Farmers Voices Matter:
Two Opportunities to Make Yours Heard
Tell Us Your Organic Ag Priorities for the Obama Administration!
In our last OFAN update we asked for your thoughts on what the new presidential administration’s agriculture priorities should be. We still want to hear from you, and have extended the deadline for sending us feedback. Send your priorities to Tracy Lerman, Policy Organizer at tracy@ofrf.org no later than November 16.
Help Shape USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program – Deadline for Comments is November 14, 2008!
For the first time since it was created in 2002, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) received mandatory funding of $75 million in the new Farm Bill. BFRDP funds education, extension, outreach, and technical assistance initiatives directed at helping beginning farmers and ranchers. USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES) is now accepting written comments on the development of this program until November 14th, 2008.
Please submit comments on this program, and help ensure that the BFRDP funds programs that provide training and education for beginning organic farmers and ranchers! Scroll down for talking points.
You can submit comments the following four ways:
- E-mail to Paulette Smith at CSREES: psmith@csrees.usda.gov. Include CSREES-2008-0003 in the subject line.
- Fax to 202-401-1782.
- Mail to BFRDP; Competitive Programs (CP) Unit, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP 2240; 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-2240
- Online, using the Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov.
Talking Points
- The BFRDP should fund initiatives that train beginning farmers and ranchers in organic production. Organic systems provide multiple benefits for the environment, human health, and rural communities. They help to protect water quality, mitigate and adapt to climate change, improve the health of the soil, enhance biodiversity, support pollinator health, decrease human and wildlife exposure to harmful pesticides, and provide a way for farmers to make a living.
- Consumer demand for organic food is increasing, and reports indicate that the overwhelming majority of new farmers want to farm organically. Yet, there is a tremendous gap in resources available to train new farmers on how to farm organically. The BFRDP can help bridge this gap by funding programs that train farmers in organic systems.
- Priority should be given to those projects that include mentoring and farmer to farmer education. Organic farmers who have built their knowledge of organic systems with limited help from federal support, especially compared to their conventional counterparts, are a wealth of knowledge and experience for those farmers just starting out.
- In order to ensure that good beginning organic farmer training programs receive funding, CSREES should seek out grant reviewers that have strong background and expertise in organic farming systems.
Let us know if you submit comments. Send them to Tracy Lerman, OFRF's Policy Organizer at tracy@ofrf.org.
Organic Farmers go to Washington
On October 27, 2008, CSREES held a formal listening session to gather input on the implementation of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. OFRF sent beginning organic farmers Jamie Collins of Monterey, CA and Jeremy Barker-Plotkin, of North Amherst, MA to Washington to deliver comments on the development of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
Read Jamie's and Jeremy's testimonies,
Also, read testimony delivered by Zach Baker, OFRF’s Policy Associate.
Remember, when farmers speak, decision-makers listen. If you pay a visit to your member of Congress, write a letter, make a phonecall, or submit comments on a proposed regulation, please let us know. Also let us know the response you get, if any. Contact Tracy Lerman, OFRF's Policy Organizer at tracy@ofrf.org or (831) 426-6606 x 108. And once again, thanks so much for all of your advocacy!
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