Now that the month long Congressional holiday recess is coming to a close, final work on the farm bill is expected as the Senate reconvenes on January 23rd. Heading up the agenda should be final deliberation on Senate Ag committee legislation (S.1731) opposed by agribusiness and blocked by a Republican filibuster in the final hours of the 2001 session. This proposal, while making few substantive changes to existing commodities programs, is favored by a broad coalition of rural advocates over the bill passed by the House in November. (H.R. 2646). 

Also, many thanks to all Update Activists who took time over the Christmas holidays to compose letters to the editor. Several of these were printed in newspapers around the nation. Good work! If you did not send a letter and would like to, there is still time. See a template letter and read suggestions on getting the letters placed. 

Though GMO's are heavily marketed under the guise of increasing a farmers profits, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture recently studied a cross-section of USDA data on corn and soybean farms in Iowa, and found that the "use of genetically modified seed did not appear to impact a farmer's bottom line for either corn or soybean production." Farmers planting genetically modified soybeans spent, on average, $6.17 per acre less on herbicides, but $5.69 per acre more on seeds. The slight economic advantage was wiped out by the fact that yield for genetically modified soybeans was 1.6 bushels per acre less than that for traditional seeds. A similar trend occurred for Bt versus traditional corn: the genetically modified seed cost $4.31 more per acre, required $4.63 per acre more for fertilizer, and yielded three more bushels per acre. Farmers surveyed who continued to use GM seed despite the lack of economic advantage tended to view the seeds as a convenience or an "insurance policy."

Two years ago when the the Iowa state legislature expanded legal protections for factory-style hog farms, giving them virtually complete immunity from any lawsuits, the Iowa American Civil Liberties Union announced that it would provide legal assistance to people around the state. They felt the law was unconstitutional and were concerned that citizens who had valid legal disputes could be prevented from rightfully suing neighboring hog factories. 

After two years, the effort has begun to pay off. According to the Associated Press, a Des Moines judge has ruled that a Sioux County, Iowa couple's homestead dropped $50,000 in value after a corporate hog farm was built in their area. The judge ordered that Pork Xtra, a 4,000 head factory farm style operation, pay $100,000 to the couple for "compensatory and punitive damages." 

Though the ACLU court case sought an injunction to halt the operation, this motion was denied by the Judge who maintained their award duly covered damages.

The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which was established to document the environmental impacts of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA), has released "The North American Mosaic: A State of the Environment Report." The report concludes that economic activity has had detrimental environmental effects across the continent, increased greenhouse gas emissions, a rise in air pollution, unacceptably high levels of toxic chemicals, and declining health of biodiversity, forests, agricultural systems and fisheries. 

One of the CEC's recommendations for correcting these problems is a move toward sustainable energy, and the organization has just announced the availability of grants to advance "projects that are related to renewable energy, energy conservation or energy efficiency," with a special emphasis on sustainable economic development. Proposals for grant amounts up to $25,000 are due to the CEC by April 1.

If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this list, visit our
Rural Updates Subscriber Center