Blog for Rural America

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This month's newsletter includes articles on rural internet, health care, agriculture, community development and more. Read the entire newsletter online here, or some highlights below.

35 Years! New Rural Opportunities with Your Support
In 2008, nearly 1,000 donors from across the nation helped us shatter our goal to raise $35,000 for our 35th birthday. The final tally was $38,641 in modest gifts from individuals just like you. And in the last quarter, more than 1,000 donors gave over $60,000 to support our efforts to prepare for a new Congress, a new presidency, and new opportunities for family farmers, ranchers, rural communities and rural entrepreneurs, including beginning farmers and ranchers. Read the rest.

Dear Secretary of Agriculture

Sign the Grassroots Letter to Tom Vilsack

Congratulations on your selection to lead the Department of Agriculture. We offer our support and assistance. The President-elect has already provided a compelling mission to guide your efforts in his platform, “Real Leadership for Rural America.”

“Rural communities in America are at a critical point in history. For the past decade, rural America has not been well served by federal policies, and if Republicans and Democrats in Washington continue those misguided policies, rural families will see their economic fortunes fall further behind those of other Americans. But we have the power to set a different course. Innovative rural Americans have proven they can compete in the 21st century. But local initiative must be matched by federal policies that empower rural Americans and family farmers.” Read the rest.

Post-Election Is Prime Time for Health Care Reform Goals
New members of Congress take their places in Washington, D.C. this month. With the election behind them, legislators face the difficult task of living up to campaign promises. While the economy is a top priority, health care reform is sorely needed and is critical to rebuilding our economy, especially in rural America. Members of Congress are already putting their ideas into legislation as they prepare to debate after President-elect Obama takes office. Read the rest.

Corporate Farming Notes:
Provision Requires USDA Establish Regulations Defining "Unreasonable Preference or Advantage"
There were not a lot of highlights in the 2008 farm bill. But one was a provision that requires USDA to write regulations that define an “unreasonable preference or advantage” under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The Act prohibits the kind of “sweetheart deals” that packers give large, industrial livestock operations. But USDA has never effectively enforced the law. Read the rest .

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Editor's Note: This is also cross-posted on Ethicurean, and has a great discussion in the comments going. Check it out.

When we talk about local food, it means more than just proximity to a farm. We associate supporting "local food" with supporting specific values – such as family ownership, local control, small-scale, environmental stewardship, community, and ecological diversity. These values are what motivate people to buy their food directly from the farmer that grows it.

The sustainable local food system we are trying to build relies on an abundance of small, diverse, sustainable family farmers scattered all across the United States. For this kind of farm to exist, sustainable must mean more than environmental sustainability – it must also include economic viability. Farming is a dangerous and risky business, and it becomes a whole lot less attractive when a farmer knows that he or she is one fall from the hay loft away from losing their land.

Frequently we hear about the need for new and younger farmers, but there are many barriers to attracting young people to farm in a way that will foster sustainable local food systems. One of them, however, looms bigger than the rest.

Access to affordable, dependable health care.

In order to attract more of the farmers to grow food for a sustainable food system, meaningful health care reform that addresses the needs of farmers, rural communities, small business owners, and others that are forced in the current system to buy individual insurance plans.

The stark reality of health care costs for farmers, who often must purchase insurance as individuals and pay more for it as a result, is enough to make anyone waiver in their desire to start a farm. Here are some statistics from a report by the Access Project:

• While 9 in 10 farm and ranch operators have health insurance, nearly one-quarter (23%) report that insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket health care costs are causing financial difficulties for themselves and their families.
  
• Respondents who reported financial problems spent on average 42 percent of their income on insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health care costs.
  
• In addition, more than four in 10 farmers and ranchers (44%) report spending at least 10 percent of their annual income on health insurance premiums, prescriptions and other out-of-pocket medical costs.

The health care dilemma farmers face is getting some attention. NPR has had several very personal stories of farmers struggling to embrace small scale, sustainable practices while also making enough money to support themselves. One of them interviews a family with insurance, and they discussed how much health problems cost their family:

Paula Floriano, a 43-year-old dairy farmer, lives in the California Central Valley town of Atwater. She and her husband, Paul, have two teenage kids. The couple and son Nicholas work the farm seven days a week, starting at the crack of dawn to tend their 125 cows...

Right now, Floriano pays about $1,000 a month for her family's health insurance — excluding dental or vision coverage. Her coverage pays for only a few doctor visits a year, she says. There's also a $10,000 deductible for medical care before insurance kicks in. With all these costs, Floriano says sometimes other bills have to wait. Insurance costs eat into the family's limited income, she says.

It has shown up in other regional papers across the nation too. (Bismark Tribune, Columbia (MO) Missourian, Delta Farm Press). In the Great Falls (MT) Tribune, this farmer has a similar story:

Montana wheat farmer Dan Works felt so strongly about the impact that health insurance costs have on his business operation and family that he spoke out at a rural health forum held by Montana Sen. Max Baucus...

Works, who has been farming for 27 years, pays $9,000 a year for a catastrophic health insurance plan with a steep, $5,000 deductible and 50 percent co-pays after the deductible has been reached. "Those payments are a lot of money in anybody's realm," he said, "and represent more than 10 percent of my income."

During the campaigns, Barack Obama promised to reform the broken health care system, and legislators in Congress are starting to work on proposals. Coalitions like Health Care for America Now! are organizing, and they need you to show your support and push our elected officials to ignore the deep pockets of corporate insurance lobbyists and build a health care system that works for everyone.

Please get involved in the fight for health care reform. You can sign this Center for Rural Affairs petition calling for incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Daschle to make reforms that work for all of America; join, support, or volunteer for a group in your area doing health care reform work such as these members of Health Care for America Now; and of course, call your legislators and demand that they reform the health care system.

If local and sustainable food is the goal, health care reform must be included to get there. It's not only the farmer at the market you buy your eggs from that needs you. It's also the office assistant or factory worker who would love nothing better than to grow the food that feeds our movement.

With health insurance reform, the tallest barrier between new farmers and their land crumbles.

The rural and sustainable agriculture community is inundated with opinions on President-elect Obama's pick to head the USDA. Listservs are burning up, the phones in our office are ringing, and one organization even launched a new website dedicated to criticizing the announcement. Grassroots activists, political insiders and reporters all want to know -- what do you think about Tom Vilsack?

Whoa folks. It's just the Secretary of Agriculture (not to begrudge you anything, Mr. Secretary).

Let's start at the top. Obama ran on an aggressive platform of change in farm and rural policy, and any advocates looking into the crystal ball to predict the future at USDA should revisit it today (short version | long version (pdf)). From the plan:

• Strong Safety Net for Family Farmers: Fight for farm programs that provide family farmers with stability and predictability. Implement a $250,000 payment limitation so we help family farmers -- not large corporate agribusiness. Close the loopholes that allow mega farms to get around payment limits.
• Prevent Anticompetitive Behavior Against Family Farms: Pass a packer ban. When meatpackers own livestock they can manipulate prices and discriminate against independent farmers. Strengthen anti-monopoly laws and strengthen producer protections to ensure independent farmers have fair access to markets, control over their production decisions, and transparency in prices.
• Regulate CAFOs: Strictly regulate pollution from large factory livestock farms, with fines for those that violate tough standards. Support meaningful local control.
• Encourage Organic and Local Agriculture: Help organic farmers afford to certify their crops and reform crop insurance to not penalize organic farmers. Promote regional food systems.
• Encourage Young People to Become Farmers: Establish a new program to identify and train the next generation of farmers. Provide tax incentives to make it easier for new farmers to afford their first farm.
• Support Small Business Development: Provide capital for farmers to create value-added enterprises, like cooperative marketing initiatives and farmer-owned processing plants. Establish a small business and micro-enterprise initiative for rural America.

There is something in that plan for nearly everyone who reads it. Obama is at the top, and he's staked his reputation on delivering specific policy reforms. As Secretary, Tom Vilsack's most important job will be to support the President in the crucial work of implementing that vision. Here at the Center, we believe Tom Vilsack will serve Obama well in that capacity.

Sign the Grassroots Letter to Tom Vilsack

That said, we will not miss a single beat in our work to ensure that President Obama and Secretary Vilsack live up to their potential and their promises to rural America.

And that brings me to my next point.

Change also comes from the bottom, from thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands articulating a new direction and going to work to make it so.

At the Center, we won't quit fighting for one minute. We won't quit fighting for a rural America that offers genuine opportunity to all who live in rural communities. We won't quit fighting for agricultural policy that supports family farmers and ranchers and protects our environment for future generations. And we won't quit fighting to ensure that ordinary rural people have a seat at the table and a say in shaping the future of their own communities.

We hope that Obama and Vilsack will fight along side of us, but if they don't, we will charge on without them, and in opposition to them when necessary. We've done it before.

Anyone who is upset by today's appointment, and I know there are many of you, must do the same. Advocates against genetic modification (the most vociferous objectors today), redouble your efforts, check Obama's policy statements to see what he promised, and make clear and convincing arguments to further your cause.

For our part, we launched a Grassroots Letter to Secretary Vilsack and we are gathering signatures and comments on it. We will deliver the letter and comments to Secretary Vilsack in late January. Already over 700 have signed, many adding their own thoughts on what change is needed in farm and rural policy.

If you join us in this effort, you have my word, Secretary Vilsack will receive your comments.

But that is just a start.

56,000 people signed the Food Democracy Now petition launched by Iowan Dave Murphy. Together they were calling for one of six candidates to be appointed to what was until just a few years ago a rather obscure cabinet position. They didn't get one of their candidates, but I have no doubt whatsoever that they got the attention of some very important people, including Tom Vilsack.

Dave, his 56,000 troopers for change, and progressive food, farm and rural advocates across the country should pause for only a brief moment to consider what direction their strategy goes next. Then go to work, all of us together, executing a plan to influence Vilsack and hold Obama to his campaign promises.

And, hey folks, don't forget about Congress. Your Representatives and Senators are the ones that actually write policy, after all.

So, where does this leave us?

Change in our food and farm policy comes from many places. It can come from a president. It can come from a secretary. It can come from Congress. And it can come from you.

Today, we express hope that with (at least some of) these forces working together we can begin to shift the beast of a system back in our direction. It took decades of misguided policy to get us into the mess we are in today. One presidential election and one secretarial appointment are merely dots along the journey in the other direction.

We are hopeful, but we are not naive. Join us.

Update: We have an "official" statement too, with quotes and all that good stuff. It's here.

Update 2: Also, be sure to check out Steph's earlier post on how to influence other appointments at USDA. That one is here. The other positions are still open, and Steph's advice remains good. 

Sign the Grassroots Letter to Tom Vilsack

Back in early November there was a rumor that a certain former Governor from Iowa wouldn't mind being appointed Secretary of Agriculture. He published a few strategically placed opeds, the media said he was on the short list, then Tom Vilsack made his only public statement about the matter, ending speculation he would get the job.

Well, just moments ago, news broke that Tom Vilsack was back. The former governor from Iowa will be the next Secretary of Agriculture. 

In mid-November when speculation about Vilsack was hot, we published the result of an interview with him here on the Blog for Rural America. John Crabtree's post appears below in full. To my knowledge the piece is the only interview about farm and rural policy that appeared during run up to today's announcement. 

Click to Add Your Signature & Comment

Editors Note: This third guest post for Ethicurean is a continuation of my post from November. It's also posted below. Enjoy!

In the five weeks since the election and almost a month since my first post about the Secretary of Agriculture, a lot has changed. But one thing has become increasingly clear: the people that voted for Barack Obama expect change at the head of USDA.

The next person to head the Department of Agriculture needs to be someone willing to step outside the status quo.

The idea is gaining traction, with nods from Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times, Chuck Hassebrook in the Des Moines Register, and over 35,000 grassroots individuals at fooddemocracynow.org. And the call for change is growing.

The “short list” of candidates is changing as well, perhaps in response to the many voices echoing a desire for reform in food and agriculture. Keep up the pressure, folks.

Here is an update of where things stand based on a variety of media reports. Keep in mind that all of this is speculative at best.

New Candidates

Several new candidates emerged since my last post. Most frequently mentioned are Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Colorado Congressman John Salazar and Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop. Another is Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff.

But candidates drop off as fast as they come on. Sebelius withdrew herself from consideration. Salazar grabbed an appointment on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, fueling speculation that he will not be Obama’s choice. As of December 9, Bishop said the transition team had not contacted him, suggesting that he may not be in the running either.

Kristof’s New York Times piece also suggests my boss and Center for Rural Affairs Executive Director Chuck Hassebrook. Perhaps a dark horse candidate, but one with a clear record of advocating for the change Obama promises to bring to rural America.

Updates on Other Candidates

Of the candidates initially considered to be at the top of the list, several have dropped off. Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has not been contacted by the transition team and assumed that he was not being considered. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said that he does not want the job. Former Texas Congressman Charles Stemholm said publicly that he does not expect to be picked.

Though it doesn’t mean they are out of the running, there has been very little media attention outside of the blogosphere about National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, and National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd.

Keep the pressure on

All the rumors and speculation aside, the fact that the announcement hasn't been made means that there is still time for our voices to be heard. If you haven't done so yet, consider the positions mentioned in my last post, ask people you think would qualify to submit applications and send your suggestions to your Democratic Senators and to change.gov.

Showing the widespread support for changes in the food system now can only help to get better candidates for all USDA appointments.

If you receive our newsletter, you may have already seen it in your mail or email. If you don't, sign up today.

This month's newsletter includes articles on rural internet, health care, agriculture, community development and more. Read the entire newsletter online here, or some highlights below.

Strained Economy Has People Seeking Basic Health Care Services Less Often
New data are showing that an economic sector once thought secure from recessionary pressures is beginning to feel the pinch of the nation’s economic woes. Data from market research firm IMS Health show that people are beginning to cut back on basic health care needs as a result of economic pressures. Read the rest.

Rural Broadband Internet: FCC Authorizes Use of "White Space" for Internet Development
You are forgiven if you missed an important vote for rural America on November 4th. Another vote overshadowed it. In addition to an historic presidential vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to authorize the use of unlicensed “white space” for broadband internet development. Read the rest.

Economic Woes Best Addressed by Efforts Dealing with the Struggles of Modest Income and Estate Holdings
The gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is growing and is greater than in all but two of the world’s 30 richest market-based democracies (Mexico and Turkey), according to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Read the rest.

Farm Bill Programs for You and Your Community:
2008 Farm Bill Microentrepreneur Assistance Program
Have you ever dreamed about being your own boss? If you have, you know it takes more than just a creative idea to build a thriving small business. Entrepreneurs need accounting and marketing skills, a business plan, access to capital and a knack for customer relations. However, not everyone has access to the education needed to develop these skills. Read the rest.

Across the Nation
Vermont: The Vermont state Agency of Agriculture organized a “Matchmaker” event to link farmers and buyers. Set up like a speed dating event, farmers met with buyers from supermarket chains, restaurants and food cooperatives for 10 minutes in hopes of fostering new partnerships. Read the rest including items from Iowa, South Carolina and nationwide.

The whole newsletter is here. To receive your own copy by mail or email each month sign up here, or if you are an RSS kind of person, get an RSS feed of it here. No matter how it's delivered, it's always free.

USDA Official Takes Courageous Stand Against Interstate Countercyclical Potato Pricing

I will not and I can not stand by while a referendum is passed that fails to provide the mid to low output potato producers with sufficient structural support to continue the .35% total annual total growth we've recorded since 1999. - Bill Daley, USDA

We're all headed out of here for the holiday weekend. Before I go though, I'll leave you with a collection of pieces written by or featuring Center staff on the topic of what opportunities are offered by the new President and new Congress on issues that matter to rural America.

Obama Needs Ag Secretary Committed to New Vision
By Chuck Hassebrook | Des Moines Register
Barack Obama launched his campaign in Iowa with a promise to change farm and rural policy to create genuine opportunity for rural people and a better future for their communities. It was the best rural platform and best vision for changing farm and rural policy that I have seen in 30 years as a rural advocate. Now President-elect Obama must appoint a secretary of agriculture who embraces that change, or it will fall victim to the politics of Washington. Read the full guest opinion here.

How Will An Urban President Handle Farm Policy?
By Howard Berkes | National Public Radio
President-elect Barack Obama's past as an urban community organizer in Chicago makes some wonder how he could relate to farmers, ranchers and other rural people. "The most important thing the president could do is simply to stop subsidizing megafarms that drive smaller operations out of business," says Chuck Hassebrook, executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs, a Nebraska-based advocacy group focused on small and family farmers. Listen to or read the full story from Sunday's Weekend Edition.

Wait An Ag Sec: Getting Real About Who Will Head the USDA
By Steph Larsen | The Ethicurean
The excitement of the recent election has worn off. In its place, a new horse race has emerged. The media is now obsessed with who President-elect Obama will pick to help lead his government of change. We in the sustainable food, rural and agriculture community are particularly susceptible to this when it comes to suggesting nominees for Secretary of Agriculture. In our enthusiasm, however, there is a tendency of some to lose their heads and forget that, new era or not, this is still politics and the rules still apply. Read an analysis of the process and list of the leading candidates.

Building the New Rural West
By Brian Depew | New West
As newly elected legislators prepare to join returning Westerners in the halls of Congress, they have an opportunity to help build a new economy in the rural West. By supporting programs that unlock the entrepreneurial spirit of rural America, Western legislators can deliver on their promise to create opportunity for rural communities in their states. Read how a new congress can support rural small businesses.

Prescription for Health Care
By Elisha Greeley Smith | The Chadron Record
One of the most important things Congress will deal with in 2009 is health care reform. The 60 million people in rural America have much to gain, and much to lose, in any debate over reform of the health care system. Rural America presents a unique set of challenges for health care reform. Rural people have less access to health networks and health care providers, greater rates of disability and chronic diseases and higher use rates of all public health care programs. Read the full piece about health care reform.

A Different View of Vilsack
By John Crabtree | Blog for Rural America
I have known Governor Vilsack for over a decade. Considering all the ongoing speculation and critique of the former Governor, I thought I should weigh in. There are a lot of questions that one might ask a potential Secretary of Agriculture. I picked three. Read the report on Governor Vlisack's answers to questions about farm policy reform, biotechnology and livestock market reform.

And with that, happy Thanksgiving!

Editors Note: This second guest post for Ethicurean is a follow up to my post there last week. It's also posted below. Enjoy!

In my last post for the Ethicurean, I discussed likely candidates for Secretary of Agriculture in the Obama Administration and encouraged you to voice your support or dislike of the names being floated to Obama’s transition team. You can have an impact: in large numbers, voices of the people are very powerful. Please continue to make your opinions known on the candidates for Secretary of Agriculture under consideration.

There are hundreds of other positions that are vital to the Department of Agriculture because they run its day-to-day operations and the programs that can advance or deter a sustainable food system. I describe some of these posts below. You can find the full list of USDA positions in this PDF; while this one explains the abbreviations in the list and tells who can be appointed to each post. There are certain positions, for example, that must be filled by USDA staff who have made it through a competitive hiring process.

While the Secretary of Agriculture sets the tone of the entire Department, it is the programs within USDA that can go far to push forward or inhibit sustainability. These programs are run by Administrators, Chiefs, Regional Directors and Deputy Under Secretaries, and mostly answer to Under Secretaries. We need (and can get) awesome people in these positions. Many bloggers and email list-serv members have been suggesting sustainable agriculture leaders as possible Secretaries of Agriculture (see this wiki list or Jill Richardson’s post on La Vida Locavore), and those lists might be a good place to find candidates for one of the positions I outline below, as they have a better chance of being appointed to non-Secretary posts.

If you know people who could be good allies at USDA, direct them to Change.gov to request an application. Then call your Democratic senators and suggests these people for positions you think they are qualified. Traditionally it is the senators of the President-Elect’s party who help with these choices, partly as a perk to being a member of the party that won and partly because the Senate confirms presidential appointees. If both your senators are Republicans, send suggestions to the most senior House member from your state. (Find your representatives here.) You can suggest more than one name for a slot, and you don’t need to have a name in mind for every position.

This is our best chance to make a difference at USDA.

(continued below the fold)

I should at least give a nod to the big news (actually 24 hours old now). Despite the Washington Post deeming him a "near shoo-in," former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack appears to be off the list for Secretary of Agriculture. 

From Phil Brasher at the Des Moines Register: 

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack on Sunday said that he won't be the next agriculture secretary, ending speculation that an Iowan would snag the post important to a large swath of the state's economy.

In an e-mail, Vilsack said he had never been contacted by aides to President-elect Barack Obama about that position or any other.

"I would have to speculate that I was in fact in the running and further speculate as to why I was no longer. I do not think it prudent or appropriate to speculate about either," Vilsack said.

Who does that leave? It's hard to say, but you can check out some speculation and commentary from Tom Philpott here as well as Steph's post at Ethicurean from last week (just, ya know, ignore the part about Vilsack in that post). 

John Crabtree wrote in a post last week about the prospect of the former Iowa Governor at the helm of USDA. 

Editor's Note: Continuing our series on critical rural infrastructure is Marcel LaFlamme, a rural librarian in Independence, Kansas and a member of the Center for Rural Affairs Advisory Board.

By Marcel LaFlamme

What I remember about the summer before my senior year of high school are the hours I spent at the Monson Free Library. I grew up in small-town western Massachusetts, and when, at sixteen, I started to wonder whether maybe, possibly, I might be gay, I wasn’t sure who to talk to or where to turn. I remember spending part of that summer reading Chastity Bono’s memoirs, concealing the cover of the book behind an issue of Time or Newsweek so that no one else could see what I was reading.

As a young gay man in rural America, my local library was a lifeline. It connected me to a world that lay beyond the borders of my hometown, and it reassured me that, somewhere out there, there were other people like me. Today, of course, the Internet can connect rural kids to the outside world as never before, but I became a librarian because I continue to believe that public libraries are a critical part of the infrastructure needed to sustain healthy rural communities.

In 2007, the Urban Libraries Council released a report that described a shift in the role of public libraries “from passive, recreational reading and research institutions to active economic development agents.” The report, which focused on large metropolitan library systems, zeroed in on four distinctive ways that libraries contribute to economic development: early literacy programs, workforce development, small business support, and anchoring physical development.

There isn’t as much research on the economic impact of rural public libraries, although a 2008 report by the Illinois Institute of Rural Affairs does document a number of strategies that smaller library systems have used to support local development efforts and level the playing field for small businesses.

Now, I wish I could tell you that all rural libraries are wonderful, but it isn’t true. Too many of them are locked in a holding pattern of checking out the same dog-eared romance novels year after year, while the young, up-and-coming librarians who would be in a position to challenge the status quo at these libraries are all too often wooed away by resource-rich urban and suburban libraries.

Meanwhile, there is still a very real debate in the library public policy world about whether each and every small community needs to have an independently operated library system of its own. States like Ohio and Indiana have said no, encouraging rural communities to form county-level library systems with multiple branches. Yet a 2006 study in western Massachusetts concluded that such a proposal would be unlikely to gain public support, and that there were other ways of improving library service to rural communities without mandating wider units of service.

As for me, I’m on the fence. If we want our public libraries to develop literacy programs and small business information centers and workshops for technology training, then it may make sense to centralize some of these initiatives at the county level. After all, it’s often all that a solo librarian in a small community can do to keep the doors open.

Yet as soon as I start thinking about some gleaming new regional library facility, humming with the self-importance of the technocratic mind, there’s another image that flashes into my brain. It’s the photograph that appears up at the top of this post, which was taken at the Wales (Mass.) Public Library in the spring of 2007. The sign in the foreground of the image reads “Homework help: just ask,” and it points directly into the office of Library Director Nancy Baer. Is it efficient, from an organizational perspective, to have the director of the library helping a third-grader with his science homework? Probably not.

But it does speak volumes about the value that this community places on its kids, and about the sense of responsibility that I know Nancy feels toward the rural community that she serves. Those, I think, are some of the values that make a small town a good place to be. Those are values that can’t be outsourced.

The President's Choice

President-elect Obama has not indicated his choice for Secretary of Agriculture. Therefore, predictions on the outcome of this process are, at best, speculative. We have no special insight into the President-elect's selection process. However, multiple media reports have established an unofficial "short list," and my colleague Steph Larsen wrote an excellent post reviewing the potential field of candidates (also posted at Ethicurean).

The Washington Post and other media outlets have reported that Governor Tom Vilsack is the "near shoo-in" in this process.

I have known Governor Vilsack for over a decade. Considering all the ongoing speculation and critique of the former Governor, I thought I should weigh in. There are a lot of questions that one might ask a potential Secretary of Agriculture. I picked three.

Reforming Farm Programs

Historically, Governor Vilsack has shown consistent support for reforming farm programs; especially making farm program payment limits more effective, reducing subsidies to the nation's largest farms and investing the savings in conservation, rural development, nutrition, etc.

A 2006 Washington Post article wrote of the Governor:

There may be no better sign of the changing debate over the nation's farm subsidies: A Midwestern governor running for president calls for cuts in a system that has steered hundreds of millions of dollars a year to his state...

Politicians such as Vilsack have joined a host of interest groups from across the political spectrum that are pressing for changes in government assistance to agriculture. They want the money moved from large farmers to conservation, nutrition, rural development and energy research. Vilsack, for example, favors programs that improve environmental practices on farms...

Governor Vilsack has reiterated these positions since that time, both publicly and, quite recently, to me. Last week I had a conversation with Governor Vilsack about these issues. I asked him what areas need investment the most, to which he responded that such a question is like asking which of his two sons he loves the best. "There will be an opportunity next year with the re-authorization of child nutrition programs to address that need first. The Conservation Stewardship Program must be more adequately funded than in the past to preserve our most precious resources - our soil and water. And rural entrepreneurial development, next generation biofuels, expanded wind/solar/geo-thermal uses for land, specialty crops, local foods efforts and rural, high-speed broadband internet access need investment," Vilsack added.

Biotechnology

Governor Vilsack's most ardent detractors have focused on his promotion of biotechnology as an economic opportunity for Iowa and Iowa farmers. Organic farmers and organic consumer advocates have great trepidation regarding Vilsack's full-throated support for biotechnology, fearing the destruction of the integrity of identity-preserved and organic production, processing, transportation and marketing systems from contamination by genetically modified materials. They have legitimate concerns.

Because those concern are, arguably, the most significant criticism of Governor Vilsack as a potential Secretary of Agriculture and because the conflict between biotechnology and organic farming is so fundamental and structural in nature, I felt there was no other way of finding out more than to ask him. So, last week, I did.

He offered his priorities for protecting organic farmers and organic production systems: labeling to provide consumers a stronger voice in the marketplace and create opportunities for farmers to develop high-valued markets for their products, coupled with separation distances and other similar production, transportation and processing requirements that would protect organic crops from contamination, and establishment of clear liability from the biotechnology company, processor or handler responsible for the contamination when it occurs.

Additionally, Governor Vilsack talked about the importance of preserving and strengthening the integrity of the approval process for new biotechnologies; that, from USDA's perspective, new technologies should have the burden of proof that they will not harm markets for conventional, identity-preserved and organic products; and they should be of benefit to farmers, not just biotechnology companies.

Precautionary approval of new biotechnologies is crucial. The introduction of pharmaceutical corn in Iowa, for example, could threaten conventional markets for export and domestic human consumption as well as organic farmers. I have disagreed with Governor Vilsack over biotechnology issues several times. But I am encouraged by the responses above and by his open-minded approach and willingness to learn from past experience and mistakes alike.

Livestock Market Reforms

I still have the pen that Governor Vilsack gave me that he used to sign the livestock market reform and price reporting legislation that I worked on in the Iowa Legislature in 1999. I know from the experience of working on that legislation and during subsequent debates over livestock market reforms that Governor Vilsack has consistently supported crucial livestock market reforms.

I asked Governor Vilsack how USDA should address the challenge of more effective enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act, considering the abysmal record of the Packers and Stockyards Administration over the last decade. He pointed out that the 2008 farm bill contains, for the first time ever, a livestock competition title and that the first priority for USDA's enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act will be proper implementation and aggressive enforcement of the provisions in that title. And, he added, that prioritization includes writing effective rules for enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards prohibition of "unreasonable preferences" in order to prevent price discrimination by packers against family farm livestock producers.

He also told me, "I agree with President-elect Obama's support for the provision in the farm bill that would have prohibited packers from owning livestock - support that he expressed both during the farm bill debate and his campaign. And I agree with Senator Harkin and Senator Grassley who, along with a number of other Senators from farm and ranch states, have been ardent supporters of ending this kind of direct vertical integration by prohibiting packer ownership of livestock."

Reforming livestock markets is another one of those crucial, fundamental, structural issues that is, in my opinion, a litmus test for the next Secretary of Agriculture. Governor Vilsack's track record in this area is good, if somewhat limited. His public statements as Governor and as a candidate for President have been supportive of livestock market reforms, but have never figured prominently in either his campaigns or his gubernatorial priorities. Although, to be honest, that does not separate him from most other elected officials or public figures at this level.

Vertical integration decreases market access for family farmers, decreases prices paid to independent producers, and fuels the construction of more and more CAFOs and the demise of more and more family farms. The Senate has twice passed the legislation banning packer ownership of livestock - in two farm bills - but both times it was removed in conference.

During the last 12 years, three Secretaries of Agriculture have said virtually nothing and never lifted a finger to do anything about this issue (despite considerable authority under existing laws and myriad opportunities in both farm bill debates). Support from the Secretary of Agriculture and the White House could make all the difference in finally securing this necessary reform.

At the end of the day...

It is difficult, if not impossible, to predict when, where and from whom leadership will emerge. The book on Tom Vilsack is not complete, and perhaps that is a good thing. He does not get a perfect score on my litmus tests. But, when I disagree with him in the future I will continue to engage him, just as I always have, whether he is a private citizen or the Secretary of Agriculture. And he will engage me, just as he always has.

I hope that, at the end of the day, our next Secretary of Agriculture is the kind of leader that can help create a future for rural America with thriving family farms and ranches and vibrant rural communities. I believe Governor Vilsack can provide that leadership. Perhaps he just might get the chance.

Head on over to The Ethicurean to read my guest post about the race for Secretary of Agriculture. Here's an excerpt:

The excitement of the recent election has worn off. In its place, a new horse race has emerged. The media is now obsessed with who President-Elect Obama will pick to help lead his government of change. We in the sustainable food, rural and agriculture community are particularly susceptible to this when it comes to suggesting nominees for Secretary of Agriculture.

In our enthusiasm, however, there is a tendency of some to lose their heads and forget that, new era or not, this is still politics and the rules still apply. Realism is still a prerequisite.

As soon as Obama won, I witnessed a flurry of emails and blog posts suggesting Michael Pollan, Fred Kirschenmann, Denise O’Brien, Willie Nelson (albeit that was a joke), and a host of other stalwarts of sustainable agriculture.

I would cheer if (most) any of these people were actually being considered, but this is not the reality of the situation. There are times to dream, and dream big, but the bigger you dream, the more you need to strategize and organize, and the further into the future you must plan.

Understanding the process

The process of becoming Secretary of Agriculture begins long before a presidential election. Candidates typically have myriad political connections and make themselves useful in the campaign of the eventual winner. By election time, the list of possibilities is already well-established.

See who I think is on the well-established list over at The Ethicurean. 

You are forgiven if you missed an important vote for rural America on November 4th. Another vote overshadowed it a bit.

In addition to an historic presidential vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to authorize the use of unlicensed "white space" for broadband internet development on November 4th. The newly available radio spectrum offers the promise of low-cost, high-speed wireless internet access with the power to stretch over significantly greater distances than previous technologies.

Traditional, short-range Wi-Fi internet signals also use unlicensed spectrum, but reach only a fraction of the distance that studies show can be achieved by transmission on the newly available spectrum.

The unlicensed spectrum will become available after the switch to digital television in early 2009. Because digital television signals take up less spectrum, space between channels previously left vacant will become available for use. The spectrum will serve as a powerful new tool in the effort to bring broadband internet to all of rural America.

Access to high-speed internet in the 21st century is a public necessity similar to access to electricity in the 20th century. High-speed internet is important to new and existing businesses, access to information and even governance, thus it is crucial that we close the broadband access gap in rural America.

Currently, the U.S. ranks 16th worldwide for the percent of citizens with high-speed internet access, and we pay more when we do have access. In rural areas, both access and affordability are significantly worse and too many people are either forced to dial up to get online affordably, or suffer from the high price and unreliability of a satellite connection.

The Center for Rural Affairs was one of 10 rural advocacy organizations that signed a letter (pdf) to the FCC urging them to make unlicensed white space available for broadband development. We hope that the FCC decision will lead to the development of internet technologies that utilize the new spectrum to make faster and less expensive internet connections available to more rural people.

If you receive our newsletter, you saw it in your mail or email late last week. If you don't, sign up today (because, obviously, you can't rely on me posting a blog post on the day the newsletter actually goes out).

This month's newsletter includes articles on health care, rural economic recovery, agriculture, community development and more. Read the entire newsletter online here, or read some highlights below.

35 Years: Putting Rural in the National Media Spotlight
Since the Center for Rural Affairs first rose to attention in The New York Times in 1980, hardly a single year has passed without our work appearing in the paper, including two full-length opeds, one by founder Marty Strange and one by current director Chuck Hassebrook. Read the rest.

CFRA Organizing for Health Care Reform
$12,100 per year. This is how much researchers estimate the average family of four spends on health care premiums. Health care costs are rising at twice the level of inflation in 2007, and 45 million of us are uninsured. This was a significant issue in the 2008 election cycle, and we expect legislators to attempt a major overhaul in 2009. Read the rest.

Corporate Farming Note: Partial Victory on the Mega JBS Merger
The U.S. Justice Department and 13 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit with the U.S District Court in Chicago on October 20, 2008, seeking to stop the Brazilian meatpacker JBS's proposed acquisition of National Beef Packing. Read the rest.

Federal Incentives Give Boost for Renewable Residential Energy Systems
Utility-size turbines have enjoyed federal incentives for a decade or more, while small wind systems have been largely ignored since 1985. A new federal-level investment tax credit will help consumers purchase small wind turbines for home, farm or business use. Read the rest.

Across the Nation
Alabama: Dr. Regina Benjamin, who has twice rebuilt the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic, has been awarded one of the 25 "Genius Grants" from the MacArthur Foundation. Dr. Benjamin's clinic serves rural patients regardless of their ability to pay. Read the rest including items from Kansas, Vermont and nationwide.

The whole newsletter is here. To receive your own copy by mail or email each month sign up here, or if you are an RSS kind of person, get an RSS feed of it here. No matter how it's delivered, it's always free.