Policy and Outreach Committee: June 2007 Call

Discussion:

1. Touching base with the USDA Administration

• Dr. Gail Buchanan and Dr. Colleen Heffernan were briefed about Organics


• Ferd Hoefner (Policy Director for the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition) & Brise Tencer (Washington Representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists Food & Environment Program) talked with Buchanan/Heffernan.


• The Government Accounting Office has been asked by Senator Harkin's staff to perform a study that evaluates spending on classical plant and animal breeding in the U.S.


• Economic Reserach Service (USDA/ERS) defined the mechanisms for policy makers on the conservation of Plant Genetic Resources.

2. IFAFS (Sec. 401) in the New Farmbill

• Monies "Transferred" to National Research Iniative - with 30% of NRI being "IFAFS" like.
• Any increases in NRI come from the IFAFS program and it was/is mandated to be "integrated".


• Options for Action: Letter to Key administrators about the importance of integrated programs.
• Question: Does COSA have the authority under the tri-societies to do something like that or does it need to go through Karl?

3. Integrated Programs (Section 406) in new Farm Bill

4. Sustainable Ag and Organic Research Platform (SAC).

USDA research programs have not kept pace with the growth of organic agriculture in the marketplace. Although organic currently represents about 3 percent of total U.S. food retail market, the share of USDA research targeted to organic agriculture and marketing only
represents 0.6% annually. A coordinated strategy for scaling-up organic agricultural research,
outreach and development should provide a mixture of funding methods and programs to
gradually achieve an overall “fair share” spending total of approximately $120 million/year.
This should include $15 million mandatory funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and
Extension Initiative competitive grant program that funds research and extension projects to meet the production, marketing and policy needs of the growing organic industry. Classical plant and animal breeding should be listed as one of the priorities for competitive research grants under the National Research Initiative, as public resources for classical plant and animal breeding have dwindled, causing limited access to germplasm and the diversity of seed variety and animal reed development that organic and sustainable farmers depend upon. Adequate funding should be allocated to expand the Organic Production and Marketing Data Initiative which requires USDA to collect and publish segregated organic data to meet the needs of organic producers, processors, and consumers.

Other programs to keep an eye on.

- Integrated Organic Programs

- Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)

- Agricultural Systems

- ATTRA

Action Items

- COSA letter for sign-on for Farm Bill Research platform? - Article in CSA News that would motivate a larger audience? Identify leaders to join in our efforts?
- Talking points and call in from Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (Senate) - Check out the SAC weekly updates!

Call in Asks:

1. National Organic Certification Cost-Share ($5 Million/yr. mandatory funding.)
2. Organic Conversion Stewardship Incentives ($50 Million/yr. mandatory funding, equal
split for financial and technical assistance.)
3. Fair Share for Organic Research (at least $15 Million/yr. mandatory funding for Organic
Research and Extension grants; amend the National Research Initiative to include
classical plant and animal breeding; adequate funding for organic data collection.)
4. Crop Insurance Equity for Organic (remove 5% surcharge and allow for organic price
payouts).
5. Conservation Security Program (full mandatory funding and integrated application for
organic producers.)