Summit to Ignite Rural America

The federal government recognizes the power of rural America.

To harness and leverage this power, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will host The National Summit of Rural America: A Dialogue for Renewing Promise, June 3, 2010.

“This Summit will be an opportunity for rural Americans to share their vision for creating a more prosperous and promising future for rural America,” said Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack.

The campus of Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo., will welcome the event.

Participants include farmers, ranchers and foresters, as well as agriculture policymakers and community leaders, and features Vilsack, Agriculture Deputy Sec. Kathleen Merrigan and the full USDA sub-cabinet.

In addition to plenary topics, several breakout sessions are planned about rural issues concerning:

• Creation of new jobs
• Improvement of infrastructure
• Improvement of farm competitiveness
• Development of small businesses
• Encouragement of innovation in renewable energy

A complete itinerary of the summit is located at its Web site.

The summit’s overall goal is the development of proposals into future program and policy discussions. The summit culminates the USDA’s Rural Tour – a 22-state circuit of specific rural-development discussions.

Interest in the summit is so great; registration for it has reached capacity and has been closed. But, the USDA has utilized social-media sites to help bring the discussion to as many people as possible.

Individuals can listen to the summit live at the USDA’s media center home page, or visit its Facebook page to participate in an online chat.

However, some are not as optimistic about the administration’s rural goals.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and other members of the Senate Western Caucus, wrote a letter to President Obama stating that current rural policies are hurting rural communities across the country. They requested a meeting with Obama before the summit.

“It is past time for the administration to put its misguided policies for rural America out to pasture,” said Hatch. “Before foisting more onerous federal regulations, costs and other burdens on rural communities in Utah and other states, the administration needs to consider the damage its current policies are doing to family farms, domestic-energy production and access to public lands and make a course-correction.”

Regardless of one’s perceptions about current rural strategy, it is certain that there is significant potential for expanding the capabilities of rural America to continue to economically support and to increase its economic support of our national economy.

Do you think rural America deserves this much federal attention? How can the administration utilize feedback from the summit in the most effective manner? Do Sen. Hatch and other critics of current rural strategy have a valid opinion?

*Photo obtained from www.USDA.gov







Program supports development of U.S. producers

Earlier this month, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) implemented a new support program to help America’s farmers hurt by the recent economic crisis. USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack introduced the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers Program, also known as the TAA for Farmers Program.

"As we work to help rural America recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers Program will create new opportunities for producers hurt by import competition," said Vilsack. "Eligible producers will receive much-needed technical assistance and cash benefits to help them adjust to the current economic environment."

Farmers receive financial assistance after meeting eligibility requirements and upon completion of stringent training and education courses that can last up to three years.

According to USDA, the TAA for Farmers Program helps producers of raw agricultural commodities and fishermen adjust to a changing economic environment associated with import competition by means of technical assistance and cash benefits.

It’s not another subsidy, said Kevin Klair, extension economist at the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota.

“Congress was very intentional when structuring this program. Important management and competition issues were considered to make it most effective,” said Klair.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) reauthorized and modified the TAA. The Act includes measures to modernize the nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief and protect those in greatest need, according to the Obama administration.

Eligibility

• The commodity on which the farmer claims losses must qualify for the program as determined by the USDA (notifications issued in Federal Register notices).
• Farmers must have experienced a greater than 15-percent decrease in the national average price, the quantity of production, value of production or cash receipts of the commodity compared to the average of the three preceding marketing years, and imports contributed importantly to this decline.
• Applicants must complete a series of workshops/education sessions.
• Farmers can apply until April 14.

The public had the opportunity to weigh-in about program procedures and eligibility criteria in August. Most public commentary centered on payment limitations with consideration to adjusted gross income and specialty crops, a well as consideration to the length of intensive training about how to use the program. There is an additional 30-day period for public comment commencing March 1.

Farmers may receive $4,000 in assistance after an initial series of free technical-training classes. Klair said farmers are eligible to receive an additional $8,000 after writing an approved long-term business-adjustment plan to aid them in their future operations.

“It teaches farmers how to be more-efficient U.S. producers,” said Klair, who said the program has received numerous inquiry calls.

Klair said the “downside” to the program is its strict qualification requirements.

“It would be great if everyone could qualify,” said Klair.

Farmers can appeal a denied application.

To learn more about the intricacies of the program, visit http://www.fas.usda.gov/ITP/TAA/taa.asp or http://www.taaforfarmers.org/.

Should the federal government take more or less of a role in financially assisting farmers? How can farmers relay the significance of this program to media/the public if criticized?

Plummeting Milk Prices

America’s 57,000 dairy farmers witnessed elevated milk prices in 2007 and 2008. But as we entered 2009, decreased export demand, costly herd upkeep and oversupply caused milk prices to drop rapidly.

"Call it globalization,” said Roger Hoskin, a dairy analyst at the U.S. Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service. “When the export market is strong, they do well; when the export market is weak, domestic use is not enough.”

Besides selling it by the gallon, milk is sold for national and international use in processing other dairy products such as butter, yogurt and ice cream. Remaining product is converted to powdered milk, cheese and whey.

American Agriculturist cites 2007 conventional milk prices at $20 per hundredweight while pricing today’s average at $11 per hundredweight. The average price for a gallon of milk has declined 14.7 percent in the past 12 months, from $3.87 to $3.32, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. Dairy farmers are receiving 35 percent less than what they were paid last fall.

The health of commodity markets determines a dairy farmer’s dividends.

Unlike other farm sectors that can store excess product for future sale, dairy producers are forced to sell their product immediately.

Dairy operators are reducing herd sizes to decrease milk production and to save money on animal feed and care, and have also resorted to selling cows at fire-sale prices, or significantly lower-than-average market prices, to stay afloat. According to a USA Today article, there has been a 20 percent increase in cow slaughters from last year.

California, America’s No.1 dairy state producing $7 billion annually or one-fifth of the U.S.-milk supply, is receiving the blunt of the industry storm. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed June 2009 as “Real California Milk Month” in efforts to boost industry sales.

To assist a floundering market, the federal government is purchasing dairy products to normalize price levels and is allocating its purchases to national food banks and nutrition programs, as well as donation programs abroad.

The state of the U.S. economy isn’t helping matters. With increasing numbers of farmers in all commodities seeking loans, dairy farmers cannot depend on receiving financial assistance for security as in years past.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), a nationwide conglomerate of dairy farmers and cooperatives, is working to promote the demand of dairy consumption and the vitality of the American dairy industry.

How can the dairy industry reinvigorate interest in its products? Will milk prices stabilize if/when the global recession recovers? Should other farm industries be on the defense after witnessing the beef, pork and now dairy sectors experiencing a threatened existence?