus recommendations to federal partners. The program activities will involve examining how various environmental and conservation program services are delivered, how programs can be improved and better coordinated. This includes USDA's farm bill conservation programs, EPA's water quality programs, and other agency programs, technical assistance, and services. To register for the summit go to http://www.asiwpca.org/events/landsSA.htm. (Contact: Charlie Ingram) FDA PROPOSES NEW RULE FOR ON-FARM EGG SAFETY The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week proposed new regulations to further improve the safety of shell eggs on the farm. The proposed rule would expand the safe consumer handling labeling and egg refrigeration and retail rule that was implemented in 2000. The proposed regulation would require implementation of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) prevention measures for all egg producers with 3,000 or more laying hens that produce shell eggs for retail sale and do not process their eggs with a treatment, such as pasteurization, to ensure their safety. The proposed rule's SE prevention measures include: (1) provisions for procurement of chicks and pullets; (2) a biosecurity program; (3) a pest and rodent control program; (4) cleaning and disinfection of poultry houses that have had an environmental sample or egg test positive for SE; (5) refrigerated storage of eggs at the farm; (6) producer testing of the environment for SE in poultry houses. If the environmental test is positive, FDA proposes that egg testing for SE be undertaken, and that, if the test is positive, the eggs be diverted from the table egg market; and (7) identification of a person responsible for SE prevention at each farm. FDA estimates this proposed rule will cost an estimated $82 million annually for the more than 4,100 farms that have 3,000 or more hens. The actual cost will vary with the number of poultry houses and layers under production and will range from a low of 19 cents per layer to $1.00 per layer per year. The proposed rule and fact sheet are available at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~tdav/fs-eggs6.html. (Contact: Charlie Ingram) NRCS CREATES NEW TECHNOLOGY CENTERS AND LABORATORIES USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) this week announced the establishment of three new national technology support centers and three remote sensing laboratories as part of an agency reorganization. The facilities, located in North Carolina, Oregon and Texas, will develop conservation technological tools to help landowners protect their natural resources. The three centers are staffed with an estimated 150 specialists who will develop innovative conservation technology and increase the effectiveness of existing technologies to help NRCS offices nationwide. The specialists also will focus on the needs of small and limited resource farmers. Each center will lead technological advances and have national responsibilities in three specialized areas. The East center is responsible for animal waste utilization, social sciences and soil quality. The Central center is responsible for grazing lands, wildlife and wetlands. The West center is responsible for bioenergy, water quality and quantity, and air quality and atmospheric change. The remote sensing labs will provide technical direction for NRCS' National Resources Inventory (NRI) data collection activities. NRI provides comprehensive and statistically reliable information on various natural resource conditions and trends on non-federal lands. These labs will use a small permanent staff and contractors to complete photo interpretations and other tasks connected to the NRI data collection process. Additional information about the new NRCS national technology support centers and remote sensing laboratories, including a map of the states they cover, is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/ntsc and http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/nri. (Contact: Charlie Ingram) COALITION TO EDUCATE AMERICANS ON U.S. AGRICULTURE CREATED Eight highly influential agricultural groups have announced they have joined forces to create Home Grown, an aggressive public information effort to better educate Americans on the contributions today's farmers make in their everyday lives as well as the benefits of American farm policy. Home Grown will demonstrate to American consumers that U.S. farming families provide 92 percent of America's food and fiber, the United States still enjoys the most affordable food and fiber products in the world, and today's farmers need existing federal policy to continue to provide these invaluable products. "Home Grown is not just about farmers who grow wheat, cotton, rice, or any other single commodity," said Mark Gage, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG). "With the full spectrum of agriculture involved, we will be two million unified voices sharing the stories of modern-day farming families and the benefits they provide to our country." Dee Vaughan, a Texas farmer and president of the National Corn Growers Association, said this cooperation will make the Home Grown campaign a success. "We want to make sure people have the right picture in their minds about farming and agriculture," Vaughan said. "They need to know that food in America is the most affordable in the world thanks to a strong federal farm policy and the highly efficient way U.S. farmers work. "Americans need to know that farmers are stewards of the environment and current federal policy encourages environmentally friendly farming techniques. They need to know the small contribution of taxpayer dollars--about four cents per meal--supports a food and fiber industry that employs more than 20 million Americans." Home Grown will conduct a wide variety of activities in the coming months in and outside of Washington, D.C. Members eventually plan to include other components, such as a program to educate school children in large cities, point-of-purchase educational materials, and a communications resource center for agricultural producers. (Contact: Rick Kirchhoff) FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS In May of 2001, President Bush unveiled the National Energy Policy (NEP) which includes, "Nature's Power, Increasing America's Use of Renewable and Alternative Energy." USDA Rural Development has made available $200 million in electric loan funds, on a priority loan processing basis, for renewable energy projects. Funds are available to assist with electric generation, transmission and distribution and are available to corporations, states, territories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof; municipalities; people's utility districts; and cooperative, nonprofit, limited-dividend, or mutual associations. The only prohibition is loans cannot be made to individual consumers. Over the years, financing has been predominately for electric service to rural electric generation and transmission, as well as distribution cooperatives. This financing business model continues to be a highly successful approach, meeting the electric infrastructure needs so vital for sustaining a thriving rural economy. The success of this approach may have led to the misconception that USDA Rural Development can only provide financing for rural electric cooperatives. However, many other entities are eligible under the statutory language. The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 [7 U.S.C. 901-950bb] [RE Act] requires the beneficiaries of financing to be "persons in rural areas." Pursuant to 7 CFR 1710.101, loans can be made to corporations, states, territories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof; municipalities; people's utility districts; and cooperative, nonprofit, limited-dividend, or mutual associations. Individual consumers are not eligible for loan financing. Prudent lending practice requires the administrator to make certain determinations prior to approving a loan. As part of the review process, such factors as loan security, loan feasibility, environmental issues, and loan servicing issues are examined. Details about the various items required in a loan application package can be found in 7 CFR 1710--General and Pre-Loan Policies and Procedures Common to Electric Loans and Guarantees. Additionally, requirements for construction and the procurement of materials used in the construction of facilities, including Competitive Bidding, and "Buy American" products, should be reviewed. These provisions are under 7 CFR 1724, 1726, and 1728. All these regulations can be found on the internet at http://www.usda.gov/rus/regs/. For additional information on USDA Rural Development's renewable energy funding opportunities and eligibility can be found on the Internet at: http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/renewables/index.htm. or by contacting Sharon Ashurst at 202/720-1925 or Mike Kossey at 202/720-0025. (Contact: Jennifer Yezak) STATE NEWS NEW DEPUTY COMMISSIONER BRINGS EXPERIENCE TO COLORADO Sheldon Jones has been appointed deputy commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Jones of Littleton, Colo., brings more than 25 years of private and public sector experience to the department. He started in his new position on September 13. "Colorado will benefit from his knowledge, leadership skills and understanding of the industry locally and nationally," said Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Don Ament. "We're lucky to find someone who has such a strong combination of first-hand insight into leading government as well as business organizations." Since 2002, Jones has been the executive vice-president of the Agri-Business Council of Arizona, Inc., a nonprofit organization with members from the irrigation, drainage, and power districts. He also served as the director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture from 1997 to 2002 and as the associate director for the animal services division for two years. As director, Jones managed many issues such as natural resources, international trade, and homeland security. Many of his personal interactions with Colorado farmers and ranchers occurred as a commercial lender with Bank One for 14 years. He worked directly with producers and agribusinesses, such as cattle ranchers in Greeley and growers in the San Luis Valley. His knowledge of production agriculture comes from first-hand experience as a 1,300-acre cattle rancher in Payson, Ariz. For 20 years, Jones helped operate the family enterprise that included the SA Ranch and Bar J Bar Ranch, a cow-calf operation. "Throughout my career, I've developed an appreciation for Colorado agriculture through my experiences, whether it was dealing with area producers to government officials to legislators," said Jones, who lived on a farm in Montrose, Colo., for eight years as a youth. "Having a business perspective will be beneficial as we move forward during these fiscally difficult times." Jones received a bachelor's degree in agricultural industry management at Arizona State University and is in the process of earning his master's in agribusiness. (Contact: Linh Truong, 303/239-4190) WSDA NAMES NEW STATE VETERINARIAN A veterinarian with almost 40 years of experience in the field of large animal veterinary medicine has been selected as the new state veterinarian with the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA). Dr. Leonard Eldridge will begin his new job on Oct. 11. He currently is the owner and manager of the Lewiston Veterinary Clinic in Lewiston, Idaho. Until May he also worked as the sales yard veterinarian for the Lewiston Livestock Market. "We are quite pleased to have someone of Dr. Eldridge's experience and stature joining our agency," said Bill Brookreson, WSDA deputy director. "His background working in the large animal industry and with both federal and state regulatory officials makes him an outstanding candidate for this position." As the state veterinarian, Eldridge will manage WSDA's Animal Health program, which is responsible for preventing the spread of infectious animal diseases in the state. He also will oversee the development and implementation of emergency plans for foreign animal diseases and the care, sheltering and treatment of animals involved with natural disasters. He will supervise the assistant state veterinarian, four field veterinarians, a veterinarian technician and other staff. "I am honored to be chosen for the position," Eldridge said. "Although my experience is primarily in private practice, I have extensive knowledge of state and federal health and vaccination requirements from my work as a sales yard veterinarian. In that position my duties included brucellosis surveillance, including laboratory testing for cattle and swine." As owner/manager of the Lewiston Veterinary Clinic, Eldridge supervised eight veterinarians and 30 employees. His practice is located on the Idaho/Washington border, with more than half of his work involving large animals in Washington. A graduate of the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Eldridge is licensed to practice in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Eldridge served on the Idaho State Board of Veterinary Medicine from 1992 to 1997, is a former member and past president of the Nez Perce County Cattlemen's Association, and was named Idaho Veterinarian of the Year in 1996. He was this year's Grand Marshal for the Lewiston Roundup Association. (Contact: Kate Sandboe, 360/902-1815) | |||