2007 Farm Bill About to be Unleashed

By Russ Evans, PNDSA

Over the past few weeks representatives from Senator Crapo’s office have hosted information meetings across Idaho to reveal what’s changed in the 2007 Farm Bill. The response at the Genesee meeting held on the evening of October 22 was lackluster at best with more USDA staff in the room than farmers. I can’t say if this was the case at all the meetings but it makes me wonder if either the timing was wrong or there just isn’t much interest or there is no reason for concern.

Compared to the nearly 1 trillion dollars required for the financial market bailout, the $283 billion ‘proposed’ budget for the farm bill, of which 66% goes to nutrition programs, the portion of the farm bill that affects farmers appears to be a drop in the bucket. Nevertheless it’s a pretty important drop; not only to farmers but to all of society who, on a daily basis, need what you produce with the expectation it will come with a low environmental impact.

Find out how the new farm bill programs will benefit
direct seed farmers at the
2009 Direct Seed Cropping Systems Conference.
Concurrent Session:
2007 Farm Bill: Direct Seed Opportunities
in the Conservation & Energy Titles
www.directseed.org/
2009DSConference/conference.html

So, what’s new in the 2007 Farm Bill? The short answer is “lots” but energy is the big new driver, so big that it’s included in the title for the first time. Plus there are five new, never before included, titles within the Bill but those are more than I can cover here. The Conservation Security Program is history, replaced by the Conservation Stewardship Program (still the CSP). The good news is that the watershed limits of the old CSP are also history and all farmers will be eligible to apply. The contract length however, has been shortened to five years with a maximum payout of $200,000 so the maximum per year remains the same. The bad news is that there is still uncertainty around the program receiving adequate funding in order to be fully implemented. This might not be all bad however, as the eligibility criteria and future adoption goals will be more tightly enforced. We’ve already seen this happening in new watersheds that were announced earlier this year.

Other highlighted changes include a significant reduction in the income level cutoff for program eligibility based on adjusted gross income. This has been reduced to $500,000 from $2.5M with provisions up to $750,000 if the entire income comes from farming.

Another push we can expect to see is the development of an Environmental Service Markets, where, for example, a company causing environmental degradation through development will be required to offset this damage through an environmental services contract with an individual or group of individuals who can do an equivalent environmental good through management practices on their land. There are some concerns with these markets, generally speaking, with the transfer of money goes the transfer of liability. Growers entering these types of contracts need to be certain they can deliver the goods throughout the term of the contract. There will be information meetings held on these types of markets as more information is developed.

When asked about research funding it was apparent this topic wasn’t on the radar screen. This is not good news for our struggling research facilities in the PNW and it is a wakeup call to growers that if research is a priority needed to keep your farm viable then you better be on the phone and get the ink flowing because it doesn’t look like decision makers know that on-the-ground, agronomic research is important.

While there are many new programs being proposed in the 2007 Farm Bill and many of these will be rolled out over the next year, there is still a long way to go before we know for sure which of these programs will have funding and the specific rules of engagement. To be sure, the local FSA and NRCS offices are working hard to bring these new programs online but a lot of the uncertainty is beyond their control and we won’t know what level of funding will be available until after a new Secretary of Agriculture is announced in late January 2009.

PNDSA PRESIDENT UPDATE
2008 PNDSA Strategic Plan
Where to from here?

By Kyle Morscheck

About 3 years ago the PNDSA Directors held a retreat at Camp Wittman to set out a vision for the organization and establish some near term and longer term goals. Now with the near term now past and the arrival at the beginning of what was the long term, its time to evaluate what has been achieved and set out a path for “Where to from here?”

Like any organization PNDSA has evolved over this time, the issues have changed, the rate of adoption is changing, the information required is different and the people have changed; not many of the Directors who participated in the Camp Wittman strategic planning session are still on the Board. So the current Board of Directors has called for a new or at least updated Strategic Plan. To help with this process they have enlisted the service of the Northwest Farm Credit Center’s – Business Management Center who have agreed to provide the services of a professional facilitator to oversee the proceedings.

So, in early November the PNDSA Board will spend a day looking at what the organization can do and should be doing for its members and the farmers of the Pacific Northwest. Before we get there however, they would like to hear from you, “What do you expect from your organization? What can we do better? And, what should we stop doing so we can do other things better? Your input is important so over the next couple of weeks pick up the phone and call the office or your local director and let us know what the important issues are for your organization.

PNDSA Director contact information at:
www.directseed.org/board.html
PNDSA office phone number: 208-883-0190

Delivering the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Conference.
Members take advantage of reduced conference fees.

Peer support for growers developing their direct seed cropping systems.

Input to research throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Representation to government on policy and program
development that effect the environment and direct seed
growers.

Your source for the latest information and research on
direct seed cropping systems.

There are many ways to contribute:

PNDSA Member or Associate Member $100 per year
PNDSA Lifetime Member $1500 1 time contribution
PNDSA Supporter ($250 - $2,499 per year)
PNDSA Partner (Starting at $2,500 per year)
PNDSA Board Member (4 meetings per year)
Participate in a Working Group
Contribute Financially to the Legislative Fund
Make a Donation to support ongoing activities.

More information at
www.directseed.org/membership.html

Click Here for PNDSA Membership Form.pdf

New Office Location for PNDSA!
The Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association has moved to a new location.
We are still in Moscow but you can find us at the
University of Idaho Business Incubator:
121 Sweet Avenue, Suite 119D

NEW MAILING ADDRESS:
P.O. Box 9428, Moscow, ID 83843
pndsa@directseed.org
208-883-0190
www.directseed.org