The Grange decided to donate $25 to help send Steve Burrell from Thompson Falls to the Kelly Farm in Minnesota, which is the National Grange Museum.

Burrell was nominated because he is a National Youth Officer.

The Grange also donated $35 dollars to send a child to the Junior Grange Camp, which offers kids a chance to make new friends and experience a fun camping experience.

Read the full story here.

WASHINGTON, DC

The case began when Vernon Hugh Bowman, an Indiana soybean farmer, used replicated soybean seeds to create eight successive crops. Monsanto sued Bowman in a lower court, insisting that his subsequent plantings violated their patent and that the self-replicating properties of their genetically modified soybeans did not excuse him from paying for new seeds every year. Both the lower courts and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Monsanto.

“The National Grange, along with everyone else in the Washington ag community, has been eagerly awaiting the Court’s decision on this case, as it has the potential to be a significant game changer not only for agriculture but for any product that contains a self-replicating element,” National Grange Legislative Director Grace Boatright said. “If the Supreme Court didn’t rule in favor of Monsanto’s argument there would be little incentive to produce and promote inventions if a company or individual lost all profit-making potential after the first sale of a self-replicating product.”

National Grange President Ed Luttrell said the move also assures an abundant food supply into the future.

 “The Supreme Court’s decision is not only good for agriculture and ag business, but it reaffirms the fact that genetically modified products are not only safe but also necessary if we intend to produce enough food to meet future needs,” Luttrell said. “The Grange is a supporter of GMO products and a supporter of the individual farmer’s right to use this technology when available. Until credible scientific evidence suggests that a real danger exists, there is no reason not to utilize GMO technology.”

Monsanto is the world’s largest producer of genetically engineered seeds, with over 650 seed patents. Together with Dupont and Syngenta, Monsanto controls over half the world’s seed production.

Established in 1867, the National Grange, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fraternal organization, is the oldest agricultural and rural community service organization. With more than 2,100 local chapters, the Grange has evolved into the nation’s leading rural advocacy organization and a major benefactor to local communities. There are more than 160,000 members across the United States.

WASHINGTON, D.C

United States v. MacIntyre, heard by the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, has presented the question: Does the law permit the government to collect more from a donee than the value of the gift received?

The Grange, along with the National Black Chamber of Commerce who initiated the action, and the Sixty Plus Association, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and the Center for Individual Freedom, have responded with a resounding “no,” insisting that the government’s pursuance of such funds amounts to little more than greed.

“The Grange has long been an opponent of the estate tax. It does nothing but prevent the American dream from becoming a reality,” National Grange President Edward Luttrell said. “Farmers and ranchers all over the country have worked their entire lives in order to leave their children something substantial that could be passed on to future generations and the inheritance tax does nothing but work to destroy that legacy.”

“So many multi-generational farms and ranches have been lost because of the inheritor’s inability to pay the estate tax on the property. The original owners already worked to pay off this land so their children would be land owners able to support continued operations or realize the investment of ownership,” National Grange Legislative Director Grace Boatright said.

The amicus brief will be put on the record and allows the voices of farmers, ranchers, and other landowners to be heard.

 Established in 1867, The National Grange, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fraternal organization, is the oldest agricultural and rural community service organization. With more than 2,100 local chapters, the Grange has evolved into the nation’s leading rural advocacy organization and a major benefactor to local communities. There are more than 160,000 members across the United States.

The following is the second part of a series on Harmony Grange No. 92, Patrons of Husbandry. April is Grange Month. Harmony Grange’s members live in Trumbull, Shelton and Monroe.

Townspeople line up for an event at Harmony Grange in what appears to be the late 1940s, according to Nancy Zorena of the Monroe Historical Society. Credit Contributed

Crops on James Burr’s farm included tobacco, along with vegetables like asparagus, peas, potatoes and turnips. Among the fruit growing on his family’s Elm Street property were grapes, apples, peaches and plums. But the strawberry harvest proved to be the cash cow in the late 1800′s, according to town historian Edward Coffey’s book, “A Glimpse of Old Monroe.”

According to the U.S. Census, 994 people lived in Monroe in 1890.

“Everyone was a farmer,” said Nancy Zorena, a member of the Monroe Historical Society, adding residents practiced other trades during the winter.

Produce was delivered along dirt roads by horse and buggy and by train. The Housatonic Railroad made its first stop in Stepney on its way from Bridgeport to New Milford in 1840 and the Berkshire Line of the Derby Extension first ran through Stevenson in 1888, according to Zorena.

In 1889, town farmers decided to organize and share ideas about their occupation. The group met at Monroe Congregational Church on Jan. 18 for the first meeting of the Harmony Grange, which would become the 92nd Grange in Connecticut.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –

According to the 2008 Farm Bill there are mandatory COOL provisions for beef, pork, poultry, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables and some nuts. However, before COOL even went into effect, Canada and Mexico approached the World Trade Organization and successfully argued that the implemented rules for meat products are a barrier to international trade. The USDA has issued proposed new rules that simplify and clarify COOL to comply with the WTO decision.

National Grange Legislative Director, Grace Boatright, said, “The National Grange has supported country of origin labeling for quite some time. We’re neck deep in the information age and people want more information about their food, including how it’s grown and where it’s grown, and they have a right to know those details.”

Boatright continues, “I also think that COOL will be great for American agriculture. We have the safest and most abundant food supply in the world and I think that every farmer and rancher in this country would be proud to stamp “Grown in the USA” across our goods.”

The letter was submitted to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack as part of the regulatory comment period. The federal comment period closes on April 11, 2013, and the WTO ruling directed USDA to offer new COOL rules by May 23, 2013.

A copy of the coalition letter can be viewed here: http://fwwat.ch/COOLcoalition

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Established in 1867, The National Grange, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fraternal organization, is the oldest agricultural and rural community service organization. With more than 2,100 local chapters, the Grange has evolved into the nation’s leading rural advocacy organization and a major benefactor to local communities.

Grange membership may be on the decline, but the organization founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley in 1867 to give farmers a voice continues to play a key role in rural America today.

“The Grange is a fraternal family organization based on community service and legislative action. Agriculture is still a big part but not what it is based on anymore,” said Stacy E. Bruker, public relations/membership director for the Pennsylvania Grange. “Our primary purpose is to be a fraternal organization for the family.”

The Pennsylvania Grange, chartered in 1873, today has about 9,000 members and is the second largest in the United States behind Washington.

Read the full story here.

The current H2A program provides a means for legally utilizing foreign labor, but many complain that this program is costly and cumbersome.  As a result, illegal workers continue to be used as workers on some farms.

During the discussion at the Charlotte Farmer’s Market in Charlotte, N.C., Vilsack listened as participants shared criticism about the current H2A program, and expressed a need for reform.  Participants agreed that a need exists for a program that is more affordable while providing an ample work force and that it is necessary to reduce bureaucracy associated with the program.

The National Grange and the North Carolina State Grange have advocated for reforms to the H2A program for many years, but Congress has failed to tackle this issue.  However, agricultural labor may be addressed as part of an upcoming immigration reform package.

The National Grange policy regarding H2A, adopted by delegates from State Granges across the country, reads, “The National Grange supports continuation of the legal program to bring guest workers into the United States on a temporary basis for the harvesting of seasonal crops. We support reform of current foreign guest worker programs to allow for expedited processing of foreign guest workers employed in the agricultural sector as well as reform of the H2A program so that the wage costs to farmers when hiring under the H2A program more closely reflects the prevailing local wage.”

 “I am pleased that Secretary Vilsack traveled to North Carolina to meet with farmers, agriculture association leaders, and associated agency representatives, to gather input that may be valuable for crafting new legislation,” Gentry said. “It is extremely important for our agriculture producers to have access to a reliable and affordable labor force.”