Under the leadership of President Barack Obama and Secretary
Tom Vilsack, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken great
strides in the first 100 days of the Administration through actions and
examples to bring about needed change in food and agriculture. From the first
day of the Obama Administration, USDA set a new course and applied resources to
meet key national priorities. In a departure from the past, USDA is ensuring
that the needs of consumers are front and center in the focus of the
Department. USDA utilized innovative policies and taken creative steps to
ensure healthier lives for America's children and foster the nation's future
workforce. These actions will chart the path to combat childhood hunger and
reduce childhood obesity. For the first time, spurring economic
development through biofuels and focusing on mitigating climate
change have become key priorities of the Department. USDA has also taken
groundbreaking actions on progressive conservation improvement and has
begun to set a new direction for forest policy.
To better respond to the nation's economic troubles,
USDA took swift action to implement the Farm Bill and the American
Reinvestment and Recovery Act. These actions have resulted in bold new
projects and initiatives that will spur rural economic activity and contribute
to the nation's overall financial health. The Department has also broken
political doctrine of past Administrations and taken action to establish a
stronger and more appropriate safety net for American Agriculture. And, a new
tone has been established for civil rights at USDA. At the close of the
Administration's first 100 days, USDA has the most diverse leadership cadre
among all Executive Branch Departments and the process of resolving civil
rights claims at USDA has been shifted back into gear by the new
Administration. At the close of the first 100 Days, USDA is better positioned to
assist the public on a much broader scale than ever before.
USDA has taken bold and decisive action to implement
provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in aid to the nation's
ailing economy. These actions encompass a broad range of tools including
funding to ensure that farmers continue to contribute to local economies, steps
to build and preserve critical infrastructure, as well as new resource
conservation measures. Under Secretary Vilsack's leadership, the Department is
also ensuring transparency of funding, full accountability for projects and
streamlined delivery of services.
ARRA- Providing a Safety
Net
By the beginning of April, 2009, USDA
successfully distributed all of the funding provided for direct farm operating
loans in the Recovery Act. As part of providing a better Farm Safety Net, USDA
has obligated loans totaling $168.8 million to 2,521 producers in 47
States, Puerto Rico, and the Western Pacific Territories. Nearly half of the
loans are going to beginning producers, and nearly 20 percent are going to
socially disadvantaged producers, some of whom are also beginning
producers. On March 17th, USDA also announced the availability of a
new crop disaster assistance buy-in for farmers.
ARRA- Assisting
Communities
USDA has obligated a loan level of $743.3 Million
for Single Family Housing ARRA funds, totaling 6,492 loans. These will be used
to help low-income individuals or households purchase homes in rural areas.
These funds are being used to build, repair, and renovate homes, and purchase
and prepare new home sites.
Secretary Vilsack and Vice President Biden travelled
to Pikeville, North Carolina on April 1, 2009 to announce the first wave of the
$10 billion in guaranteed housing loan funding provided in the Recovery Act.
The Pikeville fire station, where the announcement was made is receiving ARRA
funding to build a larger fire station that will accommodate trucks to better
serve the community and keep it safe from fires. The community will benefit
from direct operating loans to farmers and ranchers, single family housing
loans to rural residents and infrastructure support.
As a result of the
Administration's initiative in the Recovery Act, Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) increased the maximum benefit by 13.6 percent.
As a result, low-income and unemployed households will be better able to put
nutritious food on their tables, spending will increase in grocery stores and
local communities, and the food and agriculture supply economy will be
positively impacted. Under this Obama Administration initiative, an eligible
household of four will receive an increase of $80 in monthly benefits for a
total of $668 dollars per month.
The
Obama Administration's work on the Recovery Act will result in historic
investments in rural telecommunications and connectivity. Just as past federal
initiatives brought rural communities into economic prosperity through
investments in highways and physical infrastructure, the ARRA will prepare
rural communities for the future with improved telecommunications. $2.5
billion has been made available to USDA for expanding rural broadband into
communities that otherwise might not have access. USDA has begun
implementation in concert with the U.S. Department of Commerce and is
determining the best targeted utilization of the funding.
ARRA- Improving the
Environment
In the area of the environment and natural resource
conservation, significant strides have been made. An additional $33 million
has been made available for wildland fire protection. USDA anticipates
creating 25,000 new jobs over the next two years on projects relating to land
stewardship and watershed restoration, green infrastructure repair and in the
production of energy from wood. Many of the most affected communities of the
economic downturn are located near national forests. Rural jobs are being
created on millions of acres in need of restoration work so that money can flow
into local communities.
For example, $1.5 million of Recovery Act funding
will create jobs across Northern California. The project work includes fuel
reduction work near communities, Forest Service recreation facilities, and
access routes and will also maintain facilities to reduce deferred maintenance
while making crews available for fires suppression when needed. In Colorado, $5 million of Recovery Act funding has been targeted to remove dead trees along
150 miles of roadsides affected by the large-scale mountain pine beetle
infestation. In addition, fire prevention projects to remove hazardous fuels
around private property and communities-at-risk and critical municipal
watersheds serving Denver and the Front Range. In Florida, a state-wide
hazardous fuels reduction program and a public safety and educational campaign
are underway because of Recovery Act funding. Not only will this reduce threats
to communities at risk from wildfire, but it also provides protection to the
large number of vacant and foreclosed property around the state. Direct
stimulus through contracts, services, supplies and salaries will help the
hard-hit economy throughout the state. The USDA Forest Service has also made
available $100 million for forest health and the reduction of hazardous forest
fuels.$400 million has been made available for rural water and
wastewater grants.
The
ARRA provides to USDA $145 million for floodplain easements. This
funding will restore frequently flooded land to its natural state; create jobs
in rural communities nationwide when landowners establish floodplain easements;
and will restore and protect an estimated 60,000 acres of flood-prone lands
nationwide. USDA has also provided $45 million for the rehabilitation of
watersheds, many of which are nearing the end of their 50-year design life.
Recovery funds will be used to upgrade the structure to current safety
standards, thereby protecting life, property and infrastructure downstream for
more than 90 years and resulting in 910 jobs. USDA has also provided $85
million for 53 new flood prevention project efforts in 21 states and
territories.
USDA has set a clear course for reform in the first
100-Days of the Administration. Secretary Vilsack has established and
articulated the need for transparency and strong accountability within the
Administration. One of the first actions at the US Department of Agriculture was
to extend the comment period on rulemaking associated with payment limits
and program eligibility for farm programs. The extension was part of a
comprehensive effort to fully review rulemaking that had been hastily completed
at the close of the previous Administration. The extension allowed 60 days of
additional review and comment by the public and additional transparency of the
rulemaking process. This step was undertaken by USDA without adversely
affecting the farm payment program for 2009. The Department also extended the
comment period on a myriad of additional pre-existing rules, including a forest
products rule, and several conservation programs in order to provide more
opportunity for public input.
Another
historic reform that USDA has taken in the first 100 Days is to ensure collaboration
between the Department of Treasury and USDA to identify potential fraud and
improper payments in farm programs. Beginning with the 2009 crop year and
in successive years, all farm program payment recipients will be required to
sign a form which grants the Treasury Department the authority to provide
income information to USDA for verification purposes. The reform proposal
institutes better accountability in programs and would render those out of
compliance ineligible for USDA payments. In terms of savings, according to the
U.S. Government Accountability Office, between 2003 and 2006, USDA made more
than $49 million in payments to ineligible famers. The Administration also proposed
historic and wide sweeping reform to the nation's program of crop subsidies and
farm programs as part of the FY 2010 Budget request and. In total, the reforms
contained in the Obama Administration budget would result in $10.8 billion in
savings over a ten-year period. The Department has pushed for overall reform
of the federal crop insurance program.
USDA has undertaken several reform based steps amounting
to approximately $1.6 million dollars in savings through reduced
unnecessary travel, reduced postage by utilizing electronic communications, and
reorganization of existing processes. For example, USDA eliminated the
federal funds supporting first-point testing of cattle for brucellosis in
low-risk states (based on evaluations and surveillance in those states) saving
$1.5 million, which will be immediately available for activities in the
brucellosis program.
Following a review of qualified data center hosting
services, USDA has also selected the National Finance Center, run by the Office
of the Chief Financial Officer, to provide data center hosting services for
USDA's new financial system, the Financial Management Modernization Initiative,
because it can provide the services most cost-effectively. Under this
contract, NFC will be providing full hosting services to include hardware,
system software, engineering services, system administration, security,
operations and maintenance and disaster recovery. This will cost the
Department $17.5 million less over the next three years than contracting out
for those services.
As illustration of the Administration's
comprehensive approach to simultaneously addressing both the economy and health
and nutrition concerns, USDA announced in March the transfer of
approximately 200 million pounds of nonfat dry milk to USDA's Food and
Nutrition Service for use in domestic feeding programs. The goal of this
effort is to help support both low-income families struggling to put nutritious
food on their tables and dairy farmers who have been challenged by high feed
costs and low dairy prices.
USDA has also instituted a new planting
flexibility pilot for farmers. The pilot will permit producers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to plant such vegetables
as cucumbers, green peas, lima beans, pumpkins, snap beans, sweet corn, or
tomatoes for processing on base acres under the Direct and Counter-Cyclical
Program (DCP). The initiative will result in additional supplies of healthy
fruits and vegetables.
On April 7, 2009, USDA announced that an additional51,700 tons of agricultural commodities, valued
at nearly $80 million, will be provided to children in low-income, food-deficit
countries under USDA's McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child
Nutrition Program for fiscal year 2009. This assistance is in addition to
$95.5 million allocated for fiscal 2009 for the McGovern-Dole Program that was
announced in December 2008. The program helps support education, child
development, and food security in low-income, food-deficit countries that are
committed to universal education. It provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products, as well as financial and technical assistance for school
feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects. To date, the McGovern-Dole
program has provided meals to more than 22 million children in 41 countries and
boosted school attendance by an estimated 14 percent overall, and by 17 percent
for girls.
Also, in a clear departure from the past, on January
26, 2009, Secretary Vilsack announced the reversal of the previous
Administration's proposal to cut $3.2 million for the Specialty Crop Block Grant
Program. This program is a successful and popular initiative that supports
the increased production and consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables.
Another illustration of the Department of Agriculture's
innovative approach to meeting key strategic goals during the first 100 days is
the Secretary's creative partnerships regarding health and nutrition for
children. Through creative collaboration with Sesame Workshop, Secretary
Vilsack partnered with Cookie Monster and other characters to produce two
public service announcements (PSA) promoting healthier diets and better
food choices. The advertisements are being aired nationwide.
On March 10, at the National Women Infants and
Children (WIC) Association 19th Annual Leadership Conference, Sesame
Workshop and National WIC Association held a joint press conference announcing
the overall Healthy Habits educational campaign which was created to support
the nutritional and health efforts that WIC clinics provide to WIC mothers and
children. WIC delivered child and family-friendly messages from the Sesame
Street Muppets to aid in implementing the new WIC Food package program.
USDA also launched a new campaign phase with the Ad
Council designed to inspire parents to adopt healthier lifestyles for their
families. The campaign features characters from Disney's beloved Pinocchio and encourages
parents to visit USDA MyPyramid.gov to find the right balance for a healthy
lifestyle for their children. The interviews conducted the day of the
launch reached an audience of over 37 million.
Civil Rights
Under
new management, USDA has begun to turn around decades of problems associated
with Civil Rights in both employment practices and service to customers.
Immediately upon the beginning of the Administration, Secretary Vilsack
provided strong and thorough leadership to the Department by issuing clear
policy on Civil Rights and requiring accountability and performance among all
Department leaders and employees. Under the new Administration, contractors
and additional expertise has been brought to bear to identify, analyze and
resolve existing Civil Rights cases at USDA. At the close of the
Administration's first 100 days, USDA now has the most diverse leadership cadre
among all Executive Branch Departments and the process of resolving civil
rights claims at USDA has resumed progress - a clear departure from the recent
track record of the Department.
We
recognize that in the past, very serious concerns were raised about the
discriminatory nature by which USDA delivered programs. As part of an
aggressive and comprehensive plan to address civil rights abuses in the future,
USDA will seek an outside, independent review of the delivery of USDA's
financial assistance programs by the USDA "service center agencies" (FSA,
RD, and NRCS) at the state office and county office level. This review will
develop an assessment of existing policies, practices, resources and mechanisms
within the Department. Based on this assessment, we will seek and implement
recommendations for the top leadership of USDA to assure USDA's field structure
administers these programs in a fair, equitable, accountable and
non-discriminatory manner.
Emboldened approaches to the Environment, Climate
Change and Energy Independence
Within the Administration's
first 100 days, USDA has set a new tone and established a new commitment toward
addressing climate change and energy independence. In March, USDA announced
that for the first time ever, USDA has made grant funding available through
the Rural Energy for America Program to help agricultural producers and rural
small businesses obtain energy audits to identify ways to improve energy
efficiency. The audits are intended to help rural small businesses and
agricultural producers determine where to make changes in their operations to
enable them to reduce energy consumption. Audits are required for energy
efficiency projects funded through REAP that exceed $50,000.
Working in collaboration with the Department of
Energy, Secretary Vilsack has made $25 million available for research and
development of technologies and processes to produce biofuels, bioenergy, and
high-value biobased products. The projects will strengthen the economy and
address climate change by broadening the nation's energy sources as well as
improving the efficiency of renewable fuels. The projects will place special
emphasis on
·Feedstocks development;
·Biofuels and biobased products
development; and,
·Biofuels development analysis.
The
Obama Administration's support for the conservation of open space, sustainable
landscapes, and the development of green jobs has been exemplified in the first
100 days through the establishment of a new People's Garden initiative at
USDA. On February 12, 2009, Secretary Vilsack initiated the removal of
more than 1,200 square feet of pavement at USDA (with a jackhammer) to make way
for a new People's Garden at headquarters and to initiate a goal of community
gardens at USDA facilities around the nation and globally.
The
People's Garden will be organic, and will grow vegetables, herbs, and fruit
utilizing compost from the USDA cafeteria and other facilities.
Food
will be donated to local food banks, and the garden and landscaping will be
maintained through a partnership between USDA, community volunteers, and
contractor Melwood, resulting in green job skills for people with disabilities.
The landscaped area will include a "bioswale" and rain garden to collect
stormwater runoff from the adjacent Farmers market parking lot and provide
benefits to the Chesapeake Bay. The raised organic planting beds and walkways
will be constructed from salvaged urban Black Locust timber collected within
the District of Columbia, and pollinator habitat is being integrated into the
garden site. Education markers and plaques will be included to demonstrate how
conservation practices can improve natural resources
In
total, The People's Garden sustainable landscape project features the complete
updating of the landscape and structure improvements at the USDA headquarters
building on the Mall setting a new direction for USDA in the future. As part
of the initiative, stormwater will be collected and reused, invasive landscape
species will be replaced with natives. The USDA Farmer's market will also be
expanded with healthy and locally produced food displays.
Food Safety
Within the Administration's first 100 days, USDA announced
a final rule to amend the federal meat inspection regulations to require a complete
ban on the slaughter of cattle that become non-ambulatory disabled after
passing initial inspection by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
inspection program personnel. The final rule requires that all cattle
that are non-ambulatory ("downer") cattle at any time prior to
slaughter at an official establishment, including those that become
non-ambulatory disabled after passing ante-mortem inspection, be condemned and
properly disposed of according to FSIS regulations. Additionally, the final
rule requires that establishments notify inspection program personnel when
cattle become non-ambulatory disabled after passing the ante-mortem, or
pre-slaughter, inspection. The rule will enhance consumer confidence in the
food supply and improve the humane handling of cattle.
Country of Origin Labeling
USDA implemented the Final Rule on Country of
Origin Labeling on March 16, 2009. The rule establishes mandatory country
of origin labeling for beef, pork, lamb, goat, chicken, fish and shellfish,
fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, and certain nuts. The rule will
provide consumers with access to additional information. In addition, on
February 19, 2009, Secretary Vilsack sent an open letter indicating that the
final rule would go into effect, that USDA would be closely monitoring
compliance with the rule, and encouraging voluntary practices that could provide
additional information to consumers.
Afghanistan
The Obama Administration has highlighted the
important role of agriculture in securing social and economic stability in Afghanistan. USDA plans to expand its role in Afghanistan by helping build the capacity
of the Afghan Government at the national, provincial, and local levels to
deliver services to the Afghan people, particularly in rural areas where
most of the population lives and where the Taliban are most active. USDA's
efforts will include providing ministerial advisors with expertise in subjects
such as agricultural extension, animal health, plant health, and data
collection and analysis. USDA is increasing the number of agricultural
advisors assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Teams. Technical assistance will
include in-country and U.S.-based training. USDA's work will help to
facilitate development of a dynamic food and agricultural system in Afghanistan that is characterized as competitive, sustainable, and globally integrated.
G8 - Ag
Ministerial on Food Security
Secretary Vilsack led the U.S. delegation to the G8 Agricultural Ministerial in Treviso, Italy, April 18-20, 2009.
This meeting was called for by G8 leaders at the Tokyo (Japan) Summit in July 2008 where they recognized the need for mid to long-term measures to tackle
the issue of food insecurity and poverty and asked ministers of agriculture to
develop sound and shared proposals on food security. At the Agricultural
Ministerial meeting, the Secretary discussed America's proud legacy of leading the world in providing
emergency humanitarian assistance and President Obama's recent pledge to double
agriculture development spending. He offered substantive proposals to reduce hunger through USDA's food
assistance programs and increased agricultural development in affected
countries. The main outcome of the meeting was a strong Ministerial
Declaration of support for
the critically important task of promoting food security which will form one of the pillars for
the next G8 leaders meeting in La Madallena, Italy, in July 2009.
Biotechnology
Under Secretary Vilsack's leadership, the USDA has begun
an intensive review of current policy to further ensure the promotion and
understanding of biotechnology as a safe and appropriate use of science to
help meet agricultural challenges both domestically and abroad. Included
within this framework is the recognition of the diverse range of opinions and
stakeholders related to biotechnology.
In January 2009, USDA reopened a public comment
period for proposed revisions to regulations governing introduction of
genetically engineered organisms (mostly plants). A public meeting on the
proposal was scheduled for April 29-30, 2009, providing opportunity for
stakeholders including the biotechnology industry, public interest groups,
and commodity and food producer groups with varying views to dialogue with USDA
regulators and to work collaboratively toward consensus.
Middle
Class Task Force -- Secretary
Vilsack has helped lead the efforts of the Vice president's Middle Class Task
Force. Secretary Vilsack accompanied Vice president Biden and the Task Force
to Philadelphia, PA on February 27th and to St. Cloud, MN on March 19th for
sessions aimed at establishing better approaches to assist America's working families. For agriculture, recent statistics show increasing numbers of small and
very large farming operations, with a decline in the number of medium sized
operations. USDA's participation in the Task Force has been a key approach to
ensuring that farmers and ranchers have a seat at the table and reflects the
Obama Administration's Commitment to Rural America.
Working
Group on Transmission Grid Expansion for Renewable Energy - Departments of
Energy and Interior, USDA and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - USDA has participated in an initiative to develop,
coordinate, and streamline Federal process among USDA/DOI/DOE and FERC for planning,
siting and developing a national electric grid overlay. The goal is to build
on the existing work for transmission grid planning to facilitate the wise use
of the nation's renewable resources to meet the President's energy and
environmental goals.
This
working group is preparing an overview for the President of the existing
challenges and what is needed going forward to achieve a national transmission
grid capable of meeting the goals of 10% of our electricity coming from
renewable sources by 2012 and 25% by 2025.
USDA/Treasury
- An historic reform step that USDA
has taken in the first 100 Days is to ensure collaboration between the
Department of Treasury and USDA to identify potential fraud and improper
payments in farm programs. As part of the Administration's reform action,
beginning with the 2009 crop year and for successive years, all farm program
payment recipients will be required to sign a form which grants the Treasury
Department the authority to provide income information to USDA for verification
purposes. The reform proposal institutes better accountability in programs and
would render those out of compliance ineligible for USDA payments. In terms of
savings, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, between 2003
and 2006, USDA made more than $49 million in payments to ineligible famers. Savings
under this proposal could reach $16 million.
Energy
and Environment Cabinet Working Group - USDA has been a key participant in an Energy and Environment Cabinet
Working Group. The group encompasses agencies that have authorities and
responsibilities for conservation of private and public lands, as well as
energy, climate and other natural resource concerns. The group reflects a new
approach within the Obama Administration of bringing key Departments and
agencies together to exchange views, better coordinate, and communicate actions
within the Executive Branch.
