Wednesday's Headlines

“Broadband Initiative Begins”

Plans have been announced to begin the development of a broadband initiative, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This initiative will result in the deployment of high-speed internet service in rural and unserved communities. Public meetings will be held from March 16-24. During those meetings interested parties will be asked to comment on the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and the RUS grants and loans program established by the ACT. This initiative is being coordinated by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Commerce and the Federal Communications Commission.

Each of these meetings will feature a roundtable discussion and an opportunity for public comment. Each meeting will be webcast as part of the effort to broaden public input. The March 17 meeting will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the following day's meeting scheduled for Flagstaff, Arizona. Officials say the public meetings are an important part of the agencies' efforts to move quickly to implement the Act's Broadband Initiatives.

The request for information also seeks comment on the creation of a national broadband map. Comments will be received up to 30 days after publication of notice in the Federal Register. Comments may be submitted via the Web, email or mail. Commenters are strongly encouraged to file via the website (www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants). Anyone without internet access will have to quickly submit their comments via the U.S. Mail. Otherwise, their submissions may not be heard because of delivery delays of up to two weeks due to mail security procedures.
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“NFU Meeting Closes with New President”

The newly elected National Farmers Union President is Roger Johnson. The North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner defeated Pennsylvania Farmers Union President Larry Breech to succeed Tom Buis. Johnson will resign his North Dakota Commissioner’s position. Congressman Earl Pomeroy said – North Dakota’s loss is truly Farmers Union’s gain.

In his acceptance speech Johnson called NFU the leading voice that will be heard on Capitol Hill with the Administration and members of Congress when it comes to agriculture policy. Johnson’s election came at the close of the annual National Farmers Union Membership meeting in Washington, D.C on Tuesday.

During the meeting - attendees heard from an outstanding line-up of policy makers, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. Topics such as renewable fuels, the farm bill, COOL, carbon sequestration, fair trade, market oversight, nutrition and health care were covered.
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“NFU Members Take Actions”

National Farmers Union members want the Obama Administration and Congress to pursue fair trade policies that acknowledge the changes in the agriculture landscape in the past ten years. NFU members also want USDA to implement the programs in the 2008 Farm bill as congress intended.

Delegates are urging Congress to pass the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act to resolve problems in existing agreements and establish fair parameters for any future trade agreements. Delegates urged support for cooperative efforts among nations to end the race to the bottom. Delegates said the failed free trade agenda has opened domestic markets to cheap, often low-quality food, fuel and fiber products and damaged the nation’s trade balance.

As for the farm bill, NFU delegates outlined several specific requests, including the expeditious issuance of program rules and regulations for the Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance and Average Crop Revenue Election programs, increasing the Milk Income Loss Contract program payment percentage, timely implementation of conservation programs, oversight of stakeholders as they voluntarily implement stricter COOL rules and promotion of renewable energy programs, among many others.

NFU delegates also voiced their support of U.S. dairy farmers – asking Congress and the Administration to take all appropriate actions to sustain family dairy farmers through the current period of economic uncertainty. They also called on policy makers to consider the unique challenges facing rural America when debating policy solutions to the nation’s health care system.
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“USTR Nominee Testifies”

In the middle of the global economic crisis, world trade has taken its steepest plummet in 80 years. Trade is considered to be a key to economic recovery. At the same time the Obama administration appears to be taking a harder line with America's trading partners. It will seek new benchmarks before supporting already-written trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea and is suggesting that it will dig in its heels on global trade talks, demanding that other countries make broader concessions first.

The President’s nominee as U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, says he believes in trade and will work to expand it, but also knows not all Americans are winning from it and U.S. trading partners are not always playing by the rules. Kirk spoke during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

During the hearing, Montana Senator Max Baucus said - our consensus to advance international trade is frayed. Our faith in the international trading system is badly shaken. Kirk disclosed - I do not come to this job . . . with deal fever. We're not going to do deals just to doing them.
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“Clean Water Act Case Still In Dispute”

The Charlie Johnson family has been farming the same land, about 50 miles south of Boston, Massachusetts, since 1920. Five years ago a court fined the Johnsons 75-thousand dollars and ordered more than one-million dollars in mitigation costs. These fines were levied after Charlie and his son Van shored up some cranberry bogs on their land and built some new ones – without seeking federal approval. The Pacific Legal Foundation is defending the Johnsons.

Lead attorney Ted Hadze-Antich says the assault on Charlie Johnson, led by the Environmental Protection Agency, is a - misuse of the Clean Water Act, and is part of a government effort to use the Act to regulate, potentially, every local pond, puddle, or ditch on private property. Attorneys charge the EPA is violating a 2006 Supreme Court ruling that said the Clean Water Act applied only to land where federal regulators could show a direct flow of water from the land to a navigable river, lake, or ocean.

Hadze-Antich says federal regulators - have offered no credible evidence of any environmental harm whatsoever from Charlie’s cranberry farming. PLF attorney Damien Schiff says the Johnson’s are - the canary in the coal mine. If federal regulators are allowed to be a law unto themselves, ignoring legal limits on their power, the Johnsons won’t be the last victims. Schiff says - all landowners and homeowners will be at risk, sooner or later.
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“Researchers Helping Jordanian Farmers Use Water Wisely”

Agricultural Research Service scientists and cooperators in Jordan have teamed up to develop ways to better manage efficient use of water in crop production. One collaboration has led to the installation of a research instrument known as a "weighing lysimeter," an underground device that measures how much water plants use. Sweet corn was grown in the first field tested in 2008.

Researchers say the lysimeter has the ability to very accurately measure plants' water use, when use occurs, and in terms of how plants respond to weather changes. By combining that information with how much ground is covered by each crop's leafy canopy and local weather data, scientists can tell Jordanian farmers how much water each crop will need in this arid and water-scarce region.
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