December 2007 Newsletter

We’ve been working hard to put together a great program for this year’s MarketPlace: Opening Doors to Success event. Things are moving along very well. This year we’re holding MarketPlace on Feb. 27, 2008, at the New World Inn in Columbus, Nebraska.

The 2008 tax filing season is right around the corner. The IRS’s January 8th Tax Talk Today program, “Getting Ready for the Filing Season 2008: Part 2 (Businesses)” will give tax professionals, their clients, and small business owners a head start. Tax Talk Today is a free, live, monthly interactive Web cast.

On the Center’s Blog for Rural America we are tracking the progress of the 2007 farm bill. If you want to keep up with the progress of the bill, but do not want to spend your days in front of C-SPAN and scouring the newspapers, drop by and read our coverage.

For this newsletter we were hoping to report on the final Senate version of the 2007 farm bill. No such luck folks – business in the Senate with the farm bill has been like one of those on-again, off-again relationships. And as far as we know, the farm bill is off until sometime next year.

However, we can provide an update on how family farms and rural communities fared in the Senate Agriculture Committee bill, key amendments we expect, and information on where we’ll need the grassroots to shake things up again once the debate resumes. (Look for coverage of livestock provisions in our Corporate Farming Notes.)

In October, the Senate Agriculture Committee included, for the first time in history, a title focused on livestock market competition reforms when they moved their proposed farm bill proposal to the floor.

The Senate Committee’s livestock title included several reforms for which the Center for Rural Affairs has long advocated. The most talked about competition reform the Committee approved was the ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock for more than 14 days prior to slaughter. The Center has been at the forefront of the effort to obtain a ban on packer ownership of livestock for nearly a decade. The ban was included in what is called the en bloc amendment without debate in the committee.

The 2007 Food and Family Farm Presidential Summit was a day to appreciate the food that sustains us and to consider the needs of those who raise it. Held Saturday, November 10, at the Downtown Mariott in Des Moines, Iowa, the summit featured speakers throughout the day – including the Center’s own John Crabtree – punctuated by appearances from five candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination: Illinois Senator Barack Obama, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, and New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

We find out more every day about how rural America does, and does not, matter in the farm bill debate. But the bonds that are forming among those that seek a better future for rural America are just as important as the outcome.

On November 14, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) announced their support for the Senate farm bill’s ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock. UFCW support brings with it the voices of 1.3 million members nationwide, including more than 250,000 workers in meatpacking and food processing.

Last month I showed the amazing difference in community development that youth vitality and innovation can bring. This month we’ll look at a new approach in community and school development and see what happens when a small community embraces youth as the future.

Nebraska has what is known as the “rule of 60” for small rural schools. If the number of students in grades 9-12 falls below 60, then local and area landowners can option out of the school district and join another district, possibly with lower taxes. Nothing holds them accountable to the local school district.

California: In this farm bill year, a certain California city has become a hotbed of grassroots activism directed at farm bill reform. From their notable advocates for reform, to their home-town newspaper’s reform-minded coverage, San Francisco is doing their part to stand up for the future of family farming and rural communities. These California residents understand that when family farms and rural communities prosper, all of America prospers.

Businesses and organizations have an opportunity to apply for an exhibitor booth at the 2008 MarketPlace: Opening Doors to Success conference. A maximum of 50 booths will be accepted.

This is the second year for the conference. It will be held in Columbus, Nebraska at the New World Inn, Wednesday, February 27, 2008. Exhibiting at MarketPlace is an excellent decision to reach a professional audience. Last year there was a waiting list for exhibitors.

The debate surrounding farm programs and the 2007 farm bill is too often reduced to sound bites and sloppy rhetoric that does little to educate the general public on the importance and effects of farm and rural legislation. But once in a while, something comes along that reminds us the farm bill and its effects must be objectively researched and reported on. Rather than shouting slogans and talking past one another, such research can help illuminate the often hidden common ground in farm and rural policy.

The November 2007 issue of Amber Waves (a USDA magazine) contains an important article that explores the relationship between government payments and the concentration of cropland ownership in various regions. They have some interesting conclusions, which all sides of the farm program debate would do well to heed.

Practical Farmers of Iowa, Iowa State University Extension, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension are teaming up on a series of workshops this winter. Most will be teleconference calls with an option to participate via the Internet. To register or for more information, contact Gary Huber at 515.232.5661 or gary@practicalfarmers.org.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published a report, Beginning Farmers: Additional Steps Needed to Demonstrate the Effectiveness of USDA Assistance to examine the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) approach to serving beginning farmers and ranchers.

GAO conducted the report at the request of Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Last month we shared insights from Chuck Hassebrook, the Center’s executive director, on what he had learned in his 30 years at the Center for Rural Affairs. This time Chuck offers his reflections on the importance of how we approach our work and one another.

How we do our work is as important as what we do. Our work must be guided by our values – genuine opportunity for all, widespread ownership, fairness, community, environmental stewardship, citizenship involvement, and responsibility. Adhering to these values must come before the selfish interests of any group. Our true interest is tied to the common good. And the common good is best served by creating a future that reflects these values.