News Update
Nov. 3, 2009

USDA Announces $17 Million in Grants to Train Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the award of more than $17 million in grants to 29 institutions to address the needs of beginning farmers and ranchers and enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture.

“Beginning farmers and ranchers face unique challenges and need educational and training programs to enhance their profitability and long term sustainability,” Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said. “The training and education provided through these grants will help ensure the success of the next generation of farmers and ranchers as they work to feed people in their local communities and throughout the world.”

Merrigan announced the funding in Elgin, Minn., at the Hidden Stream Farm and was joined by representatives from the Land Stewardship Project, the local grant recipient that provides local and regional training, education, outreach and technical assistance initiatives that address the needs of beginning farmers and ranchers. Eric and Lisa Klein, the proprietors of Hidden Stream Farm, were some of the first graduates of the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course. Since graduating from Farm Beginnings, the Kleins have developed a thriving pasture-based livestock operation that markets pork, chickens and beef in southeast Minnesota and the Twin Cities.

This funding announcement is part of USDA’s new ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative which was launched in September 2009 to emphasize the need for a fundamental and critical reconnection between producers and consumers. ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ includes such major agricultural topics as supporting local farmers and community food groups; strengthening rural communities; enhancing direct marketing and farmers’ promotion programs; promoting healthy eating; protecting natural resources; and helping schools connect with locally grown foods.

The grants were awarded through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA, formerly the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). BFRDP is an educational, training, technical assistance and outreach program designed to help U.S. farmers and ranchers, specifically those who have been farming or ranching for 10 years or fewer. Congress authorized the FY 2009 funding for this program in the 2008 Farm Bill, with another $19 million in mandatory funding for FY 2010. Under the program, USDA will make grants to organizations that will implement programs to help beginning farmers and ranchers.

Beginning farmers and ranchers interested in participating in any of the education, outreach, mentoring and/or internship activities are asked to contact the grantee institutions listed on the NIFA web site.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and Extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people’s daily lives and the nation’s future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.

— Release by USDA.

Constitutional Amendment Would Protect Ohio Farm Animals, Consumers

Ohio voters will decide today whether to adopt a constitutional amendment that would create a 13-member Livestock Care Standards Board. Issue 2 was drafted by an Ohio agricultural coalition in response to threats from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to dictate how food animals are housed and handled through legislation and/or other ballot measures.

If Issue 2 is approved, the newly created board will include the state agriculture director, family farmers and ranchers, veterinarians, a representative from a local humane society and consumers. The amendment will give local animal welfare experts the authority to explore best practices in animal care and prevent unfounded regulations advocated by animal rights groups.

Individual farmers and ranchers, ag organizations, veterinarians and consumers have rallied behind Issue 2 to ensure quality animal care and the future of food production in Ohio . The Animal Agriculture Alliance suggests HSUS has shown, by opposing the measure, its true motivation is not the improvement of farm animal welfare, but the elimination of animal agriculture altogether.

Agriculture is one of Ohio’s largest industries. According to the ag coalition, Ohioans for Livestock Care, initiatives proposed by national animal activist groups would set rigid, inflexible and impractical rules for how livestock and poultry are housed. Analysis shows the activist proposals would lead to higher food costs, jeopardize food safety, increase the amount of food imported into Ohio and drive thousands of the state’s farmers out of business.

— Release by the Kansas Livestock Association.

Health Insurance Major Concern for Farmers

Both large and small farmers say that the cost of health insurance is their top business concern, according to a new report issued by Ohio State University’s (OSU) Social Responsibility Initiative (SRI).

The findings come from a larger study, “Agricultural Adaptation at the Rural-Urban Interface: Can Communities Make a Difference?” led by researchers at Ohio State and Utah State University. The goal of the ongoing national study is to identify the challenges and opportunities of farming in urbanizing areas.

“Health insurance came up several times in interviews with farmers before we conducted our survey in 2007, so we decided to include health insurance as an issue in the survey,” said Shoshanah Inwood, an SRI research associate in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. “But we were not expecting it to come out as the top concern. We were really surprised.”

However, a 2009 study from the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), “Health Care Access of Farm and Rural Populations,” supports the survey findings, Inwood said. The USDA study found that farm operator households spend more on health care than other U.S. households, spending an average of $5,200 to $10,000 per year for health insurance coverage.

In Inwood’s study, researchers analyzed surveys from 453 farmers from eight counties in six states. All operate in areas known as the “Rural-Urban Interface” — rural land situated near increasingly urbanized areas.

Key findings of the research include:

• Health insurance is identified as a very serious issue for the majority of the farmers surveyed, including 65% of commercial farmers (those who grow commodity and/or specialty crops) and 40% for the rural resident farmer (those who often do not rely on the farm as their main source of income). Still, even for rural residential farmers, the cost of health insurance tied with the cost of farmland as their top concern.
  
• The cost of health insurance not only is a concern for protecting the farm family, but, like many small businesses, it limits the number of full-time employees a farm can employ, thereby limiting the ability of the farm enterprise to grow to its full potential.
  
• To access affordable family health care, a farm operator or spouse often seeks benefits through an off-farm job, thereby limiting the time these families can devote to the farm and grow their business.

The researchers conclude, Inwood said, that when policy-makers at the local, state or national levels design local land protection and agricultural economic development policies, they should account for the issue of health insurance and how it affects farm persistence and adaptation. Inwood is pleased that the findings of the study are available just as interest in national health care policies is at a peak.

“An affordable and accessible national health care program would free up time and resources for farmers at the rural-urban interface and elsewhere,” Inwood said. “It would allow them to more easily reinvest in their enterprises, households and local economies.”

The full report is available online at http://cffpi.osu.edu/policybriefs.htm. Additional information on the national study is available at http://cffpi.osu.edu/agadapt.htm.

— Release by OSU SRI.

Biotech Corn

The European Commission announced that it has approved a biotech corn product for food, feed, import and processing jointly developed by DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred and Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Co. Corn products containing the Herculex®; RW protection trait stacked with Roundup Ready®; Corn 2 (also known as 59122/NK603) are now permitted for import into the European Union (EU).

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.