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| JANUARY 2004 |
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National
Grange Reveals its "Blueprint for Rural America 2004"
Once again, the
National Grange has reflected on the grassroots activity and events that have
shaped this past year to re-create its "Blueprint for Rural America 2004". The
"Blueprint for Rural America" outlines the legislative priorities of the National
Grange for the year ahead. Many of the goals covered under each part of the ten-point
plan are longstanding, such as addressing the needs of rural Americans and our
nation's farmers. Other goals were established to response to new concerns that
have risen in light of recent events.
1.
Return Prosperity to U.S. Agriculture for Individuals and Families
- America's family farmers and ranchers face challenges regarding food security,
contract agriculture, agribusiness consolidations, trade negotiations and low
prices. Federal farm programs should encourage increased participation in the
agricultural sector by the largest number of individuals and families through
the broadest practical distribution of agricultural production. Instead, federal
farm policies discourage innovative farm practices such as part-time farming,
new uses, organic and biotechnology. The government depresses farm income by selling
surplus agricultural products and allowing imports of milk protein concentrates.
All dairy farmers and all consumers deserve to benefit from regional dairy programs
and continued financial assistance for moderate-sized dairy farms. The U.S. faces
hostile multilateral trade negotiations where the goal of our trading partners
is to decrease U.S. farm income. 2.
Expand Telecommunications Services in Rural Areas- Access to telecommunications services such as telephone, cell phone,
television, radio, Internet, satellite and cable are important to rural America.
This access is threatened by government regulations that allow large conglomerates
to control multiple media venues while restricting entry of new and medium-sized
media companies into the market. The Internet delivers services and products efficiently,
irrespective of geographic location. Today, telecommuters enjoy rewarding careers
and rural lifestyles. Satellite technology brings new information to America's
farms. Advanced telecommunications technologies must be available in every rural
community at affordable costs. There must also be protections against children
having access to inappropriate materials, as well as reduced incidents of spam,
Internet fraud and loss of privacy from these technologies.
3.
Reform the Endangered Species Act and Other Environmental
Programs - The 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that species
preservation must be the paramount goal in any federal decision affecting the
habitat or viability of an "endangered" species. ESA and other federal environmental
programs restrict normal, traditional and customary activities on private and
public lands in rural areas without regard for states' rights, protection of private
property, sound science, local economic impact or community safety. The consequences
have been heavy handed federal regulatory programs to direct land and water use
in rural communities that create unnecessary animosity, that fail to meet their
environmental goals, that threaten vital publicly-owned economic infrastructures,
such as dams and irrigation systems, and that increase the risks of catastrophic
wildfires in populated areas. 4.
Achieve Energy Security for Rural Americans -
Imported energy and energy price instability threatens prosperity in rural America.
Programs that promote energy from our nation's farms are underutilized. Proven
domestic reserves of energy cannot be developed, even in an environmentally sound
manner. Voluntary energy conservation programs are under funded, while environmentally
marginal proposals to increase "global warming" regulatory burdens on agriculture
and industry would increase energy costs. Electric utility restructuring causes
anxiety in rural areas, especially where regional power administrations, rural
electric cooperatives and public power electric utilities have served their rural
customers effectively for decades. Rural consumers must benefit from electricity
restructuring and reliability programs along with other consumers. 5.
Improve the Quality of Rural Education - In rural
areas, public schools are the community focal point. Congress should increase
funding for rural public education, including funding for special needs students
and Headstart programs, without national performance standards. Full federal payments
in lieu of taxes for school districts in counties with federal land holdings must
be preserved. Internet access is vital for every rural student. Teachers and administrators
should have greater flexibility to deal with violence and disruptions that occur
in rural schools, such as lewd and obscene messages worn on clothing that distract
children from learning. New methods should be used to involve parents in their
children's education.
6.
Enhance Homeland Security and Public Safety in Rural Areas
- Homeland security is a top national priority. The USDA Homeland Security Council
should work to protecting our food supply. Domestically, rural Americans face
threats of violence and intimidation from extremist environmental groups such
as the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. Criminals use rural
locations to manufacture drugs and leave landowners with toxic wastes. Laws regarding
the use of firearms during the commission of a crime are not adequately enforced
and rural children are increasingly becoming the targets of kidnappings. 7.
Strengthen Civic Participation in Our Society
- In addition to homeland security, common frames of reference, such as language,
faith and patriotism, are prerequisites for individual liberties and vibrant civic
participation. The National Grange encourages maintaining recitation of the Pledge
of Allegiance in our children's school, along with educating youth about the Declaration
of Independence and the Constitution. Grangers are encouraged to get involved
in activities such as Internet voting and registration, campaigning, serving on
juries and taking part in volunteer service programs.
8.
Improve the Quality and Availability of Rural Health Care
- It is time to focus attention on health care in rural America. We support allowing
rural citizens to meet their medical financial responsibilities through 100% tax
deductions for all health and long-term care insurance, medical savings accounts
and competitive medical insurance choices that include fee-for-service and HMO
products in rural areas. Rural seniors must have a choice of Medicare programs
that include affordable prescription drug benefits. However, the best health insurance
has no value if there are no health care facilities in rural areas. Regulatory
barriers that rural health care facilities face when they seek equitable reimbursement
for treatments provided under Medicare and Medicaid must be repealed. We must
preserve access to modern pharmaceutical technologies for all rural families.
9. Reform
the Federal Tax Systems to Preserve Family Farms and Rural Businesses
- Congress should reform tax laws to preserve family farms and small rural businesses.
For most farmers and rural business owners, their farms and businesses are their
largest asset. Current tax laws penalize farmers and rural businesses that seek
to sell their property to other families, to pass it on to their heirs or to preserve
the future use of their property in agriculture through conservation investments
or, the sale of development or water rights. Tax laws also penalize family farmers
receiving advanced farm program payments in response to difficult economic situations
or natural disasters. Tax reform will assure that today's family farmers and rural
business owners can retire with dignity and that rural America's productive resources
are transferred to a new generation of family farmers and small business owners.
10. Support
Transportation Improvements that Protect Rural Freedom of Mobility
- Freedom of mobility is critical to rural life. Transportation is our nation's
economic circulatory system and federal investments promote healthy economic growth.
However, our first-class network of highways, railroads, airports and waterways
is deteriorating from failure to deal with transportation issues. Since 1970,
Americans have increased the miles they drive by 148%, while new roads have increased
by just six percent. Gridlock costs $67.5 billion a year and wastes 3.6 billion
hours. Grain literally rots on the ground waiting to be transported. The number
of grain railroad cars has fallen by 24% in just five years and 68% of the remaining
railcars are at least 20 years old. Our nation's commercial waterways are threatened
by environmental regulations and deterioriating infrastructure. Airports in rural
communities continue to close while service at major urban airports declines.
The National
Grange's "Blueprint for Rural America" continues to be a work in progress. By
updating and re-evaluating the ten-point plan, the Grange is better able to stay
relevant and fulfill its role as a leader and advocate for America's farmers and
rural citizens. Copies of the " Blueprint for Rural America 2004" will soon be
available as a brochure in addition to being included in the upcoming "2004 National
Grange Legislative Policy Book and Grassroots Training Manual".
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Mad Cow Disease Threatens Beef Industry
Since the discovery of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "mad cow" disease, in a Washington
State dairy cow on December 23rd, America's beef industry has faced major setbacks.
More than 30 countries, including Europe and Japan, have banned imports of U.S.
beef, costing the U.S. agricultural economy $3 billion. BSE
is a degenerative neurological disease caused by an aberrant protein called a
prion. The disease is not communicable between animals, although maternal transmission
may occur at extremely low levels. There has been evidence of transmission through
the consumption of animal feed contaminated with the infectious BSE agent. In
1997, the FDA established an "animal feed" rule that prohibits the feeding of
most mammalian protein to animals such as cows, sheep and goats - the route the
disease took during the cow epidemic in the UK during the 1980's. Both
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA have taken immediate measures
to ensure that our food supply is safe. The FDA has dispatched teams of investigators
to trace back and trace forward the potential involvement of any FDA-regulated
commodities. On December 30th, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman announced the following
policies to provide further protection against the disease: product holding, a
ruling in which the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will not mark tested
cattle as "inspected and passed" until tests prove negative; specified risk material,
which prevents affected organs from entering the food supply; advanced meat recovery
(AMR) a technology that removes muscle tissue from the bone of beef carcasses
under high pressure without incorporating bone material and the banning of air-injections
stunning to lower the risk of dislocating brain material into other tissues of
carcasses.
Since
discovering the affected cow back in December, the USDA has been continually tracking
the progress of the new measures undertaken to prevent spreading of the disease.
Up to date information can be found on the USDA web site at www.usda.gov/BSE/.
In response to consumer concerns, Ann Veneman said, "We are doing everything we
can to protect the food supply. And I can tell you that we're making decisions
based upon sound science and good public policy, given the circumstance that we
are in now."
top National
Grange calls on President Bush to Help Pass Energy Bill in 2004
In December,
The National Grange joined with 18 other farm and renewable energy organizations
in a letter to President Bush, urging the President to redouble his efforts to
ensure that H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2003, which is comprehensive energy
legislation that contains important provisions to encourage greater use of renewable
fuels derived from our nation's farms, is finally adopted by both Houses of Congress
in early 2004. "We are writing to express our sincere appreciation for your strong
leadership on energy policy and your commitment to renewable energy as an important
part of our nation's energy supply," the letter told the President. Organizations
that signed the letter include: American Coalition for Ethanol, American corn
Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association,
Clean Fuels Development Coalition, Ethanol Producers and Consumers, National Association
of Farmer Elected Committees, National Biodiesel Board, National Corn Growers
Association, National Farmers Union, National Grain Sorghum Producers, National
Grange, National Sunflower Association, New Uses Council, Renewable Fuels Association,
Soybean Producers of America, United States Canola Association and Women Involved
in Farm Economics (WIFE).
Important provisions of the legislation would substantially increase the use of
renewable energy. The Renewable fuel standard would expand the use of farm produced
ethanol and biodiesel in our nations transportation fuel market. A Renewable Fuel
Standard would promote national energy independence by saving $4 billion in imported
oil costs and increasing domestic economic activity by $156 billion, annually
by 2012. Other provisions of the legislation would allow farmer-owned cooperatives
to use existing ethanol tax credits, eliminate the impacts of the existing ethanol
tax credits from the Highway Trust Fund and establish new tax incentives for the
use of biodiesel, wind, solar biomass and agricultural waste as energy sources.
The
Energy Policy Act enjoys broad bi-partisan support in both chambers as well as
the support of the Bush Administration. However, a minority of U.S. Senators have
used the filibuster rules of the Senate to block a final vote on the legislation.
Efforts at legislative compromise have so far been unsuccessful. The direct involvement
of the President will be crucial to break the legislative logjam. "We have a historic
opportunity," the farm and renewable energy groups told President Bush, " to move
our nation toward energy independence and energy security. With your continued
leadership, Americans will soon benefit from the increased production and use
of domestically produced, renewable energy sources," the coalition letter concluded.
top Connecticut
Farmland Trust Seeks Project Director
The Connecticut Farmland Trust,
Inc., a private 501(c)3 land trust, has a vacancy for a project director. The
Connecticut Farmland Trust was formed to protect Connecticut's remaining farmland
for agricultural use by current and future farmers as well as to enhance agricultural
diversity, economic development, environmental quality and the historic rural
character of Connecticut by assisting landowners, local land trusts, towns and
state agencies in protecting agricultural land. To find out more about the mission
of the Connecticut Farmland Trust, visit their website at www.ctfarmland.org.
The
project director will be responsible for negotiating the acquisition of development
rights easements on working farms throughout Connecticut. A formal position description
and information regarding the application procedure can be obtained by contacting
the Connecticut Farmland Trust office directly. Interested candidates should submit
a letter of interest, resume and writing sample to Connecticut Farmland Trust,
Inc., 191 Franklin Avenue, Hartford, CT 06114 or by email
. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 13, 2004.
top Speak
Out on Conservation Security Program
The USDA, National Resource Conservation
Service will conduct 10 listening sessions throughout the U.S. that will allow
the public to provide feedback and giving opinions on the Conservation Reserve
Program (CSP). The CSP, authorized by the 2002 Farm bill, is a program promoting
conservation stewardship of agricultural working lands and enhancing the condition
of this nation's natural resources. Please
visit the Natural
Resources Conservation Service web site to obtain a schedule of these sessions,
If you are unable to attend any of the sessions, you are welcome to submit written
comments by March 2, 2004. Written comments can be sent by mail at Conservation
Operations Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890 (Attn:
Conservation Security Program), Washington, DC 20013-2890, or by email.
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