Ag at the Polling Place

With election day barely in our rearview mirror, our focus very much remains on who won, who lost, what passed and what didn't.

While that obsession's still strong, take a look at this, a Ballot Measures Database from the National Conference of State Legislators (brought to my attention just yesterday by the Special Libraries Assocation's Government Info blog).

With quick clicks in a few fields, you can easily see a list of all initiatives in one state or several, for this year or many, right on back to 1902.

But you can also limit your search to measures pertaining to particular topics, like agriculture.

In two shakes I can see what ag-related initiatives were on ballots nationwide this year. (Only one actually, California's Proposition 2, which looks to be passing at the moment.)

I can also review environmental measures recently proposed in Florida, the last decade's worth of energy and utility issues in Kansas, or natural resources initiatives in the Pacific Northwest. (Remember: Cntrl-click to choose multiples from anywhere in a list, e.g., Oregon and Washington; or click at the top of a range and shift-click at the bottom to select everything in between, e.g., 1990 to 1999.)

The search results serve up basic details about the measures [type of election and year, type of measure (initiative, referendum, etc.)], the voting results (pass or fail with the associated percentage of votes), and, in many cases, a summary of the measure.

It's an amazingly easy way to see what issues have made the ballot and how they've fared over the years.

But our colleagues at the National Conference of State Legislators didn't stop there. They also have a handful of databases and collections addressing ag, rural, environmental and health legislation and statutes, along with a database focused strictly on environmental health legislation.

They're handy tools for researchers or interested citizens and easy supply lines for the legislative junkies among you, as are the great resources on NAL's Laws and Regulations page, of course.

Clearly, there's no reason to be an uniformed citizen in this day and age.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Farm Bill on November 05, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Sadly us 'ags' do not amount to much in quantity; but do in quality. We can never change the world by voting but by leading the way and have others follow. :)

Submitted by: Phil Booker on November 11, 2008 05:15 PM

Submitted by: ProGasCasMash on December 4, 2008 12:38 PM

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor

I'm turning the blog-waves over to USDA today to help get the word out about the upcoming Agricultural Outlook Forum, February 26-27, 2009, in Arlington, Virginia.

This year's presenters and break-out sessions will deliver on the theme "Global Agriculture & Rural America in Transition."

You'll hear scientific, policy, business and marketing perspectives on a range of ag issues, from food safety to food security, from rural America to world markets, and from conservation efforts to developments in biotechnology.

The then Secretary of Agriculture will give the keynote, with an as-yet-unnamed distinguished guest speaker to follow.

Got any ideas who that distinguished guest speaker should be? I'm collecting suggestions below. Who knows, the conference planners just might listen.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Education and Farm Bill and Food and Nutrition and Marketing and Trade and Natural Resources & Environment and Plants and Crops and Rural Life and Water Quality on October 29, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

I wait, when can you send me more information about health?

Submitted by: jhjityiity on October 30, 2008 09:58 AM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on October 30, 2008 10:13 AM

Submitted by: Bill Harshaw on October 30, 2008 12:27 PM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on October 30, 2008 02:13 PM

Submitted by: Karl Schneider on November 4, 2008 10:29 PM

Submitted by: Mary Ann on November 5, 2008 11:31 AM

What's In the New Farm Bill?

I once dreamed of being among the first to break this story, but then the Economic Research Service went and released the Farm Bill Side-by-Side while I was on vacation and that dream unceremoniously ended.

Obviously, it's hard to be a newshound when you're relaxing in the sun and showing no interest in doing otherwise.

But I can live with that.

Not so sure I can live without the Farm Bill Side-by-Side, however, since it manages to corral the key points of a massive 663-page legislation [PDF | 1.73 MB] and lay them out in a clear, understandable way that also helps me see how those provisions have changed from the 2002 bill to this one.

The easiest way to dig through the bill is to browse by the various titles (i.e., chapters) that comprise the bill and from there scroll or link to specific sections.

Zeroing in on specific provisions is a little bit trickier. The single A-Z list works, but it has its limitations. For example, entries that begin with "For," such as "For Nonprofit Organizations," or that bury key terms, such as "Sub-Saharan Africa: Project in Malawi," do not co-exist as cross-references, such as "Nonprofit Organizations" or "Malawi" in these cases. The list presents the provision titles and nothing else.

But at least those titles take you directly to those provisions in the side-by-side.

The search function is not so kind. Sure, you can search by keyword or phrase, but this option will only deliver you to the appropriate chapter, not directly to the provision(s) where your term(s) reside. That is, search for "Malawi," and the best you can get is a link to Title III: Trade. At that point, it's time to pull out the browser's "find on page" feature to get where you need to go.

Nevertheless, even with these less-than-perfect details, the side-by-side remains a helpful tool for unpacking this agricultural and legislative behemoth. Give it a spin now, and then be sure to bookmark it. You'll be needing this one again, I promise.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Farm Bill on August 27, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

I've spent a bit of time diving into the federal budget, USDA budget, and farm subsidies, and have some observations to share. 1) USDA budget is a relative drop in the bucket compared to Health and Human Services, Social Security, Defense, and Treasury. Improving the efficiency of these agencies could easily fund the rest of the U.S. Government: http://www.supportingevidence.com/Government/ fed_budget_by_agency_pareto_2006.html 2) The USDA budget per direct farm employee is consistently rising, up to nearly $16,000 in FY2006, as the industry continues to get more efficient (fewer farmers needed to meet demand): http://www.supportingevidence.com/Government/ USDA_budget_per_farm_empl.html 3) Admittedly I enjoy the amazing farm bounty in my suburban home, but farm subsidies baffle me. How can it make sense for the U.S. taxpayer to directly support this industry, when few others get the equal treatment. Our extremely effective market economy is based on the fact that millions of motivated individuals will always be smarter than dozens of bureaucrats in a centrally-planned government. Here's a look at farm subsidies over time: http://www.supportingevidence.com/Government/ farm_subsidies_per_farm_empl.html More visuals on government, health, and education at: www.SupportingEvidence.com 'worth a thousand words'

Submitted by: Scott Gibson on September 23, 2008 01:26 PM

Submitted by: BradandPitti on October 13, 2008 12:50 PM

Ditto Veto, Ditto Vote

A not-too-surprising course of events happened this afternoon.

Within just a few hours President Bush vetoed the full, corrected version of the Farm Bill, and then, acting quickly, both the Senate and the House voted to override that veto.

Like the previous override of May's accidentally abridged version of the bill, the votes weren't even close. And in the end, to borrow the language of the Senate, the latest Food Conservation and Energy Act passed, "the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding."

Of course, since most of the bill passed in May -- all except the missing chapter on trade -- the critics and pundits have sliced and diced the legislation for weeks already. No telling if this second veto-override cycle will set off Round 2.

But the economists and analysts at USDA's Economic Research Service have also been doing their thing over the last month or two to examine the economic effects of the farm legislation on producers, consumers, taxpayers, and rural communities. They're furiously at work preparing what I think will be a great tool for those particularly interested in agricultural policy in general and the farm bill in particular. They're developing a side-by-side comparison of this year's Farm Bill with its 2002 predecessor to help folks assess the enacted changes. They describe the comparison as "summarized but substantive," which works for me. After all, anything to make this massive legislation easier to understand is a good thing, in my book.

ERS doesn't specify a release date for the side-by-side Farm Bills, but they do invite you to sign-up for an e-mail notice that will announce the tool's release.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Farm Bill on June 18, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Hello! Personally I fully agree with recent comments.

Submitted by: OnlineLev on July 10, 2008 08:36 PM

The Farm Bill Fix Is In

I'm guessing anyone reading this blog knows by now that the farm bill sent to the White House and vetoed by the President a couple of weeks ago was missing the trade title due to a printing error.

Congress overwhelmingly overrode the veto, but the vote couldn't fix the embarrassing mistake that left international food aid programs without funding. The new farm bill became law, just not the Trade chapter.

Now, after the resulting constitutional and procedural debates, Congress has passed the farm bill again, this time with the missing 34 pages in place. The White House has promised another veto, and, like before, both the House and the Senate expect to override that veto.

There might be nothing left but to watch for the press releases on this one, but you can never tell. If the votes to override have evaporated over the last two weeks, then U.S. food aid could dry up at a time when the global food crisis makes such aid crucial.

I haven't seen a pundit predicting that dire an outcome, but what do you think? Anyone care to read the Congressional tea leaves and predict how this year's farm bill will end? Is the repaired and passed version of the bill the end of this long, drawn-out saga? Or do have more drama yet to come?

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Farm Bill on June 06, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Name:

.....

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Schafer Goes to Washington

Did you notice that President Bush had a new cabinet member in the audience for last night's State of the Union address?

Edward T. Schafer, former governor of North Dakota, quietly cleared the Senate confirmation process and was sworn in as the new Secretary of Agriculture by Vice-President Cheney just hours before President Bush stood at the dais in the House Chamber.

Last week's hearing on Schafer's nomination sparked little debate, and the Senate confirmed him yesterday without dissent, using a unanimous consent agreement to bypass the traditional floor vote and push the matter through.

That quick action allowed Schafer to walk into the packed chamber among his fellow Cabinet members just a short time later. There, he heard the President address his hopes for his final year in office, making a handful of general points on taxes, trade, immigration, renewable fuels and global hunger that might impact the new Secretary.

Notably, President Bush made no mention of the pending farm bill, a piece of legislation that is likely to keep Secretary Schafer -- and Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner -- quite busy in the coming weeks.

Those negotiations have been moving slowly, and the administration continues to threaten a veto if changes aren't made to the current versions. Deputy Secretary Conner (formerly Acting Secretary) has been pushing for a new formula for financing the farm bill, but an agreement remains elusive.

Can the new guy offer a fresh perspective that might unstick things? I guess we'll see. I just hope he got some sleep after his big opening night. He's gonna need to be sharp to wrestle this steer.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Biography and Farm Bill on January 29, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

UPDATE Just a few hours after I posted the entry above, Secretary Schafer attended a welcoming reception at USDA. If you missed the event, you can read the transcript or watch the video of his remarks online. It runs only about thirty minutes.

Submitted by: Mary Ann on January 31, 2008 03:55 PM

Duck...Duck...Goose

Next week, mixed in with the last of their holiday cards and the first bills of 2008, farmers and ranchers across the U.S. will be getting their packets for the 2007 Census of Agriculture. The folks at USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service are dropping them in the mail today.

NASS conducts the survey every five years to count the nation’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Census questions cover land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, crop yields, livestock count, and machinery used, along with income, expenditures and other topics.

Maybe this is where that old game "Duck, Duck, Goose" got its start -- farmers counting their animals for the annual ag census. Okay, I admit that's not likely, but you do have to report your poultry numbers on the survey, so there actually might be folks mumbling that very phrase to themselves as they walk through barnyards across the country this January.

But lest you think the ag census is equally silly, let me assure you that the reponses provide vital information that factors into a range of decisions, from crafting agricultural policy like the farm bill, to making funds and services available to rural communities. Businesses might use the information to determine the locations of facilities serving agricultural producers, while the farmers and ranchers themselves can use census data to make informed decisions about the future of their own operations. (More ducks, perhaps? Or maybe more geese? Hmmm, let me run around in a circle while I think about it.)

So, when that envelope arrives next week from the government, don't just toss it into recycling. Open it. Look it over. Fill it out. Or grab your Census ID from the mailing and click your way to the online response version.

After all, filling out the ag census is not only a good idea, it's the law (Title 7, U.S. Code), regardless of the size or type of your operation. Fortunately, the same law makes your responses confidential and limits their use to statistical purposes, so no worries that your survey will be passed along to the IRS or your local inspectors.

Instead, think about getting yourself counted so that decision-makers know you're out there. If nothing else, it'll be a great way to spend a cold January evening, right? Right? Um, right?

Census reports are due February 4, 2008.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Animals and Farm Bill and Marketing and Trade and Organic Production and Plants and Crops and Rural Life on December 28, 2007 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Name:

.....

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Farm Bill Clears the Senate

Big day last Friday.

The U.S. Senate passed the Farm Bill by a 79-14 vote.

Of course, the Web is full of analyses and post-mortems, with what went right and what went wrong obviously in the eye of the beholder.

Such is politics, right?

What's clear, though, is that the rule requiring 60 votes for passage of any amendment, proposed by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), noticably altered the course, sending to the scrap heap a couple of significant amendments that would have passed under a simple majority: the Dorgan-Grassley attempt to cap subsidy payments and Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) bid to lower the ceiling on farmer incomes to remain eligible for subsidies.

Now, come January, Congress must find a way to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the farm bill. Once that difficult row has been hoed, the bill needs to clear the President's desk, something that is by no means assured.

The best I can say now is, "Stay tuned." It should be an interesting ride.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Farm Bill on December 17, 2007 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Name:

.....

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Six Important Updates You Don't Want to Miss

In just the last two days I've noticed how many of the stories I've addressed over the last two months continue to pop up in the news. Given that, I thought it'd be interesting to see how things have moved on a few of them, or what fresh angles more recent coverage offers.

So, without further ado, here are the updates you don't want to miss:

• Since my October 15 entry on food recalls, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a Food Protection Plan that seeks to identify potential foodborne hazards before they sicken or kill anyone, but the plan isn't impressing Congress. Members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions have made some pretty strong statements indicating that neither it, nor the plan to enhance import safety, goes far enough.


• The potato cyst nematode doesn't seem too interested in joining the Year of the Potato celebration. Instead, it's spoiling the party by spreading to its eighth field in Idaho, threatening crop production there.


• Faster computers are accelerating the pace of discovery, but they're also making it possible to generate more realistic, more accurate and more powerful computer simulations. Such progress validates our October post on schools and industries moving away from using animals for education and experimentation.


• Avocado farmers who have started to regroup after October's wildfires are learning that their crop insurance doesn't cover as much as they thought it would. And even those that can expect some payments might not see money until early 2009.


• The farm bill has stalled on its way through the Senate, and there's really no telling where this one's gonna end up. Today word hit that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would be filing a cloture motion this afternoon. Such a motion, if passed, would limit any further debate on the farm bill to 30 hours, but a similar attempt a few weeks ago failed to get the 60 votes required for passage.


• "Sometimes it pays to read the old literature." So said Dr. Peter Palese, a researcher who determined why winter is flu season. And though I've not written a lick about the flu, I thought the lesson Dr. Palese offers to be a timely reminder that some ideas have been thunk before, which was, in fact, the main point behind the Starting Right with Turkeys entry. The Web holds valuable, historical stuff. Make use of it.

If you have more updates to add, feel free to send 'em along.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Animals and Emergency Response and Farm Bill and Food and Nutrition and History of Agriculture and Plants and Crops on December 05, 2007 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Name:

.....

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Heard the Latest About the Farm Bill?

Today at 3:00 pm the full U.S. Senate began to consider -- and to debate, amend, alter and shape -- the 2007 Farm Bill.

The Senate version of the bill cleared the agricultural committee October 25th. Now comes the wrangling, as Senators from both sides of the aisle negotiate what stays in, what gets added and what comes out of this lengthy, complicated and difficult-to-slog-through piece of legislation. And in this fight, regional concerns loom large, making for interesting politics.

Of course, the process continues to grab a lot of press and a lot of criticism. On any given day you'll find articles addressing the pros and cons of the ethanol tax credits, the new disaster aid proposal, the nutrition and food stamp offerings, wetland protections, seasonal worker programs, rural development plans and all the rest.

But my unscientific browsing of news sites indicates that none of those topics has earned more ink (or bandwith) than government subsidies. Supporters see them as necessary to farmers' economic viability. Critics contend they add a thumb to the scales, favoring some crops over others and distorting the market.

In the interest of job security I'm not going to weigh in, but I am going to share with you a few places where you can learn what others have to say.

The first stop: the Farm Bill News feed my colleagues here have developed. It serves up the latest news and commentary on the bill, ensuring that you'll have the hottest intel and the freshest perspectives.

Or browse NAL's Farm Bill page for more background on the bill itself.

With the Senate planning two weeks to debate the bill, you can expect news to be flying fast and furiously for a while. Keep up here at NAL, and become more informed about this crucial piece of legislation. Then, once you're well-versed, you can be the one asking, "Heard the latest about the farm bill?"

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Farm Bill on November 05, 2007 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Name:

.....

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.